放假約了朋友食lunch, 由於朋友公司在中環, 他推介了Ole!
之前都聽講過Ole唔錯, 不過一直都未有機會試, 今次終於有機會試!
我地book了12:30, 以中環的lunch time, Ole唔算人多, 座得都算舒服!
我地order左set lunch, 其實未落order以前, 他們已經奉上左3小碟tapas同麵包!
Tapas好好味.

Soup
Sopa del Cocido - Traditional 5 hours boiled chicken soup with beef and ham

個湯的味道好似之前响歐洲飲過, 返左來香港之後就無試過了~好濃的雞味，正!!

Main Course
Baked Suckling Pig Segovia Way

如果只看外表根本一點也唔吸引, 但咬落去就感覺到他的皮很脆呢!

Dessert
Leche frita - Fry Milk with Toffee Sauce
炸鮮奶, 味道一般, 可能我本身不太喜歡甜品吧! 還是喜歡朋友的tiramisu!

Lunch真係平好多, 有機會會再來!

Haven't been here for a looong time so decided to take advantage of the valued set lunch. I had

- Gazpacho (cold vegetable soup): decent taste and quite unique. Must be esp refreshing during the hot summer days
- Suckling pig: skin is crispy but the layer of fat is quite thick. Meat is tender but amount a bit small. The fries that came with the dish aren't crispy enough
- Crema catalana: decent with the normal smooth texture like creme brulee. The caramalized sugar a bit too sweet
- Coffee: ok but the volume could be a bit more

Set lunch is $148, so with 10% should be about $163, but the bill came out to be $168, so doing back-of-the-envelop calculation means they're actually charging the tiny cup of hot water for $5, which is quite unheard of!

This is my 3rd time eating Spanish food in HK and it has to be the best Spanish restaurants in HK

About the food:

Starters

Traditional Spanish Ham from Jabugo
It was great, not too salty at all. The sliced was very poor, too think and small.

Baby squid ink sauce stuffed with Shrimps & almonds
This was brilliant and very nice and the stuff inside was good too.
The black ink sauce was cooked just right not too heavy taste.
A must try dish.

Garlic Shrimps
The Shrimps were not fresh it could have been much better dish if they used live Shrimps for this.
the Garlic was nicer than the Shrimps which was cooked just right.

all of these 3 dish was only Tapa portion so it is just right for 2 to 3 people. If there is more than 4+ people I would get the starter portion.

Main course

Traditional Spanish seafood rice
It was very good the rice was not dry or too wet just right.
I have tried some which are over cooked and the rice becomes hard.
There is allot of seafood inside the rice and the Shrimps are quite big in size but like before the shrimps are not fresh.
This dish is very big for 2 people to eat, it is very filling.

Dessert
House dessert
Which was fried milk with almonds ice cream.
This is very different, it was my 1st time that I tried fry milk and the teats is quite good.

About the place:

It is very Romantic place for a dinner.
Nice and quite and they also have a live band at night.
The interior design is classic no fancy stuff.
The service is ok not good just ok, they can improve on this allot.
The place dose feel like you are in Spain.

這裡離公司不太遠，set lunch $148 (1 soup/salad, 1 main course, 1 dessert and tea)

Entree - 橄欖, 小肉丸 (not juicy), 薯仔沙律

Soup - Sopa del Cocido - Traditional 5 hours boiled chicken soup with beef and ham - 好濃的雞味，多 d 肉粒吊味就好了

Main Course - Baked Suckling Pig Segovia Way - 皮很脆，下面則是一層肥肉...才到瘦肉。覺得有 d 騷味，還是喜歡中式的乳豬。佢份量都幾大有 4 大件。配埋的薯條有點淋。

Dessert - Leche frita - Fry Milk with Toffee Sauce - 什麼？炒奶？一看已經想試。本來還以為會好騷的奶味，原來都很不錯，有奶的滑與 Toffee sauce 同 egg 醬煎出的皮的香味。

如果有 2 人同行就可以試 Paella，西班牙海鮮抄飯啦。

Overall, 這裡食 lunch 是有點點趕，要一個小時上晒 d 菜加甜品。

不過見其他食家有食過鰻魚苗這東車，我都有 d 興趣下次黎試。

It's been almost a year since I went to Ole last time. I noticed they offer set lunch (well it's better to say fixed price since they allow you to pick basically whatever you want from the menu to create your own lunch set), and decided to give it a try with colleagues.

