Cova (2007-02-15)
We've had Chinese food for days and I needed some western food for a change. KL and I walked past Cova several times and liked what they had to offer, so we ate lunch there on a Friday.
The menu in Cova is entirely in Italian and English. I guess
if you only read Chinese (which is not YOU because you're reading this
article right now), it may be a bit of a hassle to get the waitstaff to
explain everything on the menu. Almost everyone around us ordered
the set
lunch which included an antipasti buffet or soup, pasta and coffee for
HK$168/US$21. We opted for the meat dish instead of pasta which
charged HK$198/US$29. For HK$268, you can get everything (pasta
and meat) with dessert thrown in which is not unreasonably expensive.
The restaurant looks swanky with crisp white linen table cloth and napkins but requires little dress code. I saw some locals including me dressed in jeans and we were as welcomed as the suited man at the next table. Service was attentive and efficient. The maitre d' and every waitstaff were courteous and eager to please us. The waitress who took our order specifically asked KL which one of us got which entree as he was ordering for both of us. Later when the entree was brought to us by a different person, he confidently placed the correct dish in front of us without having to ask who ordered what. That is a sign of good service.
Remember the lunch with the antipasti buffet at
Zazza in Omotesando
Hills? This one at Cova was HUGELY better with superb quality
food on the antipasti table. The baby octopus was so tender in a
tomatoey olive
sauce. The prosciutto-draped super sweet rock melon was classic
and delicious. The croquette (don't know what kind) was tasty and
crunchy, and the stuffed tomatoes moist and flavorful. The cured
meat was very good although there were only three kinds to choose
from. Everything was worth eating seconds but I was too
full to do that. One plate is enough to fill me up and
I've still got entree (main) to come.
KL's fish entree was big with a good-sized piece of sea bass AND
salmon. The fish was soooo very moist and delicious, so great was
the salmon (yea, I pinched two big chunks of his fish to "taste",
BWHAHAHA) that I even ate the crispy skin, something I would never do
normally. But they didn't braise my Braised Veal Shank enough
which
resulted in non-tender meat. The serving size again was
very generous and I couldn't finish all the pureed veggies on my plate
but I did finish the veal.
Again, we had an excellent lunch and totally satiated.
Cova Ristorante & Caffe Harbour City, Tsimshatsui Tel: 2907-3882
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