Posto Pubblico

I've been to Posto Pubblico three times now - twice for dinner and once for lunch (the photos below are from lunch). I thoroughly enjoyed my first two visits during dinner; not so much my most recent visit during lunch.

During my first two visits, the caprese salad was amazingly fresh and delicious, the antipasti platter was sublime and the pastas perfectly al dente. I don't know if they use a different chef at lunch, but the quality of the food was completely different. The mozzarella was tough and bland, the pasta was overly salty. And in my opinion, the lunch sets are overpriced for what they give you, and there are too many exceptions to the listed lunch set price - for example, if you order any of their special pastas of the day, you have to pay an "upgrade" price to the more expensive lunch set price of 180 HKD instead of 120 HKD.

There are better Italian restaurants in Hong Kong (my favorite so far is Pane Vino on Mosque Junction Road), but in my view, a visit to Posto Pubblico is still worth it for their fresh house-made mozzarella.

Caprese salad made with fresh house-made hand-pulled mozzarella (the primary reason I am a fan of Posto Pubblico)

Brooklyn Special sandwich (breaded eggplant, mozzarella and roasted peppers)

Tagliolini with peas and pancetta

Linguini vongole

Food rating: *** and a half
Bang for buck rating: 3

The essentials:
www.postopubblico.com/
Location: 28 Elgin Street, Central, Hong Kong
Average price of dinner for two: HKD$700 (~ USD$ 90)

Mohri Salvatore Cuomo

I recognize that the "best pizza" is all relative. Some people like thin crust, some people like thick. Some people like lots of toppings, some people like their pizzas sparse. Two of my favorite pizzas in the world are polar opposites from each other: Zachary's pizza in Berkeley serves up Chicago-style, California-influenced deep dish pizza (in fact, the deepest dish pizza I've ever had) so heavy with toppings that a single slice will leave you stuffed. The Cheese Board, also in Berkeley, serves food that embodies the spirit of Northern California - fresh, earthy, bohemian, unique. How can a pizza be bohemian? Try Cheese Board's daily changing pizzas, which are always a surprise and you'll realize what I mean - on one occasion I had a ricotta cheese and lemon slice topped pizza that I raved about for days. The Cheese Board doesn't add tomato sauce, but instead lets the flavors of cheese and fresh California vegetables shine through.

I was introduced to a delicious pizza in Tokyo recently, and while it may not be the best pizza in the world, it is really good. Really, really good. So good that I've been having it weekly since I first tried it! Salvatore Cuomo is as ubiquitous as a restaurant can get in Tokyo - with restaurants ranging from the eponymous casual family pizzeria restaurants all over the city to the higher end Kitchen Salvatore in Roppongi Hills, there is a branch of the restaurant in pretty much every major neighborhood. So really, there's no excuse not to try Salvatore's scrumptious D.O.C. pizza, a modern take on the classic margherita pizza made with sweet, juicy cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil.

Salvatore's crust is slightly sweet, perfectly chewy yet paper thin - the perfect canvas for Salvatore's creative mix of toppings. I only wish the pizzas were a little bit bigger - my stomach has adjusted to Japanese portion sizes, but one Salvatore pizza just isn't enough!

The restaurants also serve solidly executed pastas, but pizzas are the stars on the menu. The following are from Mohri Salvatore Cuomo, a casual restaurant with outdoor seating in Roppongi Hills.

Salvatore's award-winning D.O.C. pizza

Tiny anchovies and garlic

Prosciutto and rucola pizza

Food rating: ****
Bang for buck rating: 4

The essentials:
http://www.ystable.co.jp/restaurant/mohri/index.html
Location: B2 level, Hillside, Roppongi Hills
Average price of meal for two: 5000 yen (~$55)

Pagliaccio

One of my favorite spots in Tokyo for a frothy cappuccino, refreshing Italian soda or casual meal is Pagliaccio. Unpretentious and unassuming, Pagliaccio has an extensive beverage menu (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) as well as full menu of casual Italian fare. A perfect weekend day might consist of strolling through the nearby Imperial Palace gardens, stopping by Brick Square for a buttery croissant at Echire Maison du Beurre or chocolates at Cacao Sampaka, checking out the upmarket boutiques in Marunouchi, then popping into Pagliaccio for a leisurely snack.

Sorry, no food photos! Interior wall of Pagliaccio

Food rating: ****
Bang for buck rating: 4

The essentials:
Location: 2-2-3 Marunouchi, Tokyo
Average price of lunch for two: 3000 yen (~$35)

Scorpione

Delicious, well-executed Italian with a twist of French in Kyoto. In a nutshell, that's Scorpione, located in the Gion district. Excellent service, excellent food - highly recommended if you need a break from all the kaiseki and tofu in Kyoto (which we most definitely did).

