Hong Kong’s top restaurants: Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Central – truffle heaven
Umberto Bombana is known as the king of white truffles, and his three-Michelin-star Italian restaurant features the tuber heavily. Dishes are small and expensive, but beautifully crafted and presented
Nothing awakens reminiscence like an aroma, Victor Hugo once said, which is why diners at Otto e Mezzo Bombana may have seen a small woman do a sizeable swoon in the entrance to the restaurant recently. Truffles – the smell of grand, old opera houses – fill the air at this establishment and are the reason I scanned the menu for dishes that promised a romantic experience led by the nose.
When we visited, almost a third of the dishes on the trim menu featured black truffle, making my fingers dance over the choices before pointing to “Melanosporum” black truffle risotto (HK$520), a decadent delight enhanced with an aromatic Italian cheese and Jerusalem artichoke. And to finish the meal, we ordered black truffle gelato (HK$250).
It doesn’t take long to understand why people wait. Bombana takes classic Italian fare to another level. He also offers a staggering (in choice and price) wine list: one of my guests ordered a 2009 Mastrojanni Brunello di Montalcino (HK$1,680), from Schiena d’Asino, a small Tuscan winery belonging to a family member.
Favourites that evening came mostly from the appetisers and pasta. Marinated Fassona beef (HK$380) was served in two dumpling-sized mounds wrapped in Jerusalem artichoke, one subtly flavoured, the other spicy and enhanced with anchovies, which we preferred. Roasted octopus and roasted artichoke
(HK$290) was memorable for the ridiculously tender slices of meat.
Among the pastas, we especially enjoyed the burrata cheese ravioli (HK$270), which was mild, sweet and, yes, melt-in-your-mouth gorgeous, with bits of sun-dried tomato to give it an edge.
A surprise among the mains was the Brittany Blue lobster with braised vegetables, sea urchin and lobster emulsion (HK$580), which came with a request from my guest for it to be “j-u-s-t” cooked. The kitchen would need to be consulted, we were told. What they produced was perfect.
But we still had room for the black truffle gelato (HK$250), which was just as well. Umami heaven, the bliss was enhanced with crunchy hazelnut and pistachio.
So was it overkill, with two truffle dishes alongside appetisers, pasta, mains, cheeses and desserts? In the course of almost five hours, no. Besides, the portions were all uniformly small.
That said, 24 hours after the meal it was clear one of us was still thinking about things truffley when I received an SMS message applauding the way in which they had been served. My friend liked how the waiters had shaved a black truffle with “wild abandon” onto the risotto, without any pretentious weighing before and after.
That memory alone was worthy of another twirl.
8 ½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana, 2/F, Landmark Alexandra, 18 Chater Road, Central, tel: 2537 8859. About HK$1,470 without drinks or the service charge.
While you’re in the area: