Guaranteed quality Italian food, friendly service and a chic atmosphere that draws in crowds week after week.
If you're living in Hong Kong and enjoy having nice meals out with friends, lovers, your partner or family, you would have heard of Pici. If you haven't, you're hearing it from me now. Let me tell you, Pici is the place to be.
If you love Italian, you will love Pici. Even if you're not a fan of the cuisine, you will definitely appreciate the Pici dining experience.
Pici Pasta Bar by the Pirata Group
What began as a simple Italian affair by the Pirata Group has blown into a city-wide sensation with 5 locations and counting. If you've been to this fresh pasta bar, you would know exactly why.
Considering the quality, fine Italian food & wine, and brilliant service - its reasonable price for the full-package experience is worth every penny. The restaurant has a welcoming décor, with it's half-open window-wall façade that allows passerby to peek into all the fun happening inside.
Usually dimly lit with stone top bar tables and wooden high chairs to the side, small wooden tables on the floor, the atmosphere in Pici is always casual, chic, fun and inviting with a touch of snazz. The staff there are seamless in their service - the most welcoming and quick to share a joke. It truly is the place to bring special people in your lives, be it friends, family, lover(s) or close acquaintances.
What I love best about Pici is their tasting menu which gives you a starter per person, no. of diners + 1 in mains, and a dessert per person. In other words, bring a few friends along and you'll be able to try the full range of their fresh pasta.
For starters
Other than the constant supply of bread you'd get for your balsamic olive oil dip, Pici has a range of starters that's great to kickstart a brilliant afternoon or evening. From their truffle beef tartare, to their creamy burrata cheese and my all-time favourite, tuna tartare, Pici delivers them satisfyingly well.
When it comes to the tuna tartare, the fish fresh and light, the avocado creamy and the onion pickles delicately sweet n' sour. It definitely is my go-to starter at Pici.
Bring in the pasta!
An al dente that is hard to achieve in fresh pasta
Whilst the menu at Pici may change slightly depending on the restaurant location, there is always a solid list of staples. From their creamy pici cacio e pepe, earthy orecchiette n'duja, to the homey parppadelle ragu, they never disappoint. All their fresh pasta has a nice bite to it. The chunky pici goes well with its thick peppery cheese coating, the rounded orecchiette embraces the sausage meat, and the parppadelle dances with the slow-cooked ragu. It's always a party at Pici.
The staple main for me however is their truffle taglioni. The right level of silkiness and bite from the pasta is paired with the right type of funk from the creamy truffle sauce. It's a pile of Italian goodness that is highly satisfying.
The finale
The meal doesn't end until we reach that sweet finale, and at Pici, it comes usually in the form of a tiramisu. Claimed by their staff to be the best in town, Pici delivers this dessert with seemingly casual finesse. The delicately sweet mascarpone filling blends effortlessly with the coffee-soaked lady finger biscuits. Topped off with a generous dusting of bitter cocoa powder, it's a dessert you can't stop diving your spoon into.
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And it doesn't end there, if you're friendly with the staff. Your meal could end with a nice shot of limoncello on the house that gives you a nice little kick of buzz if you haven't already soaked in plenty from the entire experience.
Extra notes
Like most other Pirata Group restaurants, Pici has a walk-ins only policy. Whilst this arrangement usually leads to 40min waits on a Friday night, it is the perfect opportunity to grab a glass of red or white, and have a chat with your dining partner(s) outside the restaurant. Centrally located in vibrant districts, your dining experience will begin then.
Buon appetito!