Lunch appetizer plate - ratatouille, marinated seafood, cured meat, bean salad and curried mashed potato salad

Kyoto beef filet - amazingly tender and flavorful

Pan fried fish of the day - the skin was perfectly fried to a crisp and offered a wonderful complementary texture to the silky fish

Boullaibasse

Delicious strawberry shortcake dessert - everything about this dessert was perfect, from the gelato to the sweet strawberries to the buttery cake-biscuit

Food rating: ****
Bang for buck rating: 3

The essentials:
http://www.kiwa-group.co.jp/restaurant/i100085.html
Location: in Gion, Kyoto
Average price of lunch for two: 9000 yen (~$100)

Pizzeria 1830

Apparently the first pizzeria was opened in Naples in the year 1830 - hence the name Pizzeria 1830, located in the shadow of Tokyo Midtown in Nogizaka. Lured by the promise of true Napolitan-style pizza, I was truly looking forward to dinner at Pizzeria 1830. The menu is extensive, with pizzas that include tomato sauce or not, and various combinations of toppings. For a group of four, the mixed appetizer plate and two pizzas were more than enough. The crust is paper thin, barely strong enough to hold up the cheese and toppings - if you try to lift the pizza from your plate with your hands, it will start folding into itself - this is no American-style pizza!

After my visit to Pizzeria 1830 a couple months ago, I visited Rome and discovered that the pizza in Rome was indeed almost exactly like the pizza at Pizzeria 1830: super thin crust blistered at the edges, spots of melted fresh mozzarella, and just a smattering of toppings. So while I might have wished for more cheese or more toppings prior to my trip to Italy, now I know that Pizzeria 1830's pizza is authentically Italian.

Mixed appetizer plate

Sausage and mushroom pizza

Food rating: *** and a half
Bang for buck rating: 3.5

The essentials:
http://www.stillfoods.com/1830/
Location: 9-6-28 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Average price of dinner for two (with drinks): 4500 yen (~$50)

Elio Locanda

My first visit to Elio Locanda was truly memorable - delicious house-made pasta, creamy risotto, fresh mozzarella, perfect cannoli and cappuccino...a Japanese colleague recommended it as the best Italian restaurant in Tokyo, very high accolade for a city with some of the best Italian cuisine on the planet, and it didn't disappoint. On my first visit.

I couldn't wait to revisit, so I recently went back for dinner, expecting the same great food and service as my first visit.

After we were seated and gave our order, we were served a basket of bread. We waited, watching our neighbors get served salad, then antipasti, then pasta. We waited through two birthday cakes/songs. And waited.

Then a waiter (different from our original waiter) arrived and asked if he could confirm our order, asking us if we had ordered the chef's menu. We had not. We gave our order again, and commenced waiting, again. We were served our salad. Then waited another 20 minutes for our pastas to arrive. To be fair, the salad and pastas were good (although not great). And the staff brought us tiny pieces of brushchetta and flutes of blood orange juice as "gifts" for keeping us waiting. However, our dinner took 2.5 hours, 2 of which were spent waiting. If Elio Locanda was truly sorry for keeping us waiting as long as they did, they could have comped the meal - I think if you keep your patrons waiting that long, it's the least you can do to maintain goodwill. But the bill came with all our items listed, minus only the 600 yen per person service charge. We paid, we left. And I will never be back. Good job, Elio - you made 6500 yen but lost me as a patron and an advocate.


Tagliolini with basil tomato sauce and gnocchi with parmesan and tomato

Food rating: * and a half (3.5 stars for quality of food, minus 2 stars for inexcusable service and lack of adequate remedy)
Bang for buck rating: 1.5

The essentials:
http://www.elio.co.jp/
Location: exit 1 of Hanzomon station
Average price of dinner for two (without wine): 9000 yen (~$100)

Argento Aso

Argento Aso is technically an Italian restaurant, but the kind of Italian restaurant that serves steamed sweet potato and tsukemono - pickled vegetables (albeit a fancy version) with your meat course and deconstructs traditional Japanese "curry rice" into an Italian-esque risotto with curry foam. It's modern Italian influenced by Japan, with a flair of molecular gastronomy. And for its innovative take on Italian cuisine, the 2010 Michelin guide awarded Argento Aso 2 stars, which they clearly worked very hard for, evidenced by the flawless service, well-executed dishes and creative presentation.

Argento Aso is the kind of place you take a date you really want to impress, or celebrate a special occasion. It's the kind of place that brings you a cart with a choice of fancy bottled waters - everything from Voss to Aqua Panna to San Pellegrino. It's a teeny bit pretentious, but the 2- and 3-starred Michelin restaurants often tend to be so. All in all, it works. From the initial bread offering, consisting of 6 different types of breads baked on the premises to the post-dessert sweets offering, presented like a bouquet of flowers in a vase, Argento Aso definitely impresses. Be warned - you may feel like you don't want to eat for another week afterward!


