White Truffles, White Magic
Perfectly suited to Hong Kong, the Tuber Magnatum or white or alba truffle, as it’s more commonly known, is the grand duke of truffles and grows almost exclusively in Italy and northern Croatia, the best coming from the Piedmont region. The truffle is right up there with caviar, champagne, oysters and foie gras as a food that signifies luxury, with price as much of the attraction as taste. Often called “white diamonds” – Stanley Ho paid a record $2.5 million for a 1.5kg white truffle in 2007 – the truffles resemble lumpy dry potatoes until cut open to reveal a tan interior marbled with ivory veins – but it’s the intoxicating scent which attracts aficionados. White truffles are usually served raw, shaved across the top of a dish, to preserve their flavour and rumoured aphrodisiacal powers. Truffle season runs from now to the end of December and, if recent years are a guide, local chefs will create many imaginative and tasty dishes around the delicacy. Amongst the white truffle promotions we’ve received is the Intercontinental Grand Stanford’s (2731 2870) white truffle degustation menu which starts from $388/person and gratin homemade cannelloni asparagus and ricotta cheese with white truffle sauce, roasted Angus tenderloin with thyme polenta, porcini mushrooms and truffle juice...

Ship Shape
If you’re cruising on the Star Aquarius, regardless of your luck at the gaming tables, you won’t lose at any of its nine restaurants or bars. Meals at the three buffet restaurants on board (Chinese, Asian and International) are included in the price of your room but they stop serving dinner by 8:30. Fortunately, there are other choices if you’re used to dining later or don’t want to compete with the crowds at the steam tables.

We tried Blue Lagoon, open 24 hours daily and featuring a selection of fresh seafood, sushi and other Japanese specialties and cuisine from Southeast Asia. Their recommendations included char kway teoh, curry laksa and an appetizer of assorted satays (each $51 plus 15% service charge). We thought everything was tasty and well-prepared, and while the heat had obviously been toned down to suit Hong Kong palates, our waiter brought us two kinds of chili sauce to let us ramp things back up again.

Other chefs’ recommendations that caught our eye included Steamed Soong Fish Head with white eggplant and garlic ($78) and a Japanese Saba Torikatsu bento box set ($88). A current promotion has all soft drinks going for $10 and beer and house standard pours going for $28 with meals. Top it off with their cake of the day or one of their ice cream sundaes ($48) and you may need a nap before heading back to the casino.

There’s also a promotion in all of their restaurants and bars featuring a bucket of 4 bottles of beer for $148 or 6 for $198.

Viva Italia
If you’re looking for an excuse for a food promotion, there is perhaps none better than San Gennaro, although, if we’re honest, apart from martyrdom, he achieved very little in his lifetime. However in death the patron saint of Naples has become very well known through a couple of glass vials of his blood which every so often liquifies. In 1926, a group of enterprising Italian immigrants honoured the saint with a feast in New York’s Little Italy. That original one-day festival started by four café owning families to help the less well off has grown to an 11-day behemoth which now attracts over one million people. In Hong Kong, Amaroni’s (LG, 132 Festival Walk, 2265 8818) Feast of San Gennaro runs until the end of November and features a range of special dishes, such as fresh pappardelle with braised duck ragu ($168) and braised veal ravioli over grilled eggplant ($265), with two special cocktails to accompany your meal: Lorence Temptation (Lambrusco, peach schnapps, orange juice) or White Sangria (white wine, peach schnapps, brandy and orange juice).