Since they're charging much less than dinner (1/3 of the price), the place was quite full when we got there and luckily we reserved a table. For $148+ 10%, you may pick 1 soup/salad, 1 entree and 1 dessert from the menu, with tea and coffee complement your dessert.

We ordered Sopa del Cocido, Gazpacho and Creme de Marisco. I had the Gazpacho and they did keep the same quality as I had it a year ago. My colleague said the Creme de Marisco was good either.

For the entree, four of us ordered seafood paella, and the remaining ordered a suckling pig, grilled swordfish and grouper in toasted garlic sauce. They offered us a big pot of paella, which nicely distributed to four of us by the waitress. The suckling pig skin was crunchy and smelled wonderful. I am not sure about the two fish dishes they ordered but the grouper did look nice.

For dessert, the pear in red wine sauce was very nice. The pear didn't become too soft while absorbed all the red wine flavour. The rice pudding was as good as before. The most interesting dessert we ordered was the fried milk with toffee sauce. It's a must-try for everyone.

09年10月8日 星期四

8年前當我還於上環區返工時候, 己經很喜歡來這兒吃午餐, 我喜歡這兒情調浪漫, 服務有禮, 食物水準奇高. 今天跟一位舊同事慶祝她的生日, 於是便提議重遊此地緬懷一番. 我們均點了set lunch (每位$148+10%). 包括前菜, 湯/沙律, 主菜, 咖啡/茶及甜點.

1. 前菜
前菜有橄欖, 小肉丸, 薯仔沙律, 還是一如以往的健康醒胃.

2. 湯或沙律 - 蔬菜凍湯
在悶熱的天氣下, 由中環地鐵站步行而來, 所以一看見menu, 便決定點這個蔬菜凍湯. 這個湯很清新, 淡淡的蔬菜香氣, 喝起來很舒服, 涼快極了. 非常適合這個炎熱的夏天.

3. 主菜 - 西班牙海鮮炒飯
這個海鮮飯一直都是這兒的招牌貨. 所以我跟友人二話不說都點了一客. 店員先把全碟的海鮮飯給我們先看, 再細心地分成2份給我地. 雖然這兒的set lunch己多年沒有加價, 但這個招牌貨水準下降很多. 首先每人只有1隻中蝦, 1隻青口及少量的尤魚粒. 海鮮份量及size比以前細左很多. 吃一口飯, 發覺這個飯煮的時間不夠長, 所以煮出來濕淋淋, 一點也不乾身, 加上醬汁下得太多了, 所以味道太濃太鹹了, 害得我們要邊吃邊喝水, 最後我跟友人因為這個飯太鹹, 都沒有全部吃掉便放棄了. 大家一致認為這兒的西班牙飯水準實在差了很多. 大家邊討論大廚是否正值放假, 還是這兒的大廚己經不是我們多年前幫襯的大大廚. 對於這個招牌貨我們真的很失望.

4. 甜品 - tiramisu
我們2人都點了tiramisu. 這個水準很好, 是當日我們點的最好味的一道菜. tiramisu的咖啡及甜酒份量剛好, 再配上軟綿綿的海綿蛋糕, 實在又濃又軟又美味. 真的很好吃.

5. 咖啡
咖啡香濃幼滑, 也是相當不錯.

吃過這頓午餐後, 我跟舊同事都覺得這兒的食物水準下降了很多很多, 實在談不上出色味美, 很失望. 我估我這一兩年內也不會再來幫襯了.

, with its reputation and reviews, I had high hope

Kudos to the roasted pork, it was very tender, definitely among the tops I've ever had... however, and unfortunately, that was it.

we were a party of 10+, so we had a full tasting menu...

salads are salads; they're hard to go wrong
parma ham tasted great but slicing was poor
grilled squid was alright

calamari was undercooked
the seafood paella tasted like... it's from a 2nd rated restaurant. rice was overcooked, giant shrimp's was big but soggy and not cleaned properly
the steak arrived cold and under marinated yet the sides were hot
Fish was so overcooked it tasted like rubber
Sangria tasted like cheap mix of reds with fruit punch soda

The entire meal was so unspectacular I forgot what else we had already.

