For Hong Kong‘s best contemporary Italian, there’s only one choice: 8 ½ Otto e Mezzo, the only three-star Michelin-rated Italian restaurant outside of Italy (the name comes from film director Federico Fellini’s 1963 movie, 8½). Chef Umberto Bombana, formerly of the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, is a native of Bergamo, in northern Italy, and among his many talents is creating culinary masterpieces with white truffles—he’s been called the King of White Truffles. Bombana creates Italian dishes like veal tenderloin with black winter truffle and whipped potatoes, but he doesn’t limit himself to Italian ingredients. Asian ingredients are showcased in dishes like cavatelli with shellfish ragout, and abalone carpaccio, Hokkaido sea urchin, and tagliolini with lobster.
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8 ½ Otto e Mezzo
For Hong Kong‘s best contemporary Italian, there’s only one choice: 8 ½ Otto e Mezzo, the only three-star Michelin-rated Italian restaurant outside of Italy (the name comes from film director Federico Fellini’s 1963 movie, 8½). Chef Umberto Bombana, formerly of the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, is a native of Bergamo, in northern Italy, and among his many talents is creating culinary masterpieces with white truffles—he’s been called the King of White Truffles. Bombana creates Italian dishes like veal tenderloin with black winter truffle and whipped potatoes, but he doesn’t limit himself to Italian ingredients. Asian ingredients are showcased in dishes like cavatelli with shellfish ragout, and abalone carpaccio, Hokkaido sea urchin, and tagliolini with lobster.
Three-Star Italian Food in Hong Kong
Chef Umberto Bombana, formerly of the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, is a native of Bergamo, in northern Italy, where the food is rich and hearty. His dishes—short ribs, scampi, house-made tagliolini with lobster—have earned the only three-star Michelin rating for an Italian restaurant outside Italy. —Alessia Antinori Shop 202, Landmark Alexandra, 18 Charter Rd., Central, 852/ 2537-8859. This appeared in the May 2013 issue.
Three Michelin-Starred Italian, First Outside of Italy
Otto e Mezzo is located in a Central shopping mall in Hong Kong, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a serious restaurant. It’s actually the first Italian restaurant outside of Italy to be awarded three Michelin stars. It offers a prix-fixe lunch menu that is an excellent value, as well as some of the best mixed cocktails in Hong Kong.
