Classic Giando

I felt like Giando is exactly the restaurant I love with the casual Italian trattoria style ambiance and decent food based on traditional cooking and seasonal ingredients. And I thought I just visited at the right time last week when white truffles were in season (plus they were running a special anniversary tasting menu), and even better when Chef Gianni Caprioli was there to personally attend to us and brought us a few new dishes.

Been a while since my last visit here but nothing much has changed with the same rustic decor and the spacious dining area with a well-stocked bar on the side. A glass of Aperol Spritz at the bar set us in the right mood for a feast before we settled down at our table. The first two starters, both of which seafood, showcased the pure flavor of the ingredients flown in regularly from Italy. The firm and bouncy prawn offered good contrast in texture to the creamy crumbled burrata and the soft sauteed eggplant and bell peppers done "caponata" style and served lukewarm. It's refreshing and comforting with the rich mineral taste from the caviar added on. Next was the seared scallops wrapped with guanciale, served with corn puree and shaved black truffles with good match of the rich sea and earth tastes and a hint of sweetness from the corn.

Pasta was always a solid choice at Chef Gianni's restaurants and the couple served this evening didn't dissappoint. First was the gnocchi served with cheese sauce and white truffles; the second tagliolini with a simple butter sauce and tossed with sea urchins and bottarga. Of course, it's always a delightful sight with the prized white truffles were shown in front of us before being grated and shaved to our dishes by the chef himself. The truffle aroma was subtle given it's still early in the season but worked well with the soft gnocchi and the rich sauce.

Actually I personally liked the second pasta dish more, with the thin tagliolini in bright yellow color, perfectly cooked and tossed with a simple butter sauce, sea urchins and grated bottarga, and it's all about the mellow and creamy sea urchins and the egg noodles with a good bite. An extra course was later brought to us which was cauliflower.

There was a choice of mains in the set menu but we decided to share so we got "little bit" of both, first the seabass fillet broccoli, olive, orange zest and a creamy espuma, and then beef sirloin with sweet onion and herb sauce. I prefer the seabass over the beef this time with slightly more exotic flavor. And to end, a pair of dessert including mango and sorbet, plus Giandoiotto, the classic combination of vanilla, hazelnut and chocolate with its roots in Northern Italy.

There’s not much of a surprise in the menu, but Chef Gianni’s restaurants were always about classic cooking using the finest ingredients, and they delivered just that, and it’s something I would love to have any time of the week, maybe over another round of Aperol Spritz and wines.

When? October 30 2019
Where? Giando, Shop 1, G/F Starcrest, 9 Star Street, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Menu Highlights? Tagliolini al Ricci di Mare
Drinks?
2018 Cantina di Mogoro 'Don Giovanni' Vermentino di Sardegna DOC
2016 Marchesi Alfieri Sostegno Monferrato DOC
Web: www.giandorestaurant.com