The main problem actually lies in the servicing; the waiter / waitresses were inexperience. At a restaurant like this, you'd expect a certain level of services...

it's just not there... perhaps they've recently had a change of the entire staff

1. we had to help clean the table so the waitresses can put down new dishes.
2. we didn't finished our food and they began taking them away
3. they forced us into taking more food so they can remove the dish (like you're at a chinese wedding banquet)
4. they have trouble understanding your orders, I asked for "an additionally bottle of water", gave her the empty bottle, and she thought I wanted "boiled" water... they just lack the common sense.

bottomline - I wouldn't mind giving it another shot, but it won't be soon

太公喜歡西班牙，自從四年前跟同學柴娃娃前往旅行後，為之神往；於是即時又去了一次為期個半月的遊學之旅，最近長假，又去逗留兩週學西班牙文學跳舞。

西班牙菜與西班牙人一樣，簡單直接不花巧不做作，卻別有一番教人難以忘懷的風情韻味。

但回港後試過某連鎖西班牙餐廳，其質素只如西班牙那些「遊客餐廳」，質素泛泛，大為失望。後來得知ole作的西班牙菜甚為出色，甚至得kc讚譽為「香江第一」，我這西班牙迷豈能不試？剛好上次北上吃西班牙菜時，也有食友未食過ole而想一試，就趁這星期六中午，一行六人，來個小小局。

當中也遇上小小的「驚險」：訂位時方發現，原來ole 星期六不做set lunch (set lunch只於星期一至五供應)，意味大家要把budget提高；最初也不免有點擔心，因為見大家晚市都花費不菲 ；不過和食友商討後，大家始終對ole有所期待，所以也硬著頭皮去馬！

甫坐下，還未落單，侍應已奉上三小碟; 前兩者都可算是tapas: 一碟橄欖, 有黑有青，咬上去橄欖的芳香相當豐厚；較喜歡青橄欖較豐腴質感，而且果肉夠完整實淨, 雖不及西班牙本土的上貨，但也比超市便宜貨好得多。另一碟是薯仔沙律，帶濃重的蒜味，應是用上garlic mayonnaise, 質感也細滑，味道很不錯，教人想一吃再吃！

第三個小碟是盛著牛油 - 果然猜測不錯，點菜後侍應就送上兩小盤麵包了。這牛油也相當芳香，配麵包吃不俗；值得一提這兒的麵包是不斷供應的 - 即是見你清了一盤，就送上第二盤，完全符合歐洲人喜歡邊用餐邊吃麵包的習慣 (對，不論吃stew、炸魚，甚至是意粉、paella, 都不難見有歐洲人會以麵包送之！)；而且後來發現賬單上，麵包和頭盤都沒有另外收費，這份大方，討人喜歡。

好，正式上菜了：

trandition spanish ham 'JJJJJ' (tapas size, $105)- 在西班牙也沒有光顧過甚麼頂級餐廳，這火腿是否"AAAAAA"級，真不好說；不過，這火腿咸度適中, 肉香中混了點榛果清香, 吃上去無渣, 就算不是真的頂級也算高水準了。

fried squids (starter size, $100) - 是西班人愛吃的一道，街邊小吃店或酒吧不難找到，都是又鮮甜又爽又不難咬；但回到香港，我一直以為是香港一帶水域的墨魚和西班牙的不同，一直找不回相同質感的墨魚 - 但今次，我找到了！炸得沒有過脆但香口，而墨魚圈一點都不韌，一咬即斷也頗鮮甜，實在教人感動！

