Hilariously bad: Italian version

Hong Kong is renowned as one of the international cities in the world, a blend of East and West, blah blah blah. Unfortunately, most of the 'western' food in the city really does not live up to that, even when you are certainly paying 'western' prices for it.

I have had a recurring thought since I moved over here that I should start a new business and run a waiting staff training school here. I know the Chinese are famously bad for their service, but if you are running a westernised establishment, charging 3 to 5 times more than the average Cantonese meal, I think there is no excuse in not training your staff properly.

Food knowledge tends to be the big hurdle for most waiters I have found. Posto Pubblico is in the heart of gweilo land on Elgin Street, and on a Friday night it was absolutely packed. It didn't help that we were on the worse table in the whole restaurant, stuck behind a pillar, making it difficult to attract anyone's attention.

The dining room itself is relatively small, with maybe 40 covers max, but there was clearly no demarcation of sections for the waiters. Every time we ordered or asked for anything, a new one would appear, which meant that water was never topped up, no one noticed empty plates. For a place that proudly states a no service charge policy, you would think the waiters had incentive to work harder.

But it was the food knowledge that the waiters really fell down on. However rude a waiter can be in a Chinese restaurant, they know their menus inside out, even in small little cafes. They had a special of "Tagliatella alla Luffa" on the menu, and given my Italian really isn't so good, I asked what it was.

"It's like fettuccine." was the reply.

"OK..."

"It is pasta madam, like spaghetti". Now you are treating me like an idiot.

"But what does 'alla Luffa' mean?", I asked, patience slowly disappearing.

"I don't know. But it is like spaghetti."

I gave up. Why have specials on the menu, all of it in Italian, and no one able to explain it? I settled in the end for their horribly named straw and hay tagliolini with peas and pancetta, a little too saucy and salty, but the pasta itself wasn't bad.

Caris tried the other special of Cappaletti Nonna Francesca, which was "like ravioli with chicken stuffing in a tomato cream sauce". A much better description of the item, but Nonna Francesca obviously didn't know how to make a tomato sauce, or controlling portion size for that matter:

But the worse monstrosity was to come. I am not a dessert person, but Caris is, and I was intrigued to see that they had cheese on offer. Even more intriguing was that they had homemade mozzarella as a dessert item, not sure you're supposed to eat mozzarella for dessert?!?! And I really oughtn't have asked what comes with the cheese, as the waiter looked so perplexed it was quite obvious they never sell cheese as dessert. I asked to try a portion of their mozzarella and taleggio, and it came with a basket of stale bread:

Whilst I applaud their attempts to make mozzarella, please leave it to people who know what they are doing back in Italy!! The mozzarella was sad, dry, lacking in any flavour or tang. I felt so sorry for the taleggio that we took it home and promptly forgot about it in the fridge.