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COVA Caffè-Ristorante
Cova has long been one of our favourite places to go whenever we crave Italian food, Opened in Hong Kong more than 25 years years ago, Cova, whose history went back to 1817 when the first Cova Patisserie opened in Milan, has become a fixture in the city’s dining scene, known for both its excellent Italian fare and its highly popular cakes, desserts and chocolates. Today, Cova’s operates a portfolio of outlets comprising ristorantes, cafes, and pasticceria-confetterrias, across the city.
Our dining choice is the elegant Cova Ristorante, located in Lee Gardens in Causeway Bay. Our visit this time was to try out Cova’s new menu, which is undergoing a subtle but noticeable change. Specifically, Cova is offering a livelier, more casual menu which emphasises the use of premium Italian ingredients and adopts a homier and simpler cooking approach.
The task of creating a new menu falls to Executive Chef Sergio Landi, who hails from Naples. Landi’s earned his pedigree under master chef Vicenzo Cammerucci in Milan. He then worked in Spain, France, USA, and Russia before joining Cova nine years ago, and in the process, developed his own style of modern European cooking.
The setting at Cova is familiar to us - clean, wood-accented décor with a comfortable-looking dining area adorned with white tablecloths. The booths and dining tables are generously spaced out, offering understated intimacy and privacy for guests.
For our dinner, we sampled some of Cova’s signature dishes and fabulous desserts. We started with three starters. The first, Parma ham & red wine poached peach ($120), is hand-sliced prosciutto garnished with slices of differently prepared peach, including a red wine poached peach with a nice, tangy taste. Next is Marinated salmon with radish ($140), in which slices of beetroot marinated salmon is served with radish and creamy avocado mousse. The last starter is a popular favourite, Burrata cheese with mixed tomatoes ($155), in which Italian heirloom tomato, watermelon and olive oil help add flavour to the burrata cheese.
For hot dishes, the Scallop aop ($290), linguine with giant sea scallop - usually from Hokkaido, garlic, chili and olive oil., is a real treat. As is Wagyu paccheri ($160) in which slowed-cooked wagyu ribs is served with half paccheri pasta in tomato sauce and fresh ricotta. Another excellent dish is Avocado langoustine spaghetti ($280), and is Cod with mixed seafood ($250); the baked cod fillet and mixed seafood plus Italian cherry tomato is cooked nicely in wine sauce.
We wrapped up our lively and delicious meal with Cova’s signature Tiramisu glass ($90) and a delightful concoction Mango dome slice ($90) plus Assorted Chocolate ($128/100g) from its confetterria.
Cova offers a selection of reasonably priced wines; ours included a nice prosecco, a dry and light white wine and a fruity and full-bodied red wine from xxxx. Cova also offers a premium collection of wines on request.
Though its menu has changed adroitly to appeal to a younger clientele, we are happy to see that Cova manages to maintain its lofty standards and quality. Young or old, for an enchanting Italian dining experience, we highly recommend Cova.