garlic shrimps (starter size, $150) - 在西班牙酒吧也是不難找到的一道，這兒作得也很精彩 - 上桌時是熱騰騰的，用上鮮蝦，放在滲了蒜片味的橄欖油裏同煮，三者的味道混為一體，卻仍然平分春色：蝦夠新鮮，混合了強勁蒜香和一點點橄欖油香，鮮美極了！內裏的蒜片，因為滲了蝦鮮和橄欖油香，也十分精彩；而汲收了蒜香和蝦鮮的橄欖油香，用來點麵包吃也非常可口！值得推介！

baby squids ink sauce stuffed with shrimps and almonds (starter size, $150) 墨汁鮮甜，而墨魚頭裏，釀了墨魚鬚末和蝦末，口感豐富而鮮美。

paella de marinco (二人份 $380) 這兒的paella, 終於似返個樣！米粒沒有煮得過軟而有咬口，番紅花之味明顯，加上chicken booth收得夠乾身，較為香口也夠正宗。內裏的鮮蝦和墨魚等也相當鮮美可口；就算在西班牙境內，這paella也可算有中上水準，不易在一般餐廳吃得，在香港吃到如此正宗可口兼水準不俗的paella更是難能可貴了。

suckling pig ($255) 反而這烤豬有點教人失望，肉質雖嫩滑，可惜皮不夠香脆，較為失色。

同行者有甜魔，雖然打算再殺下場，但都要在此試個甜品，留下甜魔腳毛！

crema catalana ($55) 在西班牙只吃過超市貨，今次終於一試真身！看侍應在上面澆了橙酒，放火 ()，面層隨即泛起藍光，大家都看得呆了......然後結了一層香脆的焦糖！加上下層香甜滑溜的cream, 美味得很！

leche frita ($55) 是Ole的house, 上桌時兩片炸鮮奶還帶有微溫，配上香滑雲呢拿雪糕同吃，一凍一熱很不錯；要是炸鮮奶稍厚一點，內裏的"鮮奶"餡再滑一點，雪糕再大球一點，就更妙了。

幾乎忘了飲品 sangria - 這裏的sangria 是一jar叫的, 約可分4-5杯，雖然內裏沒甚麼雜果，但紅酒與果汁的比例調較得很好，清甜中帶微微的酒香，是正宗的西班牙sangria味道了，教人喝得滿足！

這兒沒有tap water供應，只有老屈牌礦泉水提供 - 不過放心，一小支可分兩杯, 才收$8, 以這級數的餐廳來說算相當親民。

好，吃飽，終於要面對現實 - 埋單！一看，連加一小費每人才$280；食物出色，價格比預期便宜，完全within大家budget，實在大大的舒了一口氣，可以安心上路殺去下場了，hohoho~

未知是否因為沒有set lunch, 這個價位的午膳也不太吸引；午市我們坐著的首1.5小時，都是包場 - 直到將近完結時方有多一pair男女光顧........ 啊！感謝主！好在太公的瘋狂爛gag, 沒有嚇親其他客人！阿門！

俾壞消息纏繞後的一個星期五,唔食好對唔住自己。

結果去左爭d成為生日飯既Ole Spanish Restaurant.......
之前@葵芳開過Asador,不過執左.......><"
而家要攀山涉水去中環雪廠街食@@"

第一個海鮮湯有魚塊有鮮味,不過略嫌淡左少少;
之後個MainDish唔駛揀,一定係燒乳豬,
個肉勁嫩,同埋個皮就算放涼左都勁脆,有少少疑似蕃薯既薯條都ok=)
之後甜品揀左個炸鮮奶,拖肥味同面頭既蛋味Cover左牛奶味,
不過牛奶既軟滑質感都出到黎*

杯餐後奶茶都幾滑,咁arm出面停左雨,一絲陽光出左黎,
唔違心論真話,希望件事係真ga la.....

Took day off as I am going to work on Sat ... and it is really unpleasant to go back to Central even you do not have to work!!!

Luckily, I had a good time in Ole, with $148 (+10% Service Charge) including tapas, appetizer, main, dessert and drink. And you can choose in the menu!

We had cold veggie soup, suckling pig, coffee, crepe and creme brulee.

Tapas included olive, potato salad, meat ball, loaf with butter. I did not take olives, however, the others were very delicious. The potato was good, so as the meat ball. And the loaf was warmly served. Great start of the meal!

