Osteria Marzia

HK$650 per person

Osteria Marzia’s selling point is clear the moment you set foot into the restaurant. At the entrance is an array of globally sourced whole fresh fish on ice, which may include sea bass, sea bream, barramundi, amadai and more. The cooking, however, is classic Italian and depending on the fish, will be grilled, salt-baked, cooked in a brown butter and caper sauce, or poached in a tomatoey broth (acqua pazza). The menu proper continues the celebration of southern Italian coastal cuisine, with simply prepared hot and cold dishes using top ingredients. Rustic chitarra pasta is studded with chunks of Boston lobster, while a seafood tower is packed with fire-roasted shellfish and fish swimming in a buttery, mild chilli sauce. Complementing the food is the nauticalchic, double-height dining room, which unfortunately looks out onto a busy Wan Chai flyover. Staff, nattily dressed in blue-and-white striped tops, are attentive and well informed; the sommelier recommended Tascante Ghiaia Nera, an easy-drinking Sicilian red from the exclusively Italian wine list, to match the more robust seafood dishes.

G/F, The Fleming, 41 Fleming Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong TEL: +852 3607 2253 osteriamarzia.com.hk