So, you’re having a bad day. Maybe you stubbed your toe while running late, got stuck in rush hour traffic, and then proceeded to walk the wrong way to the restaurant you’re supposed to review. I get it, I’ve been there. In fact, I was there and when I finally sat down, about 30 minutes later than my reservation time at Posso in Sheung Wan, I’m grumbling endlessly to my dinner date and certain that nothing is ‘posso’ right now. That is until I start eating.
Posso, meaning ‘I can’ in Italian, is a modern Italian restaurant serving creative cicchetti (pronounced chi-ket-tee), the small side dishes and savoury snacks akin to Spanish tapas. Chef-owner Max Wong, whom you may recognise from Shady Acres and 22 Ships, created Posso with handmade pasta kits before transforming the idea into a restaurant.
Fitted out with white brick walls and dark wood tables, Posso is as modest in its design as it is in its menu. A few specials of the day and soft drinks were written on the blackboard, but without a liquor license yet, only lemonade, blood orange soda and Italian cola are up for grabs. You are currently welcome to bring your own bottle. A mix of 90s Brit-pop and upbeat tracks created a fun and familiar atmosphere, lending that peppy feeling you get at the closing credits of a feel-good movie that resulted in a bit of a shoulder bop. Then, as I ordered my food, I’d seemingly forgotten about my throbbing toe and felt that pang of excitement for the dishes to come.
The one-page menu features a variety of snack plates in three short sections: small, big and sweet, although the word big is used rather loosely here and really means it’s more than two bites and shareable, to some extent. Our soft-spoken waitress recommended that we order eight plates to share between the two of us, which may seem like too much, but with small portion sizes and easy-going prices attached, it’s quite reasonable and you could potentially have two of the same to accommodate your appetite.
We were off to a seriously solid start with the soft and plump bites of scallop crudo brightened with confit lemon and ginger, but while the pretty parcels of agnolotti (packed with a chicken parmigiana inspired filling) in consommé were perfectly cooked, it lacked flavour with only three slivers of pickled shallot on top to try and save it. Thankfully, the grilled octopus, with its artistic splatter of ink on the plate, was superbly tender, flavourful and grounded by smooth, earthy butternut squash. The unlikely choice for carnivores is the cabbage roll with duxelles and chestnut, but it was so good that I spooned the rest of the light mushroom broth and did not regret my decision to enjoy some greens.
The big, maybe we can share, plates we opt for are excellent. The vongole pasta is cooked to a hard al dente and seasoned with the holy trinity of lemon, chilli, and garlic with clams and anchovies. They use bucatini which is a hollow pasta with more bite, allowing the sauce to cling on and fill the thick, spaghetti-like noodles. It does, however, mean slurpers like us get sauce absolutely everywhere. Next, the meaty tiger prawn risotto was powered with all the prawny goodness you could wish for and came studded with bright green peas for a welcome textural play. The red mullet, stuffed with seaweed and romesco, is served with a lemon butter sauce topped with briny pops of salmon roe and is a joy to eat, apart from the odd poke of a bone that comes with eating small fish. Then, there was fermented corn and Madeira that combined beautifully in the corn and chicken, a multi-layered dish with sweet and savoury flavours, and crispy chicken skin to boot.
For dessert, we go for both on the menu. The perfectly balanced tiramisu is fueled by Amaretto and coffee, but my desire for desserts lie with the fluffiest of zeppole, an Italian doughnut, filled with sweet chestnut cream and topped with syrupy maple toffee, white chocolate and tonka beans for the warm aromatics of almond and vanilla.
I wasn’t sure I’d like the idea of small plates. After all, you only really get a bite or two each and indecisive individuals may even feel anxious about too much choice. But the variety and interchange between surprise and satisfaction are there for the taking, and I was genuinely impressed with how Posso manages to remain refreshingly rustic. Plus, if you're in a group, you can probably order the entire menu. Easy peasy. Service is also extremely efficient here. At first, I thought they were trying to hurry us out since we had to hand the table back in 90 minutes and I was already late. But the execution of each dish was never rushed and we polished off each plate at record speed, so actually, they were just matching our tempo.
Sitting in a neighbourhood of restaurant greats including The Chairman, Cô Thành and more, Posso has a quiet confidence about it. As if they know that even on your worst day, there’s nothing a small plate of saucy vongole or sweet zeppole won’t fix. And for me, on this day, it really did.
Price range
Food: $45-$115
No service charge