Associazione Chianti — Restaurant in Hong Kong Island

Recently I have had the pleasure of dining in another Black Sheep Group restaurant. This restaurant is known for its Tuscan Italian cuisine, but its speciality is the Black Cattle American Dry-aged steaks.

The location of the restaurant was indeed super convenient and easy to find. Taxis and cars can easily drop you off, and it is a 5 minute walk from the Wan Chai MTR Station and Lee Tung Avenue where you can further check out more stores and just hang out.

The restaurant lighting was dimmed, which I preferably don't enjoy so much, but Steakhouses often use dim lighting to highlight the prepared items on the table. The signature decoration of the restaurant were the big candle sticks which were a nice warm touch. The background music was Italian and American, you can tell if you've been to enough Black Sheep Group restaurants, that its Black Sheep Groupy-songs.

The hospitality was great as waiters kindly greeted us in, helped us with recommendations, wine selections, turning down the AC, picture taking, all with a smile.

The dishes that we ordered are "Beef Tartare" composed of raw beef, chives, parsley, mustard, shallots, and bread crackers for the starter. Which was an delicious and refreshing to the pallet, as the dish was cold and mustard gave it a nice tang.

For Pastas we ordered the "Parpadelle Pork Ragu" which is composed of Hand-cut pasta with a beef and pork ragu and parmesan. Also the "Pici Pomodoro Pasta" composed of hand-rolled pasta, Pomodoro sauce, parmesan, and basils. The Ragu sauce was amazing, pasta was el dente, and you can tell that the sauce has been simmering for a while, and you can really taste the deepness of flavours. The Pici pomodoro was also amazing, the pasta was el dente, and the sauce was creamy and tangy from the tomatoes, which gave it an overall good balance. But one thing I didn't really enjoy was the portion size. Given that each pasta dish was around 250 HKD, we were given a pretty small portion. I guess its quality over quantity, but I think it would be better if they gave us a couple more grams of pasta.

The last dish we ordered was the signature "1kg T-bone steak" and "250g Fillet Mignon" for Entres. The Fillet Mignon was super tender and was delicious, although it was a little bit salty. The 1kg T-bone steak was absolutely incredible, heavy marbling, perfect searing and cook (medium rare). The meat was plentiful and seasoned well, and it was great to have the bone and try to get some more meat off of it. The steaks came with two side dishes and a shallot butter sauce. Braised spinach, and seared mixed mushrooms, both with a lemon slice on the side. The sauce paired beautifully with the two steaks. There was no doubt this was incredibly delicious but also so oily at the same time, I think there also should be an small portion of a salad with a vinaigrette or some tangy dressing to cut through the oiliness of the dish to balance it out. The steak is good to share with about 2-5 people to get a bang for your buck.

Additionally, before the starters, they kindly gave us raw vegetables (carrots, cucumbers, radishes, cherry tomatoes, and lettuce) to dip with olive oil with salt and an almond dressing. As well as in between the starter and pastas they also kindly gave us fresh garlic bread, it was delicious but a bit oily. Sadly, we did not get desert as we were too full, but from what I saw a cake from other tables that looked pretty good.

Overall, my family and I had a wonderful time at this establishment and had no disappointments, it was delicious and filling. Great place to be with family, friends, co workers, and partners. Will definitely return this fine establishment again. Thank you for the...

Associazione Chianti is Black Sheep's latest restaurant opening, offering diners a Tuscan trattoria experience on Ship Street in Wanchai. Opening hours are 6pm to 10.45pm (Sun - Thurs) and 6pm to 11.30pm (Fri-Sat).

Note: Being a new restaurant, Associazione Chianti is very popular at the moment. As such, best to reserve a table through their website if you intend to dine anytime soon, especially on weekends.

Seating is nice at the restaurant. You'll find white-tiled walls with Tuscan decor, red backed wall seating with two rows of tables, a fairly traditional trattoria setup. There is a meat counter at the front of the restaurant displaying the beef cuts. Look to the other side and you'll notice the steaks being dry-aged behind the opposite counter.

