DiVino Patio
Brim 28, 28 Harbour Road, Wan Chai
29 July 2012, Dinner
$100 per head
I've recently received an invitation from Divino Group's PR Miss I to try their newly opened Divino Patio (thanks Miss I!). Whilst I could not take her generous offer, I decided to give the restaurant a try with my fellow locust (Locusttunghok's review HERE) as well as Mr. and Mrs. C. A booking for four was made in the morning and we arrived soon after traffic returned to normal after the demonstration.
THE ENVIRONMENT
Located at the newly renovated Brim 28 (previously Sanlitun, on podium of Causeway Centre), the design and layout of the dining area looked decent and welcoming. True to its name there is an extensive outdoor dining area well enclosed by glass screens and planters, as is typical of stores at Brim 28. Unfortunately the combination of wide-open full-height partition-doors and a lack of a proper weak wind curtain meant that the “indoor” dining room was quite warm even after the sun has set. Tables seemed to be reasonably spaced although some may desire better separation. Lucky for us the booth seats were sufficiently spacious and comfortable.
One of the inner walls of the dining room was designed as a display wine cellar, which along with the draguht beer fonts were purely ornamational as the waiter explained that the premise has yet to obtain their liquor license (perhaps the white-wine-sipping pair sitting outdoors brought their own bottle) and therefore cannot sell any wine, spirits, cocktails or beer. The drinks list was accordingly and understandbly dismal, featuring only mocktails, juices, smoothies, coffee & tea as well as... cigars.
THE SERVICE
The lack of a liquor license was the beginning of the problems. The staff were under-trained and not ready for proper opening. Despite having booked a table for four no table was actually “reserved” – perhaps on their reservation book but as the waitress dropped the menus (the drinks list was only shown to us upon request), supposedly for us, on a table for two right by those full-height doors without even glancing at the book, we were pretty certain none was held and it was for sheer luck that we managed to occupy the last of the three booths.
The other waiter wasn’t much better trained – not only did he attempted to pour our bottled water for Mr. & Mrs. C who has yet to arrive, quite a bit of clatter was made pouring water for us locusts, an exercise which most wait-staff at restaurants of this pricing would manage without much problem. After Mr. & Mrs. C arrived, however, none of the wait-staff bothered to pour water for them – or none noticed.
To add to such under-preparedness, none of the staff every told us what the dishes were when they served it. Of course at a casual dining establishment one wouldn’t expect an extended speech on the composition and construction of the carpaccio, yet I believe recognizing the dish and telling the diners what is being served or at least telling the diners to “enjoy” would be preferred over simply dumping the plate on the table.
The manager was friendly and helpful, but he probably need better trained staff.
THE FOOD
Akin to most such restaurants, DiVino Patio serves a bread basket, or actually a bread “bag” with its name printed. I can only note that the grissini were obviously the packaged variety and that the grissini and the thin crisps were moist – like they’ve been left in the open for hours. And they were. When the manager later came to “add” to the bread bag, he simply took it away and took us another one from a table near the entrance. It may be too harsh to ask a $250-per-head restaurant to make their own grissini, but why couldn’t they at least store their bread properly?
Understanding that we might be in for a rather disappointing dinner, we held back on our planned pizza / pasta / roast piglet order and only asked for some bruschetta and antipasti, which proved to be a wise choice as after those we still had stomach space to go for some mussels at the neighbouring Frites.
Assorted Sauteed Mushrooms Bruschetta
Bruschetta ai funghi assortiti
The only satisfactory dish of the three ordered. A pile of sautéed mushroom on a piece of toasted bread can’t really be bad. Unless the mushroom are sour. This is the only dish we all liked.
Deep-Fried Calamari with Tartar sauce
Calamaretti fritti in pastella croccante, salsa tartara
Overcooked and over-battered
The calamaretti fritti was a disappointment. The “crispy batter” crust, although not too oily, was under-seasoned and for some pieces completely separated from the calamari. Some pieces were over-battered too. The calamari inside was overcooked and quite chewy. The sub-par and overly sour tartar sauce became the saving grace as it at least added some flavour to the calamari fritti. The calamari fritti served at Doppio Zero as a part of their set lunch (!!) is leagues above this version.
Divino’s Beef Carpaccio
Carpaccio di manzo con rucola, parmigiano reggiano e carciofini
Way too thick and dry on one side
Swimming in olive oil on the other side
Carpaccio are usually meat or fish that is thinly sliced or pounded thin before serving. Not this one. This was by far the thickest carpaccio I’ve ever eaten and probably as a result of that the meat was really quite chewy. The olive oil dressing was not even with one side of the dish pretty dry and the other side swimming in olive oil. The “parmigiano reggiano” were thick rubbery slices. No, I think the generic term “parmesan” (i.e. non DOP imitation of parmigiano reggiano) may be more suitable. Even those modestly priced parmigiano reggiano I used to get from Tesco were better in terms of both flavour and texture. I'd expect much better execution for a dish bearing the restaurant's name!
CONCLUSION
As I said in the title of the post, this place is not ready for opening yet. The staff were not ready, the liquor license was not ready (for a casual drinking / dining establishment? Come on) and from the quality of the food it seems the kitchen wasn’t quite ready either. I’m very tempted to just put this place in my “never return” list and bugger off, yet its menu is giving me pause – their choice of pasta and pizza screams confidence, and I definitely want to try their roasted piglet and the D.O.P. burrata. Probably not the “choice” grade tenderloin though…
So, there is really no conclusion. It's still early days for DiVino Patio, and when we return in maybe a month or two for their roasted piglet and that pizza with buffalo mozzarella, I hope they will be better geared. For the main course of this dinner last Saturday, though, we went for a kilo of house mussels with a pint of Stella / Leffe Blonde at Frites instead.
Summary (rated 1-5):
FOOD: (3/5)
SERVICE: (3/5) The manager was friendly and helpful, yet the wait-staff in general were under-trained.
ENVIRONMENT: (3/5) Comfortable and casual dining environment. Would have been a four but it was way too hot.
BIG LOCUST'S RECOMMENDATION: (3/5) I'd still give this place a re-visit for its promising menu.
