Mediterranean flavors
Updated: 2015-01-16 05:30
By Maggie Beale(HK Edition)
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Isono Eatery & Bar has an open-plan design soaring up to the 7th floor from its 6th floor base. It can seat up to 120 guests, and has four private rooms. From the courtyard there's elevator access at the end of a passageway showcasing a number of shops.
The more formal restaurant on the 7th floor is Vasco Fine Dining. Both restaurants are led by Chef Paolo Casagrande from two-Michelin-starred Lasarte Restaurant in Barcelona.
Isono is ideal for celebrating any and all occasions in a relaxed manner and the welcoming venue is large and airy, informal but comfortable with a couple of neat balconies and a grand circular bar.
The menu lists typical Mediterranean dishes (Spanish, French and Italian) and with the option of half or full-size portions the food is ideal for sharing. Adding to the attraction there's a list of innovative cocktails built to match the dishes.
This new initiative of cocktails with food is just sweeping the up-market bars and restaurants across the sophisticated world. Unlike wines, cocktails can be invented and tweaked to match perfectly with a dish. Ideally, it is a collaboration between a top food chef and bartenders with sensitive palates, who understand balance and complexity and who draw inspiration from each other to successfully pair food with drinks and vice versa.
At Isono, Chef de Cuisine Luca Marinelli and Bar Manager Wallace Lau (Diageo World Class Hong Kong Champion 2014) are taking the guesswork out of what to drink with a multi-dish dinner by pairing inspired dishes with innovative cocktails.
One popular choice is the Pata Negra Platter served on a wooden board that offers generous portions of 60-month Iberico Ham, Lomito and Salami. The meat-rich dish is paired with Isono Negroni, a cocktail blend that includes Botanic Gin, Carpano Antica and Campari (tasting shot HK$35, glass HK$120).
The Conquest cocktail has Calvados, lemon juice and lime bitters making it an interesting and somewhat fruity foil for the appetizer Terrine de Campagne with Fennel.
Ideal also for lazy afternoons, girl-friends lunches or self-pampering, there are 8 cocktails on the list designed to match desserts; the Ciao Bambino cocktail has chocolate, Frangelico and Nutella Biscotti and it is a real sweetheart when paired with the Piedmonte Hazelnut Creme Brulee.
I enjoyed a preview of a "Lift Me Up" cocktail that is made from an inspired mixture of Bailey's Irish Cream and Espresso coffee served hot with a perfectly balanced dessert of Domory Chocolate Coulant and Bailey's Ice Cream.
The salted cod croquettes with aioli were deliciously crispy on the outside, and soft and gooey on the inside at HK$115 regular and HK$195 for large.
There is a good selection of Cold and Hot appetizers, pastas and paellas, and superior Charcuterie that includes a tasty Iberico chorizo at HK$98 and HK$148.
Seafood includes Bluefin tuna from the Mediterranean sea. And there's a mouth-watering selection of artisanal cheeses (two selections for HK$120) that includes a rich Camembert Affine' au Calvados - the delicious apple-based liqueur from France.
Prime cuts of Iberian pork, dry-aged beef and spring chicken are grilled in a real charcoal oven with prices starting from HK$245.
The drinks list is extensive - wine, sherry, port, liqueurs, and a range of spirits including whiskies from Scotland, the United States, Japan and Ireland.
Prices at Isono are affordable, quality is prime, and the menu allows flexibility for sharing. Regular sized starters are between HK$110 and HK$220, while mains range from HK$200 to HK$400 for the regular size.
For China Daily
(HK Edition 01/16/2015 page7)