I have walked/driven by this restaurant for so many years but never went in..well finally made it inside last night. The ambiance in the restaurant was fantastic. The place was full, you hear all kind of languages around you from the variety of customers, and there were some musicians playing some Spanish classics. Unfortunately, the food was soso. Did mostly tapas and 1 main course.

Iberico ham: can't go wrong with this, it was great. made a second order. 9/10

cheese: this was ok. 7/10

ham & cheese croquetes: these were disappointing. They were very dry. 4/10

cod croquetes: these were only a little better than the ham & cheese croquetes. also dry. 5/10

shrimps in olive oil: they were very small and ok. 7/10

patatas bravas: i'm used to having spicy tomato sauce and some kind of mayo with it, but that was missing here. there was some kind of spicy tomato sauce glazed over it. 6/10

lamb chops: these were such small pieces, i couldn't believe it. not much taste to it. 6/10

Spanish Food is experiencing a resurgence in order of interest, and although I haven’t tried all openings ranging from modernised so-called Spanish tapas to overseas imported brands, I have gotten the chance to eat at the more established places multiple times over lately such as Here, Fadango, Estudio, etc. Excuse the photos as it is very dark inside here, but despite the spades of openings and some are trying to reinvent the wheel - I still firmly believe that Ole makes one of the better tasting Spanish foods in Hong Kong. If only the Paella and Salted Baked fish were as good as the Tapas and Raciones dishes... .Bread is served in all styles of Spanish Cuisines - They are intricately linked with food in Spain, more so than many places. .Red Sangria - I personally don’t drink Sangria with my meals, as it is more of a party drink. But it is approachable and always well accepted. The one here was fine tonight at least. ~ 7/10 .5J Iberico de Bellota – $110 Hand sliced and quite decent, just not as oily nor meaty tasty as I had experienced elsewhere. This is not bad to be fair. ~ 6.9/10 .Tortilla Espanola – $35 I like the version here as it is eggy, with properly baked potatoes and it’s soft and warm. ~ 7/10 .Grilled Green Asparagus with Romesco Sauce and Iberico Ham bits – $60 This was nicely done. Can’t be faulted. ~ 8/10 .Baby Squids Stuffed with Shrimps This is one of the must-order tapas here, but you can also order a bigger Raciones size still. It has real seafood squid ink taste and the prawn and almond stuffing is usually decent, depending on visit. ~ 9/10 .Gambas al Ajillo – $65 Another one of the must orders here, as it comes in a bubbly garlic and olive oil with burnt garlic. A lot of shops make a weak and mild version and what’s the point? Here you want to dip the bread into that hot oil. It’s decadently good. ~ 10/10 .Jamon Croquetas – $60 These are ok and I like the Jamon ham version than the Salted Cod Fish version which is too diluted in taste. Could be quenelled better though! ~ 7/10 .Lubina a la Sal, Seabass Backed in Rock Salt – $460 After Deboning, this is one of the 2 Plates included in the $460. The portion is huge and decent. The dish was lacking some salt and seasoning or herbs tonight, it was a bit dense. One diner has had this same dish here before and experienced better on other nights… Let’s give it benefit of the doubts ~ 6/10 .Cochinillo Sergovian Roasted Suckling Pig - $280 This is and still is one of the best Spanish roasted Suckling Pigs in Hong Kong, the skin is re-basted with the pig oil and it usually has crispy skin and flavourful tender meat. On this occasion, the meat taste was weaker, but we found you needed to swirl the meat around to absorb back up more the jus. The skin also wasn’t as wafer thin crispy than before but still ok. ~ 7/10 .Paella Mariscos – $420 Seafood Paella, seemed a bit too soft and lacking crustacean and shellfish essence, it was definitely one of the other disappointments. It could do with more Saffron and Seafood essence. We had a tremendously better version at Fadango (but the tapas and selections aren’t too good there), and Boqueria HK had a better tasting version too if they could just make it more crustacean-like orange and having more saffron flavour.. 5/10 .Churros with Chocolate – $80 The Hot Chocolate is as expected outside of Spain, given as a tiny Dips only amount than for real Drinking Chocolate as it should in most parts of Spain. The churros were quite slender and possibly overly fried to be hard-ish. ~ 6/10 ****************************** OVERALL, I WILL ONLY BE BACK FOR THE TAPAS AND RACIONES SHARING SIZE APPETIZERS. AS FOR THE MAINS, ONLY THE SUCKLING PIG TEMPTS ME TO ORDER IT! (THE PIG AT SISTER RESTAURANT CASA LISBOA IS ALSO QUITE GOOD, BUT DOESN'T HAVE MUCH SAUCE LIKE HERE)