Assorted breads, served with a trio of butters (plain whipped, olive oil and smoked - each person gets their own set of butters!)


Amuse bouche - salmon trio: baked salmon toast, salmon mousse (in the bottom of the cup, suspended upside down), salmon tartare


Foie gras terrine with flower petals and honey foam


Seared foie gras with balsamic reduction


Pasta with scallops and dried fish shavings - sounds funny but tasted delicious


Spaghetti with mushrooms - you pour the pasta yourself over the mushrooms and sauce


"Curry rice" - creamy risotto with a perfectly pan-roasted fish with delicious crispy skin and curry foam


Roasted duck breast, served with a side dish of the duck's liver (not pictured)


Delicious charred medium rare steak with polenta cake and mascarpone filled pasta shell


Pickled vegetables and mushroom tempura


The sweetest steamed sweet potatoes ever - steamed over rocks


Tiramisu with freshly ground coffee bean dust - delicious!


Millefoglie with berries and vanilla bean gelato


Post-dessert sweets: fruit jellies, berries, marshmallows and tiny financiers

Food rating: **** and a half
Bang for buck rating: 3 (VERY pricey!)

The essentials:
http://www.hiramatsu.co.jp/eng/restaurants/argento-aso/index.html
Location: on the 8th and 9th floors of the ZOE Ginza building, a block from Yurakucho station
Average price of meal for two (dinner): 36,000 yen (~$400)

Obika Mozzarella Bar

The bf came to visit for my 30th birthday and we spent four delicious days eating, eating and eating some more excellent Japanese food (which I will blog about in the days to come): izakaya, tofu kaiseki, Japanese molecular gastronomy, elaborate traditional kaiseki, bentos, soba, sushi. And after all that Japanese food, I was SO DONE with Japanese cuisine. After awhile, Japanese food all tastes the same: variations of soy sauce, sugar and dashi broth. Pretty much all Japanese food is cooked, flavored, marinated, stewed, fried, reduced, basted or garnished with some variation of soy sauce, sugar and dashi broth. The thought of eating one more meal flavored with sweet-soy-dashi actually made me feel nauseated.

So despite the original plan to eat as much Japanese food (and only Japanese food) as possible during the bf's visit, I declared that I needed a reprieve. I was daydreaming of cheese. Fresh cheese, melted cheese, but loads and loads of cheese. And vegetables. Fresh or roasted. And so help me God, if any of it contained even a hint of sweet-soy-dashi, I was going to pack my bags and leave Tokyo for good.

I recalled a mozzarella bar I used to live by, another of the many places in Tokyo I've been meaning to try but never got around to. We headed to Obika fairly early for dinner, around 6:30 pm on a Monday night and the place was almost completely empty except for a couple sitting in a dark corner (the guy was short, had a bad hair piece and was at least 60 years old, the girl was at least 6 inches taller than him, all leg in a teeny tiny minidress, with long bleached blond hair and could not have been older than 25 but it was clear they were together - these odd couples used to perplex me when I first moved here but it's so not abnormal here (I wouldn't go so far as to say it's normal, but it's not abnormal) that I didn't even notice until the bf noted the age difference; however this is a blog about food so I won't go into this any further) and a middle-aged guy sitting by himself. However, I insisted we stay and try the place when I saw the happy hour sign: 1200 yen (~$13) for unlimited antipasti bar and a drink of your choice. OMG, for Tokyo, during dinner time, they might as well give the food away for free, that's how cheap it is.

The antipasti bar consisted of a chopped salad with various cured Italian meats and mozzarella cubes, another salad with capers, roasted bell peppers and avocado, fried bread, roasted charred butternut squash, roasted vegetables in olive oil, fried potato wedges smothered in tomato sauce and parmesan, cauliflower and broccoli stewed in tomato sauce. The happy hour drink menu includes your choice of house red or white wine, beer or a generous variety of cocktails, although the drink itself is only about a half-serving. In any case, it's still an excellent deal and after all that Japanese food, it was exactly what my body needed. And not a single bite had any hint of sweet-soy-dashi. Obika is a great choice for a true Italian antipasti fix: various types of mozzarella imported from Italy, cured meats, hot antipasti plates to share, a limited choice of entrees and desserts.


Delicious smoky risotto oozing with melted mozzarella, covered with roasted eggplant and served with pesto (not part of happy hour menu)


Plate piled high with true Italian salads and antipasti (no soy, dashi or sugar, thank God)


Martini and glass of rosso


Some of the happy hour antipasti offerings

Food rating: *** and a half
Bang for buck rating: 4 (if you do the happy hour!)

The essentials:
http://www.wondertable.com/app/tenpo/tenpo?code=Obika
Location: Keyakizaka Street, Roppongi Hills, Tokyo
Average price of meal for two (during happy hours): 4000 yen (~$45)