This one has been on my list for years. I’ve been aware of the restaurant for a long time and walked past it many times, but never got around to trying it. Perhaps I wanted to exhaust the countless high end Asian restaurants in Hong Kong before returning to traditional western cuisine, but Otto e Mezzo just never made it to the top of my list for many many years.
Founded by Chef Umbreto Bombana, Otto e Mezzo has become one of the legendary high-end dining establishments in Hong Kong. There are few restaurants that can survive the F&B scene in Hong Kong, and Otto e Mezzo is in its 15th year as one of the top restaurants in this very competitive environment.
Originally hailing from northern Italy, Chef Bombana trained in Milan before leaving Italy to join Rex II Ristorante, a restaurant focused on traditional Italian cuisine in an age where others were focusing on Continential or Italian fusion cuisine. From Rex II in Los Angeles, he moved to Hong Kong to manage Toscana in the Ritz-Carlton before opening his own restaurant 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo in 2010.
Otto e Mezzo means 8 1/2 in Italian, and the restaurant is named for the a 1963 comedy film, a favourite of Chef Bombana. Within a year, Otto e Mezzo earned two Michelin stars and a year later, it earned its third Michelin star, becoming the only Italian restaurant outside Italy to earn the coveted status. For the past 13 years, the restaurant has stubbornly held on to the three Michelin stars.
Chef Bombana also jokingly refers to himself as the king of white truffles, being declared a “Worldwide Ambassador of the White Truffle” in 2006.
The restaurant is located on the third floor of Alexandria House, an office building that serves as a major pedestrian thoroughfare between two of the busiest subways stops in Hong Kong. Leaving the busyness aside and stepping into the restaurant leads to a classically decorated, yet slightly dated dining hall.
Celebrating a special event calls for a special drink, and I ordered one of my personal favourites, the Vesper. Made famous by James Bond in Casino Royale, a Vester is a variation on the vodka martini, and the one at Otto e Mezzo was a lot sweeter than what I’m used to. Perhaps they used a sweet vermouth instead of a dry one.
Our waiter was proactively accommodating, and suggested some substitutions away from the degustation menu to manage my companion’s dietary needs. We took his advice and just went with the principle of “omakase” - whatever you guys decide.
The meal started with an amuse bouche, a thick, slightly grainy cannellini bean soup, with some al dente barley, and topped with a bit of truffle oil and a slice of black truffle. Thick and warming, a great start to the meal after walking outside on a cold day.
The first starter came next and I received two barely poached Hokkaido scallops in a refreshing tangerine sauce, topped with royal osteria caviar. The outside of the scallops were firmed up, but the centers were still very raw. Perfect. Fall apart tender and well complimented by the citrusy sauce.
My companion couldn’t eat raw scallops, they they suggested changing to Australian abalone slices, topped with the same caviar. We were told that this was one of the signature appetizers at Otto e Mezzo.
The second appetizer was the blue Brittany lobster, served on top of a bed of Chanterelle mushroom in a velvety mushroom and lobster sauce, and topped with slices of black truffle. Thick, rich, buttery sauce coating every bite of mushroom and lobster. Amazing!
Next came a surprise course that was not on the original menu we were given. Another signature dish at Otto e Mezzo, three perfectly made burrata ravioli, containing three kinds of cheese - burrata, mascarpone and parmesan, topped with a thick tomato sauce, olives, semi-dried tomato and basil leaves, hiding a bit of eggplant puree underneath. As would be expected from a Michelin starred Italian restaurant, the pasta here had just absolutely perfect texture, with just the right amount of sauce coating each piece of pasta. Absolutely divine.
For the first main dish, another signature at Otto e Mezzo, the homemade tagiolini, in a simple butter and parmesan sauce, topped with a mountain of white truffle. The server explained that they use a variety of white truffles as each truffle will have a slightly different flavour and they wanted us to experience the breadth of white truffle flavours.
For the second main, I had a Challans duck breast, served with chestnut, apple puree and a rich duck jus. The ducks are from Challans, France, raised traditionally on small family farms, foraging around free range, in and around the canals and farms for eight weeks before being collected and fattened in pens. Juicy, tender, deeply flavourful and a little gamey, with a crispy skin, this was one of the best duck dishes I’ve ever tried.
My companion went with the Beef tenderloin and braised beef cheek, served with slices of artichoke, in a beef jus.
Another surprise dish, the Otto e Mezzo take on an Italian Sgroppino, made table-side. Lemon sorbet, combined with milk gelato, shots of grappa, homemade limoncello and sparkling moscato and whipped by hand until the consistency of soft serve. Topped with freshly micro-planed zest from Almalfi lemons.
Wow! Despite the many other amazing dishes, this was the highlight of my meal. This is one I’m definitely trying to recreate at home.
Going off menu, my dessert was switched to the white truffle gelato. A single scoop of white truffle gelato, surrounded by yet another mountain of shaved white truffle hiding crispy, roasted hazelnuts and diced poached pear. Another hit, and I can see why Chef Bombana calls himself the “King of White Truffles.”
We went to Otto e Mezzo to celebrate a special event, and they gave us a final dessert congratulating us. A dense dark chocolate cake, topped with a brandy marinaded cherry and gold foil. After the Sgroppino and the gelato, we were completely full, and the cake was a bit bitter and too dense for us to finish.
We thought we were done, but fine dining is all about surprises, and a huge silver cart full of petit fours was wheeled out to us containing an assortment of chocolates, truffles and biscuits. After three desserts, petit fours weren’t going to happen. We selected one or two neat looking ones, but largely left them untouched.
As we were leaving, we were presented with a parting gift of more chocolates!
I can’t believe I haven’t been to Otto e Mezzo before! It’s been on my list for a long, long time, and we had an absolutely amazing experience. Every dish was a hit, service was personal and attentive, and it was the little details that they executed on extremely well. The highlight of the meal for me wasn’t the white truffle or caviar dishes, but a unique signature dessert made with a flourish. I am definitely coming back here again soon!
Total damage: 7700 HKD/2 people.