We found a gem of a bargain-basement restaurant in this unsuspecting place.  We were looking for a restaurant for an early dinner and Google Maps came to the rescue with Saizeriya Ristorante E Caffe (薩莉亞意式餐廳), a restaurant serving Italian food that had decent reviews.

It was one of the many restaurants located in the Park Summit shops in Tai Kok Tsui.  We took the elevator to the second floor where Saizeriya Ristorante E Caffe was.  It was a very simply decorated restaurant with bright lights and cheap-looking tables and booths.  We were seated right away at a booth table.

Upon looking at the menu, I was so impressed to see a huge variety of Italian dishes that were super affordable.  There was doria, pasta, pizza, salads, soups, appetizers, risotto, grilled items, and lots of Italian desserts.  I knew that this restaurant was mainly Chinese-taste-buds-centric so the Italian dishes wouldn’t be authentic, but the prices were very attractive.  The portion of the dishes didn’t look too big either, so we decided to order one round of food first (so that we could enjoy the hot food before ordering a second round).

They also had house red wine and white wines as well as beer.  I got a bottle of their French beer, Kronenbourg 1664, 300 ml, for 19 HKD.  It was great to go with the food.

The first item to arrive was the Seafood Chowder (chowder soup with various kinds of seafood, Saizeriya’s best seller) that was only 12 HKD.  It was a good portion and not thin in consistency either.  There were lots of clams and seafood as well.  Yummy!

The Black Pepper Steamed Clams on Iron Plate was the best thing ever!!!  These were clams baked in the oven and were perfectly done.  Each clam was open and tasted incredibly fresh.  If nothing else, you have to try this appetizer!  It was only 19 HKD too.

We ordered a side of Garlic Baguettes (basically garlic bread) that was 10 HKD.  It was perfect and tasty.

This next dish was the best thing as well.  We got the grilled lamb rack with a side of corn and potatoes for only 69 HKD!  Sometimes, when I find these gem of a restaurant for good-tasting food at unbeatable prices, it’s almost better than the fancy tasting menus that I love.  There’s just an unbeatable fulfilment that comes with discovering these restaurants. 😀

Anyway, the Grilled Lamb Rack (three pieces) were served with Mediterranean spice.  The lamb rack was so juicy and in good portions.  I couldn’t believe how good the dish was.

That concluded our first round of food.  For our second round, we started off with the Grilled Greenshell Mussels with Vegetable Salsa.  This looked good on the menu and was something that my mom really wanted to try.  This was only 24 HKD.  Unfortunately, these fell short when compared to the clams.  The mussels were just okay.  The vegetable salsa on top of the mussels were a little overly burnt, which made it inedible.

There is a lot of vegetarian options in their menu and while this next dish wasn’t fully vegetarian, I can see how their vegetarian dishes would be delicious as well.  This next dish was a Baked Chicken and Spinach with White Sauce for 25 HKD.  It was baked chicken and spinach with Saizeriya white sauce in a pot.  This was delicious as you can imagine due to the creamy white sauce covering the tender chicken morsels and smooth spinach leaves.  It was so good!  (Their white sauce is directly imported from Australia and made from milk and butter.)

(Their other baked dishes like the baked Meat Doria and baked Mushrooms & Cream Risotto looked so appealing as well.)

We had the Northern Shrimp Salad, an “number 1 all-time favourite salad”.  It contained fresh lettuce and tomatoes with some sweet shrimps on top.  It was actually really good too.  The greens were so fresh.

The last thing we ordered was dessert.  I couldn’t walk away without trying their Italian desserts!  The Italian Custard Pudding was 16 HKD and “made with an ancient Roman recipe and has a basic full-flavoured taste of egg and milk”.  There was caramel on top of the pudding.  It was rich, eggy, chilled, and quite tasty!

The second dessert that I had to try was their tiramisu.  You can really tell the skill of a restaurant if they have this classic Italian dessert (at least that’s my opinion) since it’s such a common and well-known dessert in Italian cuisine.

The Tiramisu for 18 HKD was made of cream mixed with zabagilion, mascarpone cheese, and fresh cream on top of coffee soaked sponge, and finished with a dash of cocoa powder on the top.  This tiramisu was wrapped with parchment paper, which I peeled away to eat the dessert.  The sponge was perfectly soaked with coffee and the entire dessert was creamy and tasty as well.  This just solidified my impression of this restaurant.

It turns out that there are other locations of Saizeriya in Hong Kong.  I would highly recommend you check this place out for a hearty meal.  You can order a lot of different dishes like we did (it’s like tapas) for an amazing price.  We were only a party of two but tried so much!  It’s a good place for students on a budget as well as those families who want to eat out on a budget.  We saw lots of students and middle aged women here, and even a couple of a date.

They have an all-you-can-drink option, which a lot of the male students perused.  It’s also self-serve for all cups, water, utensils, and condiments as well.  Perhaps this is how they keep their costs low.  It’s almost like a cafeteria the way that the water and drink stations were set up.  I loved this restaurant.  I really dig cheap, delicious, hearty meals like this. 😀