Cold veggie soup was soooooo refreshing for me after walking numerous stairs from Landmark to Fringe Club. Apart from water, the liquidary carrot soup was delicious and healthy, in addition with cucumber and green pepper. It was just the good summer pick.

Suckling pig was excellent! There is a Chinese saying called 'crispy skin and tender meat', it is exactly the brief description for the pig! The side was good as well, they had tomato peas and fries. Just yummy! And the dish was not small, I was quite full.

Then we had crepe with strawberry and catalan cream *i.e. creme brulee*. Great, though both dessert were not completely hot. The crepe was filled with strawberry slices and homemade cream. The cream was yummy. While for the catalon cream, unexpectedly nice and the sugar topping was superb! I prefer the pain creme brulee rather than having sago inside, even it might tasted like egg custard.

And the meal ended up with a nice coffee with hot milk cream served.

Just a little flaw was that when we were requested with drinks, the water they poured was from the HK W-brand ... obviously it had a cost ... and we were right. Yet...

Overall, the lucnh was very enjoyable. Great!

三位好友替我慶祝生日兼聚舊，提議到這餐廳一試。

烈日當空，從威靈頓街行完條長樓梯到雪廠街已經滿頭大汗，先來一jar冰凍的Sangria解解渴（大概有4杯）。酒味不算太濃，甜甜的幾好味。

四人各點一份set lunch大家分享，$148一set包湯或沙律，主菜，甜品，咖啡或茶，價錢比晚餐叫a la carte超值得多！

今次吃了：
Seafood salad－海鮮和沙律都好新鮮，吃完都幾飽，橄欖油比較多了點。
Cod fish in casserole with shrimp and clams－見有食客介紹便試吓，有點像碗湯，鱈魚很滑不腥，蝦和蜆都甜。
西班牙炒飯（雞肉）（最少兩位才能點）－極好味，飯粒軟硬又適中。
baby lamb chop烤小羊架－幾好味，細細件都好，因為主菜太多已經吃不下了。
Crepe with strawberry－好味！
Tiramisu－都好味！

總括來說，所有食物都好味，份量又多，很滿足！

久仰大名，第一次來，早知早來

一坐低即來3小碟tapas，賣相討好，味道更好

朋友點了又用牛又用雞 etc煮的清湯，有Ｄ似中湯ok的，但當然不及我的海鮮湯正啦

一jar sangria，個jar 又靚，溝得勁好好飲，

海鮮反for 2 - my cup of tea, 汁同反味道比例同口感just right

已滿足到不得了，仲有dessert同香濃有水準coffee將會很快再來

During 1 recent night visit, I ordered the following with much anticipation and wasn't disappointed. Most items were confidently executed to an exceptional standard that's rarely experienced in Hong Kong. Starting with an Olive oil, 2 types of unpitted Olives, White Bread and a complimentary small Potato Salad, the salad was a strong marriage of eggy sauce together with a profound taste of the natural potatoes itself. I certainly will not hesitate to re-order this dish but as a larger serving! AMAZING START. The olive oil wasn't plain old olive oil either but intermixed with real olive juice and therefore bordering on murky, I thought the base oil could still be improved however as it lacked depth and aroma! Now onto the real dishes I was here for:

**OK ONLY**
Blood Sausage (Morcilla de Burgos....)
Probably one of my own Top 5 repeatedly ordered Spanish dishes, from my understanding its partially different yet similar to a British blood sausage. Tonight's Morcilla version was really different however. I didn't like tonight's offering much as its a drier version than a fresher moist type, despite the presence of chorizo paste - it lacked the desired bold blood taste and came with really mushy, starchy fillers. Unfortunately this was further spoiled by an overwhelmingly pungent Smoked Paprika taste. This version is probably better served cold than cooked. Tapeo has a better wetter version, though that's served too chopped up.

