Friends or a date.

HK$1,000 for two with a glass of wine each.

This restaurant is good for a casual evening with friends enjoying no-fuss Italian at a reasonable price and good service. For appetisers, we tried the Tuscanian sea bass carpaccio with mixed salad, passion fruit and passion fruit vinaigrette ice cream. We felt it was a little thick-cut, but were told it was appropriate for this hand-pounded dish. But we did enjoy the tasty anchovies crostini and the yummy MMM - my mamma's meatballs. For mains, we shared the tagliatelle with black truffle, made with white truffle paste, and the butcher's cut flank steak tagliata, served with rocket and cherry tomatoes. For dessert, we had the tiramisu and the crushed chocolate and dry nuts semifredo.

The pasta was bland, and the tiramisu was not firm and lacked espresso flavour.

Pirata offers an extensive selection of vermouth and serves classic cocktails from around the world, such as the Clover Club made with Mombasa Club gin, lemon juice, raspberry and egg white. A good range of wine is available from the tongue-in-cheek wine list that's separated into three tiers: Your Money (HK$320), Your Husband's Money (HK$450) and Company Account (HK$600).