Recently reopened under the exclusive ownership of Chefs Alessandro Angelini and Luca De Berardinis, LucAle (a portmanteau of both chefs’ first names) is reminiscent of the small eateries one would find tucked away in the crevices of a coastal Italian town, and today, we will review it for you.
The venue’s recently renovated interior and revamped seafood-driven menu must have been effective so far, as the place was already buzzing with diners when we entered at 7 pm.
A Review of LucAle
The meal began with a light offering of seafood. We started with a dish of baby cuttlefish with pistachio cream, quinoa, and toasted almonds. This was followed by Sicilian fresh tuna with avocado cream, soy sauce, and Amalfi lemon dressing, a fresh and pleasant dish where the tuna was the star. Up next was a seabass tartare tucked into hollowed artichoke hearts topped by bell pepper cream and basil oil, a well-balanced dish between two creamy main ingredients.
The handmade pasta dishes which came next were each stellar in their own way, but the standouts were the green cappelletti filled with seabass, topped with Sorrento lemon foam and caviar sauce; shrimps ravioli with pan-fried shrimps, porcini mushrooms and artichokes; and finally the hand cut tagliolini pasta with lobster, prawns, and scallop ragout in a simple but fragrant tomato and basil sauce cooked in paper and unwrapped tableside.
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For our secondi, Chefs Angelini and De Berardinis presented us with a melt-in-the-mouth, 24-hour slow-cooked beef cheek, with celery root cream and caramelised kumquat. This was followed by Italian sea bass accompanied by slow-cooked porcini mushrooms and what the menu described as an oriental arrabbiata sauce. To Google, thou needeth not: arrabbiata is a spicy tomato sauce — so this is a spicy tomato sauce, but Asian (we haven’t found out how, exactly.) Though both components were faultless, the mushrooms outshone the sea bass as they held a ton of flavour from the slow cooker. We finished with a perfectly cooked coffee-crusted pork tenderloin with mustard, pan-fried duck liver, and caramelised shallot — a dish that feels both subtle and indulgent all at once.
Dessert held a few surprises: the venue’s signature tiramisu came served almost like a trifle, topped with a crunchy, caramelised coffee lattice that was satisfying to break and consume in equal parts. There was an item simply dubbed “variation of sweet corn” which was an interesting take: it was slightly sweet and we appreciated the unexpectedness of the dish. Give this a try if you’re partial to corn or light, creamy desserts. Our favourite of the desserts was the tropical egg: a tart, light passionfruit-forward jelly encased in a fruity chocolate shell, an uplifting end to an indulgent meal.
Cuisine
Italian
We Loved
Sicilian Fresh Tuna Avocado Cream, Soy Sauce and Amalfi Lemon Dressing
Green Cappelletti filled with Seabass with Sorrento Lemon Foam and Caviar sauce 15GR
24-hour slow cooked Beef Cheek with Celery Root cream and caramelised Kumquat
Hand Cut Tagliolini Pasta with Lobster, Prawns and Scallop ragout, fresh tomato and basil in a paper box
The Vibe
LucAle does not subscribe to the dark and moody lighting preferred by neighbourhood haunts of similar ilk. Instead, the restaurant is brightly lit, and the music wasn’t the first sound to reach our ears. You could see and hear everybody sitting at the dinner table, and there is no doubt as to the quality of food on your dish. The restaurant is clearly a place to talk and eat; more akin to a casual eatery atmosphere but with better décor and tableware.
Quick Notes
Price for two:
From HKD 2,150 (USD 274 – at the time of writing)
Address:
Shop A, 100 Third Street, Sai Ying Pun
Opening Hours:
Tuesday to Friday, 6 pm—12 am
Saturday to Sunday, 12 pm—3 pm / 6 pm—12 am
Closed Mondays
This story first appeared here.
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