Your neighbourhood pasta bar, serving only freshly hand rolled pasta made daily.
Building on the success of the critically acclaimed and highly popular Pici Wan Chai branch, the newly opened Pici Central is billed as your friendly neighbourhood pasta bar. Situated in the heart of Hong Kong, just down from the Karin Weber Gallery on Aberdeen Street, it serves up a host of beautifully presented, wholesome dishes created using only the best quality ingredients and freshly hand rolled pasta. The result is a flavoursome, down to earth Italian dining experience backed up by a collection of Italian wines offered by the glass, carafe or bottle.
The restaurant might take quite a few of its food and beverage cues from the successful Wan Chai eatery, but the design is altogether different with a more elegant and romantic retro-feel. Shuttered from the street by a screen the natural hues and dark wood of the restaurant contrast with the light windows, bright bar tiling and colour-washed walls.
There’s a variety of seating offering both communal and intimate options including, as you enter, an unusual through-the-window, inside-out, pop-up style arrangement, high seats at the food bar and very comfortable diner-style leather benches and chairs set against dark wood tables, short wall panels and mock decorative alcoves.
Executive Chef Andrea Viglione keeps the seasonal menu simple by offering a mix of typical Italian starters and a selection of specialist in-house handmade pastas. Gluten-free pasta can be made to order, just ask the friendly and attentive staff.
There’s an à la carte choice and fixed-price and well-balanced lunch and weekend brunch set menus, which rotate every week – although if Wan Chai is a guide the perennial favourites like the burrata cheese, homemade meatballs, tagliatelle and tiramisu are always available.
From the lunch set choose a starter, main and dessert, while at weekends and public holidays the sharing style of the brunch is often the preferred option. The brunch includes a glass of Prosecco per person and requires full table participation.
The à la carte offers an impressive range of classic sharing pastas, starters and desserts. The starters include the aforementioned meatballs and the burrata cheese, a creamy cheese atop a bed of rocket, cherry tomato and basil as well as vitello tonnato, the classic Italian dish of thin slices of cold roast veal lathered in tuna mayonnaise and garnished with Sicilian capers.
The pasta selection naturally features ravioli, lasagne and tagliatelle and is complemented by dishes like orecchiete with Italian sausage, spicy n’duja and tomato and a selection of vegetarian dishes such as cacao e pepe – pasta of the day served tossed in pecorino cheese and black pepper. If you are unsure what to order or quite like the sound of everything then why not opt for the tasting menu.
Naturally the wine list is focused on Italian varieties curated to pair perfectly with the food. There’s a handful of Italian inspired cocktails too and after-dinner digestives like limoncello and nardini grappa to finish the meal alongside a small selection of beers and non-alcoholic drinks.
Italian Meatballs
A rich hearty dish, made for sharing – Italian-style.
INGREDIENTS:
Meatballs
- 500g ground beef
- 250g ground pork
- 2.5g garlic salt
- 4 slices of Italian bread
- 100g dried bread crumbs
- Parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs (whisked)
- 50g chopped fresh parsley
- Salt & pepper
METHOD:
- Soak the sliced bread in cold water for 5 minutes then squeeze out the water before shredding with your fingers.
- Combine the meat, eggs and parsley in a large bowl adding the shredded bread last.
- Add the dry bread crumbs, 50g fine grated parmesan and seasoning and combine with your fingers until consistent.
- Using an ice-cream scoop measure out the meatballs and roll them into balls.
- Arrange on a cooling rack over a baking sheet then bake in a pre-heated oven at 190C for 15 to 20 minutes, or until you can cut into a meatball in the middle of the rack and not see pink.
INGREDIENTS:
Tomato sauce
- 800g chopped tinned tomatoes
- 2 medium finely chopped onions
- 2 crushed garlic cloves
- 15g tomato purée
- Dried oregano
- Olive oil
- Salt & Pepper
METHOD:
- Heat the oil in a large heavy pan and cook the chopped onions until soft. Add in the garlic followed by the tomato purée.
- Cook for a few minutes stirring regularly then add the chopped tomato and oregano along with salt & pepper to taste.
- Simmer for 20 minutes, remove from the heat and set aside.
Serving
- Place in a serving bowl and spoon the sauce over topping with roughly grated parmesan. Serve with al dente spaghetti or garlic ciabatta.
Pici Central
24-26 Aberdeen Street
Soho, Central
Hong Kong
T: (+852) 27555523
pici.hk