想嚟咗好耐..............終於aug 11, 12............5人來lunch..............叫咗 :

1) bread (免費)
-很冰感嘅牛油
-麵包不暖熱
-普通,不過當時我好肚餓,都幫到吓手

2) 小食 (免費)
-個薯仔沙律好好味,有些少蒜香味
-薯仔粉腍,gd
-而且仲有碟多款橄欖嘅小食,真喺西班牙餐常伴嘅小食3) sangria (hk$250)
-去到食西班牙菜,都喜歡試吓餐廳嘅sangria.............每間餐廳都會有佢自己嘅receipe
-這裡沒有混有生果粒,果甜味/香氣亦比較弱4) traditional spanish iberico ham (hk$350)
-starter portion
-平均的薄切,肉嫩滑,不粗"鞋",沒有筋,鹹鮮味剛好
-不過正如食友所言,after taste不強...........所以個age應該唔會有36個月,不過食吓食吓,又唔記得向侍應求証5) garlic shrimps (hk$160)
-starter portion
-上枱時濃郁嘅蒜香,油香充斥全個dining area,之前格離枱食時,唔知度喺咩,只知到聞到都想食
-蝦size中-大,肉很爽,結實,亦有鮮味,+埋混有橄欖油,煮到好香嘅蒜片同食,好得
-不過唔喺隻集蝦嘅爽度1樣,間中有d蝦未夠爽
-食友覺得蒜片好好食,1d都唔放過6) fresh clams in green sauce (hk$120)
-starter portion
-很大隻蜆,煮嘅時間亦掌握得好好,1定無煮老到
-個sauce味道不濃,有點洋蔥粒等,所以可以保留到蜆肉本身嘅微鮮7) traditional spanish seafood rice (hk$420)
-主角來了
-飯夠濕潤,味濃,喺蔬菜+上湯煮成嘅sauce,鮮味度不重,飯裡找到不少配料,不過d飯就唔al dente
-食甜品前,經理(我估)禮貌的來問吓我哋對食物嘅滿意度,食友講個飯無口感,經理解釋餐廳主要嘅客人喺本地人,以前收到不少意見話個飯過硬,唔夠湯去煮.......(以我哋嗰日sat所見,又真喺1枱老外都無喎)........於是餐廳自己暗地裡就安排,如果喺local人,就+多d上湯去煮...........如果喺老外客,就按正常al dente嘅煮法............當然如落單時,講明想硬身d/有咬口d...........佢哋就會照辦
-不過我哋都唔知餐廳會有2套做法..............如果可以喺落單時問個客個preference,就唔洗估估吓8) roasted suckling pig in the segovia way (hk$280)
-呢個喺我哋嘅目標
-因為我哋5個人,所以就幫我哋斬成5件
-皮薄,脆身
-肉喺超級tender同juicy
-每次食葡式/西班牙式燒豬,都喺食番原味
-所以中式會內塗上醬料去燒,會喺惹味d9) traditional cold vegetable soup x 2 (@hk$70)
-喺咪好得意呢?.............連主菜都食埋,先叫個湯
-hahaha............原因好簡單............因為之前我漏咗叫...........所以補番
-估唔到個湯,會有4款配料同食
-個湯喺凍的,唔喺chilled
-我覺得個湯突出喺因為+咗生嘅配料粒 - 青椒,番茄,青瓜同紫洋蔥
-增+個口感之餘,亦會有點洋蔥嘅微辛味
-味道清新,少酸
-食友笑言呢個時間插入這樣嘅湯,效果似喺sorbert咁清吓個味蕾先食甜品10) dessert wine x 5 (送)
-經理同我哋交流咗1陣之後,知道我哋叫咗咩甜品,就送來5杯dessert wine伴甜品食

11) apple millefeuill with vanilla ice cream (hk$90)
-擺得好靚,top view睇,好似朵花咁
-蘋果1000層酥表頭都仲見到酥嘅薄片,但下面有蘋果肉就比較濕,玉桂味溫和
-可能蘋果類甜品1貫都唔喺我嘅杯中茶,所以個雲呢嗱雪糕更啱我口胃