**RECOMMENDABLE**
Bacalau Croquettes
Completely spot on golden colour externally, the potato mash filling inside was silky smooth - too smooth. Something was missing and it was the highly treasured Bacalau salted-cod taste and stringy textural bite, to be replaced by mainly milky and potato flavours. Its quite contrasting to the rougher and herbed version I tried afterwards in a Macao-Portuguese restaurant. I think Ole could give us a more potent version in thefuture without over-diluting away the bacalau taste. Thank you if you are listening.
Milk Fritter (Leche Frita)
Mainly made up of an eggy and milky taste, perhaps too custardy sweet. This is the house dessert but actually wasn't my 1st preference. I think the surface absorbed a tad too much oil, I'd imagine this was shallow fried rather than deep-fried as per the original 'Frita' definition. On the plus side, this doesn't have a batter coating like some other Spanish interpretationss of Leche Frita, therefore its less filling after a meal and more distinguishable from our Chinese fried milk! Comes with a scoop of Macadamian Ice Cream which magically complimented the main dessert and also slivers of fruit. This was great but can improve with more milk taste... (ironically a contradiction to the above Bacalau Croquette's too milky problem.)

**HIGHLY RECOMMENDED – JUST TOO MANY DISHES!!**
Trio of Jabugo Pork Cold Meats (Embutido Variado de Jabugo)
Ordered this with a Fino sherry. Decided against the Jabugo Jamon de Iberico this time because other Iberico Pork cured cuts are impossible to order in smaller portions in charcuterie shops, let alone finding Black Iberico pork versions. Consisted of thin cuts of lean meaty slices, non-spicy chorizo, and I believe a cured blood sausage. It was slightly too optimistic charging $80 for such an atrocious portion, also I think it can be served warmer via a heat light must like serving Jamons.
Baby Squids (Chopitos en....)
This was just brilliant. A highly viscous and naturally flavoursome squid ink unlike most readily bought packages, the thick sauce and the little squid babies were filled with diced up prawns and almonds. Perhaps I was lucky as mine dish this time was perfectly executed, the sauce was actually deeply flavoured unlike the other 99% of times and its 1 of the best squid ink dishes I have had for a while, perhaps ever! YUMMY with the bread for soaking up the juice! Still dreaming about it after so many weeks.
Baby Anchovies (Boquerones Fritos)
I had really wanted to try the Baby Eel 'Angulas' recommended by GourmetKC but didn't order them as that novelty costs upwards of $550. Perhaps save it for next time when more people chip in and share it, I can wait! My 2nd alternative was anchovies. AFAIK salted Spanish Anchovies are world famous and ultra expensive, the best of the award winning batches costing upwards of $200 for a few strands on the world market and not far off baby eel territory but it has so far proven ELUSIVE to find in Hong Kong, even on tonight's occasion. When I saw a similarly named item at Ole I was initially elated - here, you pick from 2 options, either a Vinegar Marinated Version (like Citysuper or Tapeo version, which I believe are treated locally to tone-down the saltiness) or Fried. The manager answered that the fried version aren't pre-marinated in vinegar, so I ordered this believing its actually 'salted but not vinegar marinated' anchovy not so dissimilar to the Italian version just 'fresher', but instead this turned out to be completely fresh anchovies, fried. This was great, it somehow reminded me of a similar dish in Japanese cuisine. I enjoy this dish a lot, probably more than its sibling the bony sardines and it makes you want to drink more wine! Bring it on!
Baked Suckling Pig Segovia Way (Cochinillo...)
The Plato Principal for every single table within sight, THIS WAS TO DIE FOR AWESOME! SHOCKINGLY GOOD! The complexity of flavour compacted into the fork-tender white meat had surpassed all expectations, also amazingly managed to be deeply infused into the bones and skin. It was a sensory overdrive experience that proves impossible to be coaxed out from any Chinese suckling pig.
The skin on this occasion was perfectly wafer-thin crunchy on each crackly bite, akin to a French suckling pig version but only more satisfying! Although I was told that my 'Babe' wasn't smoked via wood/mesquite enhancement whenever a different Babe travelled past from the kitchen to other tables, it carried a distinctive smokiness and fatty aroma trail in its path... In fact it smelt and in particular the bones tasted almost exactly like a well cooked 樟茶鴨's with its unique penetrating flavours that would excite any human senses. I speculate that there might just be a well guarded, hidden secret in its cooking technique here, otherwise our other Chinese or Western restaurant versions wouldn't be so far off the mark from this dish. ^O*' Its a bit porkily-fatty and won't help alleviate the bad cholesterol clogging the arteries but who cares when its this good! Can't comprehend this getting any better anywhere else. Without exaggeration - this was in a league of its own.


