Dinner at an Italian Grocery Store @ Divino Patio Ristorante Bar Pizzeria

The idea of dinning at an Italian grocery store does not sound extremely attractive. What else I can have apart from tinned and pickled food? However, I had a rather nice treat of fresh and well-cooked food. Divino Patio is an alfresco-style Italian restaurant which is decorated like a grocery store. Hmm…I would say more groceries are needed to be more “authentic”. Anyway, I found the wooden furniture and ambience comfortable.

I tried the bread first when I was waiting for other food bloggers to come. I was rather disappointed upon touching the cold bread and even more frustrated by its taste. The grissini was bland and not crispy whereas the tomato focaccia was a bit too dry. I then noticed the filled bread baskets on every table including the empty ones. I doubt if it is a good idea of exposing the bread in this way. .

  

At Divino Patio, pizza is served first. This indeed challenged my understanding of Italian cuisine. According to the Chef, having carbohydrates at the beginning of a meal is common in his hometown. We had the traditional Magarita and Piccante. Magarita is always my favourite. The dough that night was a bit unconventional as it was modified (thinner) to suit the taste of the Hong-kongers. It had a cripsy crust and a chewy centre. It was interesting to have two different textures in one pizza, though. Most of us agreed that the Magarita (both tomato and mozzarella) was too thin for our taste while the Piccante (salami, tomato sauce and mozzarella) was probably a bit too salty. The restaurant was too generous on the salami slices.  

 

After filling up our stomach with pizzas, we then turned to the appetizers. The cold cut platters and cheese platters were indeed attractive! I was only able to grab a piece of beef shoulder cut which was really nice. As for the cheese, the creamy goat cheese most was most appealing, as the rest were too mild and ordinary for me. The Jam, honey and tomato salsa came with the cheese were the highlight of the dish. I wondered if they had used tomatillo to make the salsa as it was green.

A dish of Deep-fried Olives arrived when we were busy taking pictures of the platters. It was a hidden jewel. You may not expect much from the ordinary outlook of the fried olives, but the minced meat and olive inside were so tasty and carried a strong and poignant flavour! It would be a perfect match with beer.

The 250g Burrata was the dish I was longing for that night. The green leaves and red tomato did a good job of highlighting the burrata. Cladded in a snow white skin was the cheese. Beneath the beautiful cover, however, it was only a mediocre dish as it really lacked in flavour.

The Skewer of Spit roasted sausages with Cannellini beans and mashed potato was my favourite main dish that night. Augmented by the well-cooked Cannellini beans (Disclaimer: I am a bean lover!) and the generous portion of tomato sauce, the sausages were surprisingly delicious, and their strong meat flavour still stood out prominently among the many tastes offered by the dish! The  tenderness of the sausages was particularly noteworthy.

I spotted the Imported Vallespluga game hen spit roasted when I sat down. I was delighted to try this but disappointed by its inconsistency. While this is not KFC, but the texture of each pieces of chicken was different. Generally, they were overcooked to various extents. Besides, the herb seasoning was weak.

Even though I had a small bite on each of the dishes (excluding the cheese, which I had lot), I was too full to have anything other than desserts. However, Risotto Costef (with Taleggio cheese, asparagus and black truffle) smelled so good that I could not help having some. If you love risotto, don’t miss this. Not many Italian restaurants have their risotto done correctly, but this one did. Truffle and cheese never failed to please me. The tanginess of Taleggio matched so well with the risotto, without making it too sticky. I just wish the chef would have more combinations of risotto.

I was really impressed by the chef because of the last two traditional Italian dishes. The home-made ravioli filled with minced Ossobuco Meat was one. Ossobuco is a mixture of meat, bone marrow and usually garnished with orange zest and basil. Its strong flavour makes it really good fillings of ravioli. The only thing I would complain was that the ravioli skin could be thinner.

Fortunately, I reserved some room for desserts, which was Sicilian Cannoli. It is a traditional Italian pastry but is far less popular than tiramisu in Hong Kong. It went really well with coffee. The well-baked pastry was rolled in tube shape and filled with creamy ricotta cheese. It was a beautiful demonstration of the beautiful simplicity of Italian cuisine. What I love most was that some orange zest was also added to the ricotta, giving it a refreshing twist to the traditional desserts. Instead of the rather irrelevant espresso sauce, I prefer a cappuccino to go with the cannoli.

You just could not miss tiramisu in an Italian restaurant especially when the chef is an Italian. Putting the tiramisu in a jar really makes it appealing, as you can see its lovely cross-section. This was not the best tiramisu I had, but was good enough. The smooth mascarpone cheese, lady fingers soaked with espresso and the cocoa powder were so yummy that I had to give extra effort in the gym next day. It could be even better if the lady fingers were more consistent, especially in terms of moistness.

Overall, the food was above-average. Traditional Italian dishes such as risotto, ravioli and cannoli were really worth trying. It is a nice place for happy hour or alfresco dinning, provided that they have a good wine list. As for the service, there was nothing to complain about. Constructive response to previous criticisms in OR, perhaps? I hope our comments on the food will also gain their attention.


Divino Patio Ristorante Bar Pizzeria

Shop 11, 1/F, Causeway Centre(Brim 28), 28 Harbour Road, Wan Chai

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