12) crepes with fresh bourbon vanilla cream and oranage sauce (hk$80)
-很薄身嘅crepe皮,包住粗粗嘅cream
-個cream唔喺fresh cream,而喺似yogurt cream,不會腍身,不過vanilla味就唔重13) crema catalana (hk$75)
-creme brulee喺我嘅favorite甜品之1
-呢個喺類似,有層burnt sugar,不過burnt得唔夠勁,但幸好還可以扑起嚟脆身
-下面嘅燉蛋很滑膩,比平時嘅食到嘅creme brulee黏身d,同埋喺暖身d14) traditional spanish churros with hot chocolate (hk$80)
-呢個喺我個人想試嘅西班牙傳統小食
-第1次食
-去過西班牙幾個月嘅食友曾話過比我知,西班牙人可以當呢個喺早餐,似喺洋版嘅白粥油炸鬼
-churros只喺手指咁粗,撒上砂糖,炸得好酥鬆,入口又唔油膩,很熱香
-食法喺將churros浸落杯朱古力食,第1啖入口嘅朱古力很有酒味,很黑朱古力,甜度不過,但後來淨"匹"羮嚟飲,酒味又唔覺喎,仲幾好飲添

1. Need to walk a long way up to the restaurant along ice house street. Given the hot weather, I consider this a exericse before the meal.

2. For lunch, you can order from the a la carte menu (salad or soup; main dish; dessert; coffee or tea). HK$168 per head which is a good bargain.

3. Order the Spanish seafood Paella - gorgeous. Maybe it is a bit too much tomato sauce.4. Waitress is friendly and helpful. Decor is mediterranian style and you feel relaxed.

5. Definitely will come back for another round of lunch - so many things I want to try out.

My colleague has recommended this Spanish restaurant to me for ages. As her number of annual leave is multiple times (!) more than mine, she can always take a half day leave to have lunch in weekdays here. Obviously tempted, I also took a half day leave and came for a lunch which was not quite live up to my expectation.

There were not many choices for the 3-courses set lunch. CM and I both went for a salad as appetizer. Before that, the bread basket and tapas were served. I could only finish the olives as the rest were not impressive.My choice of salad was bell pepper salad with goat cheese. It was not a “crunchy type” salad. The sweetness of bell pepper and the slight tanginess of goat cheese blended well together. A good start… CM’s tuna and egg salad was refreshing. It is difficult to go wrong with this classic combination. Instead of ordering two main courses, we picked seafood paella (for two to share), which, I believe, would be the choice of many first comers. The paella was placed on the side table and the waiter divided it for us.
There were many squid pieces inside but only a few prawn and mussels. I really missed the generous portion of seafood in Fandango’s. The rice was quite chewy and moist. It was slightly sweet with a hint of prawn. However, I still expected more flavour. This one could hardly be compared with that of the Fandango’s, which used lobster broth to cook. What made it more disappointing was the lack of toasted rice at the bottom which was the most enjoyable part~!After the disappointing paella, I did not have much expectation on the desserts. As the ingredients were fresh, my poached pear was fine. The taste of wine and sweetness were well balanced. This light and refreshing dessert was a good pair with the seafood paella.On the contrary, CM’s crème brulee was less appealing. The sugar crust was so thick that we could hardly break it. I was a bit disappointed with the chef’s technique. Luckily, the pudding was smooth and creamy even though it was a bit too sweet to me. It was not a mind-opening lunch as I expected. If you work nearby, you can have a go. If not, there are better choices around. Don’t know if dinner would be better, but I will not return here for lunch anyway.

忙完早上的會議後, 整team一齊食lunch，我期望lunch 的個半小時可為沒趣的落雨天帶來一點surprise。

一行八人沿煤氣燈街撐著雨傘上雪廠街，短短路程而衫褲濕透了！Ole 的標誌很搶眼，鮮黃、紅底和藍色字體，很易看到。餐廳大門像一道西式古堡木門，走進餐廳內頓覺真的到了西班牙和地中海的餐廳一樣，地下用上室外橙色地磚，白色檣身掛上富地中海特色的掛畫，餐廳分兩種佈局: 1)近路邊有透光但不透明玻璃裝飾，像溫室花園, 主要放二至四位table，感覺relax很舒適，2)走進餐廳內看到有木製水吧，旁邊掛著數隻西班牙火腿，光線較暗，有旋轉鐵樓梯和大條原木掛於檣上作裝飾，感覺像在古堡用餐一樣。兩邊營造出對比，surprise!

