Mom's HK Michelin tour day 3: pasta! pasta!

The main draw to get mom to come over this time is the white truffle from Alba. The season has started, and I convinced her to come to Hong Kong during the short season so that she could taste truffles that are better in quality compared to what she could get in Taipei. One of the obligatory stops on this tour, therefore, would be 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana. He is, after all, the undisputed truffle king.

The great thing about dining here is the option to go à la carte, which allows for control of food intake. We would, of course, have some classic dishes for the white truffle, but it also meant we could choose something else.

Raw amaebi, beetroot - we said nothing when asked about dietary preferences, so of course Four Sheets hits the jackpot with both the raw prawns and the beetroot. Not too bad for me, though, as I like the raw amaebi (甘海老) and the beetroot wasn't terrible.

Homemade tagliolini, butter, Parmesan and Alba white truffle - always my favorite. Wouldn't dream of not having this. Of course they are still very generous with the white truffle.

That combination of butter, Parmiggiano-Reggiano and truffle is just... MUAH!

Chitarra spaghetti, Sicilian red prawn, Datterino tomato and citrus - yes, I had myself two plates of pasta. This used to be my favorite dish, back when the prawns still had their amazing heads attached. These days they've taken the heads off and used them to cook the amazing shellfish sauce that the chitarra is covered in - and the sauce IS richer because of this - but I do miss the act of sucking the goodies out of those heads. Still love everything about this pasta, though.

White truffle gelato, poached pear, vanilla cream - I saw this on the menu so I didn't hesitate to order it. It was pretty nice, but what I should have done was to order the white truffle sgroppino...

For mom, she took the marinated shimaji (sp), autumn vegetables, anchovy pressing, Alba white truffle to start, followed by the risotto, mushroom jus, Alba white truffle. I think she was pretty happy...

We opened a couple of bottles for the occasion, with one of them being something a little special.

2012 Emidio Pepe Trebbiano d'Abruzzo - surprisingly smoky and also very toasty. Good acidity and body, with some ripenss on the nose. Pretty round on the palate with food. No longer toasty an hour later, but the alcohol was pretty prominent on the palate.

1940 Pichon Lalande, rebouché au château en 1991 - served undecanted 15 minutes after opening. Big, open nose that was very smoky, with sweet fruit. Showing some green grass some 30 minutes after opening, drinking very nicely, with plenty of cedar notes. Can't stay in glass too long as acidity comes out too quickly. Sediment started to get in the glass after several pours. More than an hour after opening this showed some prunes, and earthy notes about 1½ hours after opening. With a fresh pour we've got sweet fruit on the nose, but acidity was still high, and tannins starts to make itself felt. Then a little savory and smoky like soy sauce. Pretty nice.

Michelin stars this meal: 3

Total Michelin stars so far this trip: 4