Over at the dark side....
Here’s something of a first on my blog, a look at a restaurant on the Kowloon side, some would say the dark side, of Hong Kong. Just to clarify Hong Kong proper is an island, north of this is the area of Kowloon being a peninsula of land in mainland China but part of the Hong Kong territory which includes Hong Kong island, Kowloon and further north again, the New Territories. Now back to restaurant!
The Restaurant:
Spasso (will explain the name later) is located in the heart of Kowloon in the shopping area of Harbour City on Canton Road. The area aside on this recent occasion I took to meet friends for lunch on a typical wet monsoon like day. Braving the rain and taking a harbour ferry across, that was just about as far into the dark side I would venture.
The Restaurant itself, once found in the warren that is “Harbour City” posses a modern “euro” feels about it. While the overhead lighting may seem a bit too edgy for a restaurant and perhaps better suited to a Karaoke Lounge, the upholstered chairs are a comfy respite compared to a lot of other dining venues. However, this place is promoted as being with “Harbour Views” well sort of, providing you are outside, this obviously is not an option on wet days and inside any view is indeed limited. On a positive note Spasso does offer well laid tables with crisp white linen and napkins with the obligatory olive oil and balsamic set up to further complement the home made bread and dips. The former of which gets bonus points for being a delectable array of crisp, sticks, and foccacia.
The Meal:
Lunch at Spasso can be by way of an extensive A La Carte Menu or the more popular choice of three types of set lunch ranging in price from HKD$ 158 to HKD$ 208. Being a choice of just the extensive antipasto buffet right through to three courses inclusive of antipasto, mains pizza and dessert. So certainly good value all round, if not making you pretty round in the process.
The food itself that we enjoyed was excellent, great antipasto, complete with smoked salmon, Italian cold cuts, cheeses, my favorite Prosciutto with melon and salads. The Pizza’s were more than good and the mains of either meat or fish exceeded our expectations. The service firm but friendly and overall more that satisfactory. If Spasso were on the Island side of Hong Kong I would certainly be a regular. Sadly it’s not and I guess I just have to venture over to the dark side more often. As for the name Spasso, apparently in Italian it means “happiness and joy.” Where I come from it means something quite different if not now a politically incorrect term.
Bouquets: Good Italian food and reasonable value for money.
Brickbats: Yes it’s in a shopping mall.
Why you would come back: To try and actually manage to finish a full three-course lunch.
This is an independent review and all restaurant visits are unannounced and paid for.