***The meal was finished off with an alcoholic 'spirit drink' on the house complimentarily. I couldn't catch exactly what it was when it was explained to me as I can't understand the Spanish accent, but I guess it was some kind of Grappas or a similar Digestivo.


*******************
So how about a direct comparison of this night versus a previous dining experience at TAPEO when I had allotted that meal an 'OK - 3' only? Perhaps it wasn't conveyed clearly enough in that particular separate review as it was one of my earliest reviews on Openrice, but my friend and I - the both of us actually spent well over $750 in that venue to try several of their tapas offerings. Not a single one of them were even memorable. The leitmotif of the meal being most dishes overly drenched in oil during the cooking - whether it was the prawn, squid or blood pudding or the mullet fish, not helped by a pork dish that was plain boring, possessed a skin that does not crackle and was even spelt wrong on the menu.. For $800 odd spent, I didn't even get seat backings.

Although both venues were equally stinghy with the small portioning of food versus the price, on a relative basis, by paying merely around $100 more here, I would receive on this night at this venue, a much higher percentage of dishes that tasted more exciting, more authentic and better executed to its true potential. Perhaps with the benefit of hindsight and having attained more experience writing on Openrice and if I'm allowed to alter anything, I would probably re-score my meal at Tapeo around 'OK - 4', as the difference in scoring isn't as big as it literally says. Afterall, Tapas and Suckling Pigs aren't meant to be sophisticated dishes at all, that's why they please the ordinary folks drinking to Sangrias and dancing to Flamenco music but the food's 'nature of simplicity' is also why they ought to be executed perfectly well to be rewarded a higher score, just as most dishes were with my meal at Ole I know which place I would rather choose when given a choice again, and I know just exactly how many points I'm going to score this place tonight. We shall all dream about that little piglet again in due time... !

用餐日期...已忘記了...

那晚, "番桌"ole ~

來這裡, 必點Spanish ham! 那份鹹香, 真是不得了...

還有, sangria和一眾tapas...

拍了幾張照片後, 一位waitress說no photo please, 我也乖乖聽命了 ~

Of course we would order a string of tapas, and the first one that showed up was boquerones en vinagre. The anchovies were marinated in vinegar and topped with lots of yummy garlic. Not bad.

Croquetas de bacalao has always been one of my favorites. Always soft and creamy inside and nice and crispy outside.

The salpicón de mariscos was excellent. Clams, calamari and shrimps were chopped up and mixed up red and green peppers, onions and drizzled in olive oil. Fresh and wonderful.

The highlight of the evening was surely the gambas al ajillo. The bowl came with shrimps buried in hot, bubbling olive oil. The shrimps were fresh and delicious. The oil was something else entirely. The olive oil was infused with the flavors of shrimps, garlic and chilli peppers, making it pure nectar in my world. I kept scooping up spoonfuls of this oil so I could soak it up with bread. I would have happily given up eating the rest of the dishes just to finish drinking the oil...

Pimientos rellenos de bacalao is another favorite of mine. Once you cut open the pepper, all the melted cheese and bacalao comes out and mixes with the garlic and pepper sauce. Yummy yummy.

A plate of jamón de bellota "JJJJJ" was delicious. The restaurant had just broken out a new leg, and it was fresh and moist. You can always count of these guys for good jamon.

The conchinillo asad a la Segoviana was awesome. This was just about the best suckling pig I could find outside of a Chinese restaurant. The meat was incredibly moist, falling off the bones as I poked it with my knife and fork. The crispy skin and the layer of fat underneath were heavenly. I was happy.

The manager offered us an after-meal drink, and I chose the Pedro Ximenez. Wonderfully sweet and grapey. A perfect ending to a perfect meal.

original blogpost with notes on wine: http://chi-he-wan-le.blogspot.com/2009/05/spanish-evening.html