New truffle menu review: DiVino Italian restaurant in Central, Hong Kong
Black truffle dishes for winter 2018
Recently, the DiVino Group held a media dinner to showcase one of the winter season’s most prized ingredients: the black truffle. They’ve brought in a number from Norcia, a town in the middle of Italy that is known for growing ‘tartufo’ truffles; the ones they brought out to show us were nearly as large as the Italian dessert. The Group has four restaurants: DiVino in Central, Divino Patio in Wan Chai, Spasso in TST East, and Carpaccio in TST. Each will be serving three special truffle-enhanced dishes until the end of March.
Off the dishes we tried, the ones from Carpaccio were my favourite. First up was the pumpkin soup ($198). I like my pumpkin soups thick and sweet, rather than broth-like and savoury. This version was lush, almost like dessert with sliced almonds and little chunks of amaretti biscuits. It could have stood on its own, but of course the black truffle shavings added a layer of hearty, nutty fragrance. My only complaint is that the portion size was on the smaller size; four, five spoonfuls and it was all gone.
The beetroot risotto with Parmesan cheese fondue ($238) was also worth the calories. Nothing too out of the ordinary here, just al dente rice grains totally coated in a thick, creamy, salty, sweet sauce before being topped with black truffle shavings. If you’re looking for something fatty and comforting on a cold night, this would do the truck.
We didn’t get to try the third dish on Carpaccio’s menu (a homemade, vegetarian tagliatelle carbonara) since we were offered dishes from the other restaurants. The carrot cream in the seared Ahi tuna dish ($198) at DiVino was awesome. Salty, nutty, and absolutely addictive. Perhaps even more so than the pumpkin soup. The tuna itself was more lean and cooked through than I like though and, while beautifully presented, this dish was a bit difficult to eat. Our table wasn’t really sure whether to poke at the tuna in the tiny jar or dig out the tuna and eat it on the rimless serving platter; it ended up being 50/50. The only dish I would skip would be the beef sirloin tagliata also at DiVino since the meat was quite tough.
Verdict
If you’re looking to get your truffle fix this winter, take a look at the DiVino Group’s offerings and see if anything peaks your interest. If not, you can also add shaved truffles to any dish on the restaurants’ menus. The Group also have a lovely new dessert wine named the Gocce di Passito; this made for a satisfyingly sweet, syrupy end to our meal.
*By invitation
Shop 307, 3rd Floor, iSQUARE, 63 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
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