PECORINO — Restaurant in Hong Kong

I rarely feel emboldened to write a review. I came here for the Birthday of my friend on Sunday night. First of all we queued for an hour before being seated, and when we sat down there were 10 of us. They didn’t offer us any drinks after standing in the heat. They gave us 4 menus between 10 people which was not a great sign. We had to wave somebody down to take our order as nobody came around, once they did I asked for the risotto, sold out, I said okay the chicken please, sold out, the steak? Sold out. Nobody had bothered to tell us when we were sat down that so many dishes were sold out. Once we had ordered, the first main came out within 10/15 minutes which was a great start. Over 40 minutes later we were still waiting on other mains. We were calling waiters over time after time to check on the rest of the mains. They simply told us it’s being “made fresh”. When the last main finally came there was no apology or acknowledgement of how late they were at all. The mains we were all waiting for, one of which also happened to be that of the Birthday girl!

Two girls in the group slipped away and asked if we could get a dessert for the birthday girl. Only for them to tell us that last orders had been and gone. Nobody had bothered to tell our table final orders were up! So then we were offered a “Happy Birthday” sign in a single piece of Focaccia! How pathetic. The service was abysmal. My friend when settling the bill remarked again at how dissatisfied we were at the service, they offered only to remove the service charge, not the four dishes that came 30 minutes,and upwards, later than the rest.

The three dishes I had requested were the only seemingly Gluten free options on the menu and as they were all sold out I had to settle on just the burrata and tomato salad, which was very disappointing $125 for just a small part of ball of burrata and a couple of bits of tomato. From the dishes nearest me they smelled extremely garlicky. So not sure the food was even worth the wait in all honesty.

I definitely DO NOT recommend...

I realised what is wrong with this place - the concept is great, and the location bight and airy with high ceilings. Pastel colours, minimalist ceiling fittings, good table spacing, showcase pasta making station, showcase gas-fired stone-floored pizza oven covered with mosaic tiles.

But the staff let the whole place down. It’s staffed with kids who don’t care. They look disinterested, unhappy and just want to get on with the job.

The lady clearing my plates dropped sauce on my phone as her movements were neither careful nor delicate enough; the pizza oven looks like a masterpiece but the pizza is mediocre due to poor technique. The dough is too wet, the tomato sauce too watery, and a large dollop of burrata on each pizza slice further dilutes the flavour and contributes to general sogginess. A good pizzaiolo would continually test and imporve technique but this one is just doing a job it seems, without regard to quality or improving technique.

The lemon chicken is drowned in boiling hot oil which is slightly disgusting and greasy. Maybe they should provide an additional plate with oil-absorbant paper to absorb the excess oil before the chicken can be consumed. The chicken itself is poorly marinaded and lightly seasoned, which makes it cardboardy and tasteless. They provide a half-lemon, which actually enhances the flavour alot but it is not served in an easily used manner so that I noticed most people just left the entire half lemon sitting on the side untouched - same as I did until I could not stand the blandness of the chicken and squashed it on my remaining chicken through a convuluted technique risking a big splash on my jacket.

The pasta is tasty for sure, but the portion is a bit mean.

The wine list is pathetic though cheap at least.

I think this restaurant has great potential but if they don’t do something about the above issues then when the newness of the place wears off in this hyper-competitive and fickle market, it will meet...

This is my second time at Pecorino! As a French living in Hong Kong I tend to miss some western taste and Pecorino is making the type of Napolitain pizza you usually cannot find here 🍕

The pizza are simple and tasty with good quality ingredients which make the difference you don’t need extravagante options. (I would just add the texture of the bread the second time I came might have been less cooked from inside but in general it is fine)

They also do home-made pasta 🍝 which is amazing, you can see them do it through the window. The pasta itself has a good taste but I think the sauce can be improved. (We took the Cacio e Pepe the first time but were deceived by the sauce so didn’t order pasta the second time.) You could feel the pepper but not the cheese which is supposed to link the taste between the sauce and the pasta.

As for the dessert, the first time we tried the Tiramisu which is good and homemade, you can taste it! But a little too creamy/heavy on the long run I would say. So the second time we tried the ice creams 🍨 the Olive Oil one is quite good and yummy, the mix of salty/sweet taste is nice and enjoyable. Then the Rosemary Sorbet was refreshing but I would say too sweet and too much flavoured in taste. At the start of the meal, they served you the traditional Italian bread with olive oil to make you wait until your order is ready. I like that, the bread is really good! 🫒

Overall, I would put a 4,5/5 and I would still come back, the combination of the good quality food, the mood and music are enough to make you have a...