SEPA Bacaro Veneziano, Caine Road, Central

Nice place (61 Caine Road, Central, tel : +852 2521 9800). Not to be a snob about the joint but while I could appreciate the effort in the decor, the restaurant ultimately felt like a theme park since every inch of the look was designed while in a real bacaro, every inch of their look was etched in as part of the authenticity of its existence. Let’s not go down that road. This is Hong Kong, not Venice.

The above is their Tartare di Rapa Rossa; beetroot and tuna tartare with Jerusalem artichoke puree. A signature item of theirs apparently. I think the beetroot might have been the skin of the red balls which are stuffed with tuna. Not bad. Looked fancy and effort intensive to make. Not exactly the kind of stuff one would find in a regular bacaro.

Followed by beef carpaccio with sliced celery root and white truffle dust on crackers. Yes, I think dust would be an appropriate description. Not bad too and could have been improved with just a little bit of salt.

Sea urchin bruschetta with lardo. I'm not sure if there was anything else but these were the main ingredients. It was a very nice amalgamation of flavours. This was the tastiest cicchetti we had tonight. If we ever came back, this would be the one thing that I would order again.

The restaurant recommended that we try the baccalà that was on the board for a version that was how they would have done in Venice. It was even served in little triangles of deep fried polenta. The fish wasn't as smooth nor tasty as some the ones we've had, but I suppose we couldn't complain.

We had seen a picture of this pasta somewhere on the internet and we were quite determined to try it. It's a sea urchin pasta with coconut. And it tastes pretty much as it looked. For some reasons, I was expected it to be a little sweet, but it was a savoury pasta. Not bad, but we weren't exactly blown away.

This was a small focaccia with prosciutto di Parma and burrata. The bread was flavoured with olive oil and salt.  

And then a bomba stuffed with ricotta and mortadella ham. The bomba was the round air filled bread. Looks a little like a poori. I think the menu mentioned black truffle, but they seem to be using the white truffle dust for all of their items with truffle now that they're in season. I guess all the leftover crumbs must go somewhere.

Sepa is what it tries to be. A place for small bites and drinks, just like the real ones in Venice. A spot to chill, so to speak, after work and maybe throw back a few. While the variety of the food was limited and the portions are Asian sized, I can understand or at least accept these coming from the perspective of a business coping with Mid Levels rental in Central. To match the Venetians at their game in this part of the world might have been painfully or prohibitively expensive, so this would probably be the next best.