Angelini is located on the first floor of the famous Kowloon Shangri-la hotel and affords guests a magnificent panorama of Hong Kong’s renowned skyline. Spaciously set tables and soft lighting; lively chatter and laughter add an enjoyable element to a slightly dated overall ambience.

Angelini offers traditional Italian cuisine with familiar dishes that one expects to find; prosciutto di Parma with melon pearl is a dish that takes many back to their first Italian meals so it was disappointing to see this classic dish tampered with by the addition of peanuts, a real confusion to the palate. Burrata alla caprese is another dish one orders expecting the freshest of ingredients; anticipation of a cheese that oozes sensually over over-ripe tomatoes failed to happen as the burrata was curiously hard. We order two signature dishes: a breaded veal and a linguine with Boston lobster tail. The breaded veal cutlet is definitely on the greasy side and while the linguini is competently executed with a good quality lobster, the dish as a whole is not memorable. The desserts of a classic tiramisu and the cryptically named “Il Caffe” are both creative and visually pleasing; yet an overuse of cream robbed both desserts’ subtle delicate flavours of their chances to shine.

A diverse selection Italian wines beautifully explained and presented made for an interesting pairing of regional houses not often seen; a wide variety available by the glass allows one to travel across Italy over dinner.

Initial enthusiasm soon gave way to absent service with excessively long waits between courses; neither the water nor wine glasses were attended to and the need to signal furiously to get the staff’s attention made for an agitated evening. While the manager came over to apologise courteously for the lacklustre service, there is still much room for improvement.

A meal for two with wine will come to about HK$1,400.Considering the disappointing service and uneven dishes, this is on the expensive side.