With rich earth tones and relaxing lighting, Assaggio Trattoria Italiana, located at the Arts Centre in Wan Chai creates a cosy ambience perfect for family outings to enjoy a wholesome homemade Italian fare. As diners walk in the restaurant, they can see the warm and colourful pizza and pasta bar before reaching the roomy dining hall that opens up to the al fresco dining area with an astonishing view of the Victoria harbour. Tables are spaciously spread out and the noise level is just right for a conversation with a group of friends.

We start off the evening with a traditional Italian seafood soup and smoked Italian swordfish with white onion gelato, semi-dried tomatoes and crispy San Daniele ham. The soup is refreshing and has a generous proportion of fresh seafood, such as shrimps, mussels and clams. Equally good is the more unusual sword fish with white onion gelato. The gelato is wonderful for a mid-summer evening as it is not only cooling but also cleanses the palate for the dishes to come. Since it is the form of a gelato, the intense onion flavour is diminished and retains just enough bite to pair with the meaty swordfish and ham. The traditional pizzoccheri in Valtellina-style with bitto cheese is next. This vegetarian dish has a rich and creamy sauce as the cheese is slightly melted over the homemade ribbon pasta. Unfortunately, the pizzoccheri is too thick; it cannot fully absorb the flavours of the sauce and requires quite a bit of chewing. Assaggio is famous for its thin-crust pizzas and we select the tomato and mozzarella with 28-month prosciutto and snails. The pizza is covered with rocket that contrasts nicely with the snails. The preserved prosciutto is a clever alternative to pepperoni, not only because it has more flavour, but also gives the pizza more texture. To end the meal, we try Assaggio’s homemade tiramisu and apple trio – apple cake, pudding and chilled apple broth. The apple cake is simply terrific. It is served warm, soft in the inside and not too sweet. The apple pudding is less successful, as it has the unappetising consistency of apple puree. The homemade tiramisu completed the meal. Freshly made to order, it is served in a glass with the alternate layers of mascarpone and lady fingers clearly visible. We would definitely come back for this delightful tiramisu.

To our surprise, Assaggio’s wine list is displayed on an iPad, instead of a traditional menu. But the restaurant does not make full use of the technology by including more information about the wines nor recommendations of wine-pairing; it only has the basic prices, grape varietals and years listed. The waiters are knowledgeable about the wines and more than able to help diners select appropriate wine pairings.

The staff is warm, friendly and able to attend to our needs very quickly. Even though Assaggio has just changed its a la carte menu, they were able to tell us the characteristics of each dish and give good suggestions.

Dinner is priced at about HK$450 per head with wine, wonderful value for money considering the generally high quality of the food, stunning view and cosy ambience.