A jewel among nine dragons
The lobby lounge at the Kowloon Shangri-La.
However, not everybody is in the first throes of love.
And even those who are still in the mutually contagious phase of their passion get hungry from time to time.
For both groups, the food at Angelini is worth the trip.
In fact some of it is so good it would be worth a trip to Italy, and Hong Kong is much closer. Looked at from that perspective, a trip to Angelini is a bargain.
Some food critics hate food and despise chefs.
Those who have seen the wonderful Pixar animated film “Ratatouille” will have caught sight of Anton Ego, a dour critic in the all-chefs-are-venal vein.
Others love food and admire the creativity and courage of those who dare to cook for the public, day in and day out, despite clients who are often difficult, at best.
Angelini Restaurant
Angelini’s corps de cuisine seems to have several chefs in this category, ably led by Johnny Chan.
We began with his spring lobster marinated in a basil reduction and served with a tomato confit and a serving of tuna tartar.
The Kowloon Shangri-La, aware of recent scares about Chinese food, say they use only the freshest ingredients. And their kitchens are the only ones in Hong Kong that operate the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (or HACCP) system devised by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ensure food safety.
In addition, Angelini flies in produce from Italy three times a week and its seafood comes from HACCP- certified suppliers in Australia.
The result, in our case, was lobster and tuna that had a vivacity on the tongue I have rarely experienced, except when eating oysters directly from the ocean.
As I looked at the sublime view I sipped a glass of Donnafugata from the Contessa Entellina vineyard in Sicily. This white wine was the perfect accompaniment. With a morsel of lobster and a few drops of Donnafugata in my mouth I felt like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were dancing on my tongue.
We had begun the evening with aperitifs in the Shangri-La’s lobby lounge, beneath a mural painted by British artist Malcolm Golding. In Cantonese, Kowloon or Geo Lung means nine dragons and these mythical creatures appear in the mural as clouds.
It felt like sacrilege to break open this carapace, but I’m glad we did. The fish had a wonderfully fresh flavor that did almost as much dancing on my tongue as the spring lobster.
The sea bass was also the perfect companion to the remains of the Donnafugata, a remarkable wine from an underestimated region and full marks to Angelini for knowing of its existence.
We moved on to baby goat roasted with mint and rosemary.
In most of Europe this dish usually features lamb, but in Tuscany goat is the meat of choice. Roasted in a clay pizza oven, it was almost as succulent as the sea bass. The recommended wine, a 2003 Zanna Montepulciano d’Abruzzo from Illuminati had excellent body and a long finish. A perfect red for an earthy dish.
Eighty percent of the food served in Angelini is grown by small producers in Italy who have been personally selected by the restaurant’s chefs. The dishes that are created here are not cheap but they are impressively authentic. If you can afford one of the hotel’s beautiful harbor view suites, stay overnight and complete an experience that will tide you over until your next trip to Florence.
Angelini
English: Spoken with brio
Tel: 852 2721 2111
Hours: 11 a.m to 10 p.m daily
Location: Kowloon Shangri-La,
64 Mody Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Dress Code: Smart
Parking: Valet and Underground
By Daniel Jeffreys
Features Editor [danielj@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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