The house speciality is Bistecca alla Fiorentina, making use of dry-aged U.S. Black Angus beef. This is what we tried during our recent meal at Associazione Chianti. The steak was around 2.5 fingers thick and around 1kg in weight. The steak was well-seasoned and grilled perfectly at medium-rare (learning to the rare side). There were no overdone ends nor was the meat nearest to the bone too rare.

The steak was shown at the table after grilling, was then sliced. A layer of brown butter was applied before serving. Overall, we found the taste pretty good and enjoyed eating the Bistecca alla Fiorentina. This is a lot of meat for two people so arrive hungry. Best to order a side to eat along the steak as well. We had spinach, it tasted just fine.

A couple of notes about Bistecca alla Fiorentina, given the high price of this steak (HK$1200). I did expect staff to be able to answer questions more specifically about the steak. They informed that the steak had been dry-aged for between 10-20 days. At this price point, a more specific response was expected. Also, it would have been nicer to show the steak at the table prior to grilling, not just afterwards. That would have a simple and really nice touch to the Bistecca alla Fiorentina experience at Associazione Chianti.

Otherwise, we also had the Pecorino al Fieno starter. This was a handful of slices of 12 month aged pecorino, lathered with honey infused with thyme and served with pear slices. This was a nice way to kick-off our meal, a good balance of flavours and texture. For dessert we tried the Torta dalla Nonna, a Tuscan tart that was moist, lightly sweet with zestful lemon flavours. It was a good choice after our steak.

As for drinks, there is a nice wine list mostly consisting of Chianti labels. We found the house red to be just fine with our steak. A well made negroni was enjoyed prior to our meal as well. Last note that we found staff to be friendly, polite and timely throughout our meal.

In the end, for a newly opened restaurant, the Associazione Chianti team did a good job on the evening and we really liked our dining experience here. This is another good one by the Black Sheep group and a place we look forward to dining at again later...

In my career, I have had the pleasure and extreme fortune of sitting at the tables and experiencing the fares of culinary luminaries such as Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, Padma Lakshmi, Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, Michelle Bernstein, and the most passionate of them all, Kerry Simon. I've indulged in "food marathons" with my wife across Asia, Europe, and far-off dots on the map. Yet, it is a rare and most delightful occurrence to be completely surprised and delighted by a chance culinary experience.

To our immense joy, this happened just last night in Hong Kong. We've been here for close to two months, exploring the vibrant gastronomic scene with its over 28,000 restaurants, passionately sampling breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and countless off-meal snacks. However, after last night’s experience at the Associazione Chianti in Wan Chai, I was compelled to rise from my bed this morning to write about what has been swirling in my mind all night.

Upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by Sergio with a warm welcome and an enticing preview of the culinary delights to come. The room buzzed with the sound of diners genuinely enjoying their food and the ambiance of this Italian bistro, which, for me, evoked the charm of a Parisian hideaway.

As we settled into our seats, the aroma of freshly baked bread, waves of garlic, and the melodic pop of corks transported us from the bustling streets of Hong Kong to a romantic European enclave. The sommelier, Peter soon arrived at our table, reciting poetic descriptions of wines that perfectly complemented the evening’s fare, enhancing our dining experience right from the start.

Each menu inquiry was met with lyrical, mouth-watering descriptions from Sergio making it impossible to resist the culinary covenants offered. Every course arrived flawlessly. We watched in awe as our steak tartare was prepared in a beautiful olive wood bowl, and with envy as dishes we couldn’t fit on our table danced past us, tantalizingly close.

Our only regret was the eventual absence of these delicacies from our plates after eaten. We felt utterly spoiled and treated like rock stars, only to realize that the staff treated every guest with the same passion and dedication.

The evening concluded with a cloud-like authentic Italian Tiramisu, followed by digestifs that did not disappoint. Before leaving, we had the pleasure of meeting a young international trainee from Korea, whose passion for food and eagerness to learn every aspect of Associazione Chianti’s kitchen was truly inspiring. On a commendable note, the restaurant group supports the development of young international talents, helping them grow, learn, and achieve their dreams, whether in a kitchen in Hong Kong or back on their home streets.

If I were to rate Associazione Chianti and its staff, it would undoubtedly be 20 out of 10. My jaded international palate is still spinning, and I anticipate becoming a regular patron, a true denizen of...