I do apologise for the lame title
– to avoid confusion, this is a review for the Spanish Tapas restaurant I had the pleasure of
dining at in Hong Kong. I would like to say that the flavours that I got to savour made my taste
buds rally higher and higher, a bit like Spanish bond yields over the past two
years. Although, some dishes did put my tastebuds into distress. The finance analogies shall end here – read on for more about the food.
Boqueria
Boqueria is the first Asian
establishment of the renowned Spanish Tapas restaurant that has originated out
of New York. I was invited by a friend of mine, so of course trusted her
recommendation. The question was whether the copy will live up to the reputation
of the original, or be a bit like that $15 Rolex off a Thailand beach.
Located in the famous LKF district
of Hong Kong, Boqueria is in an ideal location for a late Saturday dinner, or
as in my case, a relaxing Sunday dinner before the week starts all over
again. The D2 exit of Central Station
(the one for the gap store) is the most convenient exit should you be taking an
MTR.
The atmosphere of the restaurant is quite relaxed and well thought-out,
being a conducive environment for large groups, or for couples, or even for a
business dinner.
Like most reputable Tapas places,
the menu was quite extensive with a decent shot of creativity. A link is here, which serves as an indication of
the style of meals on offer. Like any Tapas place, the dishes are designed for
sharing, and I would say 2-3 Tapas plates per person, multiplied by the amount
of people dining, is more than sufficient. For groups of awkward numbers, the
waitstaff were happy to ensure the dishes came out with enough for the number
of people on the table.
In the interests of space, the best
and the worst dishes are presented below. I can upload the other pictures if you want.
Highlights
#1 Bombas de la Barceloneta
Beef
and potato croquettes,
salsa brava, garlic allioli
These were extremely tasty. Crispy
on the outside, and fluffy and not too dense on the inside. The salsa brava and
garlic allioli on top (at least for me) was perfectly proportioned, in that
there was enough for each bite of the croquette without the flavour being
overpowering.
#2 Gambas al Ajillo
Shrimp,
garlic and Guindilla pepper in olive oil
This dish was perfectly balanced. Served
sizziling, not too oily, the garlic not too overpowering and most importantly,
crusty bread to soak up the remaining garlic infused oil. A perfect Sunday
night treat.
#3 Pintxos Morunos
Seared
Colorado lamb marinated in lemon
and cumin, “salsa verde”
As far as I am concerned, you can never go wrong
with grilled lamb if it is done well. This lamb was tender, the flavours were
tangy anf zesty, and I did feel like I wanted more afterwards. Not exactly a
dish the restaurant could called signature, but I was happy eating this.
Lowlights
The two dishes that did disappoint
did have noticeable flaws in terms of the cooking technique and quality.
#1 Carne a la Plancha
Seared
beef a la plancha, fingerling potatoes,
Shishito peppers, mojo verde
This dish was one that I was
looking forward to, but turned out to be pretty disappointing and borderline
horrible, despite looking OK. The beef was incredibly tough, and difficult to
chew. We did not finish this, as it was not a pleasurable experience. No more
comments needed.
#2 Buñuelos de Bacalao
Salt-cod
and potato fritters, citrus allioli
OK, to be fair, this was not a bad
dish per se. But it was unremarkable. It was just some fish mixed with potato,
deep fried, and served with allioli. I felt the fritters themselves was
overseasoned with salt, but underseasoned with any sort of other spice –
perhaps the addition of some paprika would have been good to give it an extra
kick. Also, the citrus allioili didn’t seem to have much “citrus”
The waiters were OK – not too
friendly, but not rude. They seemed to get confused quite easily, putting some
Serrano Ham on our table without it ever being ordered for example
Overall, Boqueria served up some
good tasting Tapas but there was some noticeable inconsistency in the quality.
The atmosphere was great for a Sunday evening, and although it was quite busy
it was not unbearably noisy. Overall Boqueria gets a 7/10. The food was good,
the waiters were OK, but consistency across all the dishes needs to be better.
I may return if I go back to Hong Kong, but as always will go for Cantonese
food first.
Thanks for reading :-).
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