Rating: ★★★★☆

Address: 3/F, The Royal Garden, 69 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui 尖沙咀麼地道69號帝苑酒店3樓

Telephone: 2733 2000

E-mail: rgdls@rghk.com.hk

https://www.rghk.com.hk/dining-en.html

Sabatini is certainly one of the most reliable Italian restaurants in town. The original Sabatini Ristorante Italiano restaurant opened in Rome in 1954, and there are now a total of 3 Sabatini outlets around the world, include the one located at The Royal Garden in Tsim Sha Tsui. The decor of the restaurant resembles an idyllic countryside setting, and the menu features many traditional Roman classics as well as seasonal specialties.

Guest chef Chef Paolo Masieri and pastry chef and his wife Barbara were the restaurant from June 18 to 2 July, and of course this was the perfect excuse for me to visit Sabatini! The couple’s restaurant Sanremo in Liguria has been awarded one Michelin Star status for 25 consecutive years, and it is indeed wonderful that we can sample some of their dishes here in Hong Kong. This delightful menu costs $1,380 per head, but I personally find the price tag completely justified!

While everyone is getting seated, the bread basket is presented to us. It is noteworthy that the bread at Sabatini is excellent – I particularly adore the grissini which is soft and fluffy.

(1) Our first course is a dish of poached egg with scampi, sea urchin emulsion on zucchine puree and deep fried leek. This dish is bursting with sea-fresh, briny flavours which mainly come from the scampi, and the excellently poached egg and the scampi are a perfect match.

(2) The seared duck liver escalope with quince compote, baked red onion and shaved black truffle is non-fussy and very tasty. The seared duck liver escalope is perfectly cooked and gently melts away in the mouth, while the quince compote helps cut through the fattiness. The black truffle enhances these decadent flavours. 

(3) The mezze maniche with fava beans sauce, lobster and pecorino cheese is my favourite dish of the night – the naturally sweet taste of beans just completely captures my heart, and the lobster is startlingly fresh. This dish is overall quite light, yet captures all of the most delicious favours of the ingredients. 

(4) The saffron risotto with scampi and seasonal vegetables is also impressive – the risotto is cooked to a perfect consistency, and soaks up a range of deep, delectable flavours. The briny freshness of scampi again shines through in this dish. 

(5) The Wagyu beef tenderloin fillet with Maggengo hay, bell peppers confit, mashed potatoes and bone marrow is a bundle of joy. What’s not to love about an excellent cooked piece of beef tenderloin? The mashed potatoes are also buttery and completely indulgent. 

(6) For desserts, an aesthetically pleasing platter of modern sacripantina tart with coffee ice cream and egg liquer is served. The sacripantina is a multi-layered cake; while the chocolate flavour is fine and distinctive, the tart can be a tart sweeter. The coffee ice cream is light and not creamy, which complements the rich tart very well. 

I am utterly pleased with the Italian cuisine prepared by guest chef Chef Paolo and his wife. The couple are friendly and knowledgeable and they have arranged to fly in a lot of the ingredients for this meal in order to ensure the quality of the dishes. Certainly another occasion of stellar performance by Sabatini!