Restaurant review: Panino Giusto, Central - quality Italian sandwiches

If you're tired of standard sandwiches with stingy fillings and soggy bread, you should try Panino Giusto. The Italian cafe chain has been in business for over 30 years with branches in Japan, London and (since September) Hong Kong. The panini are more expensive than many sandwiches, but the price reflects the quality of ingredients and attention to detail.

We had a good feeling about it when we saw legs of cured ham hanging in the window, and the staff shaving cold cuts.

The melt-in-the-mouth turkey-breast slices and crunchy mixed greens of the fattoria salad (HK$68) are nicely complemented by the creamy tuna sauce. The cured beef from Valtellina in the stuzzico bresaola e caprino (HK$78) has a delicate fragrance, and is very thinly sliced. It was good, with mild goat cheese and toasted bread on the side.

The shop says it follows a "rule of 7" - 70 grams of fresh meat, 70 grams of cheese, with vegetables, sauce and oils, in 70 grams of bread"- for the right filling to bread ratio. We prefer the richer Tartufo (HK$98) - with Parma ham, brie, tomato, rocket and Alba truffle oil - to the Giusto (HK$78), with Praga ham, mozzarella, anchovy, tomato and mustard sauce; but there isn't much between them.

By day, the dining area right outside the shop receives lots of natural sunlight. At night it is dimly lit for a laid-back ambience.