午市提供set lunch - $168 一位，包1. 餐湯或沙律， 2. 主菜， 3. 餐飲，4. 甜品，全部可於正常餐牌內選擇。以中環餐廳和環境質素來說，抵呀！

所有食物都非常宗，絕非連鎖店的貨色。點菜後，送上四款小食和麵包籃。餐湯、沙律、主菜和甜品都很精美，以下幾款較多捧場客：

海鮮湯-很濃郁內有大蜆、魚肉和飯粒
劍魚沙律-蔬菜爽脆，蕃茄鮮紅肉厚多汁，劍魚很特別
西班牙凍湯-純蔬菜，非常醒胃
西班牙海鮮飯-由於是一盤上，故必須要二人才可order, 有大蝦、青口、魷魚，飯是黃色配上紅紅綠綠的配菜，外表已很吸引，味道很yummy, 份量足夠四位女士share!
燒乳豬-每份四分一隻乳豬還有脆薯，皮脆肉嫩！
銀雪魚pot-材料豐富有原件銀雪魚、大蜆、蝦和湯汁
焦糖布甸-好大件充滿蛋香，滑lue lue
雪糕-有兩款選擇，雖然簡單但賣相很認真

個半小時都enjoy於美食和舒適環境中，把外面沉悶的雨天都忙掉了。

Although the location is a bit difficult to find, you can get to 2nd floor (lobby floor) of new world tower on Queens Rd and then take backdoor. After a few steps, you'll see the ice house road and ole's band. Turn right u'll see the wood door on the first building. Really hidden one:The lunch set include bread + spanish tapas + soup/salad + main course+ dessert + drink (tea/coffee).
bread: warm and fresh baked
tapas: potato salad, meat ball in tomato sauce, olive, I liked olive quite a lot and almost finish 2/3. salad/soup: we both choice swordfish salad- very large portion with large fresh swordfish and lots of vege. main dish: Tried signature dish (Spanish seafood rice-paella, it has to be served for min 2ppl but very tasty, traditional spanish seafood rice, with some tomato sauce and lots of seafood. Size is large even shared by 2ppl. ) many times before so decided to make a change. I ordered codfish stewed with shrimp and clam. Friend picked roasted chicken. My codfish is good and soaked in the soup stewed with shrimp/clam full of flavor. Dessert: I choose tiramisu, general good but lack of wine flavor. friend's pick is spanish dessert (like bread stick dipped with hot chocolate), also good. Coffee is just so so.

It's really good price for such fruitful lunch set. satisfactory meal.

Environment is good as usual, so as the waiters. The chef (looks like spanish) is very nice even walk out talking to us and asking our opinion on the food

同家人慶祝生日
總會覺得要去西餐廳先有生日氣氛
今次特地揀了這西班牙餐廳
每晚也有樂隊演奏
十分有西餐廳的情調

sangria
係西班牙餐廳就當然要叫sangria, 家母未飲過, 本身不太好酒的她,對著這只有果味的甜甜的酒非常喜愛。
這裡的sangria 充滿檸檬味, 非常醒胃

trandition spanish ham 'JJJJJ
特級的西班牙火腿油脂分明, 很有咸香, 果味, 但tapas portion 似乎不夠

Baby squid ink sauce stuffed with Shimps & almonds
對於吃海鮮大的我, 覺得此菜不太特別. 覺得不太鮮味, 可以不試Traditional Spanish seafood rice
西班牙炒飯, 沒有要龍蝦的那款, 蠢了.
普通的海鮮飯單靠魷魚的調味, 不太夠, 但仍可口,
深信有龍蝦的話味道應較佳
飯再乾身會較好Suckling Pig
半肥瘦的肉, 外層烤得很脆! 沒有很濃的調味, 是可口的豬, 件點紅酒會較好最後叫了CHOCOLATE MELT (FORGOT THE NAME)
一早跟侍應說好了會有蠟燭
原來還會有樂隊行過黎伴唱的
給了家母一個驚喜
真是很有電視上西餐廳的氣氛

A really big bunch of my friends invited my for lunch at Olé Spanish Restaurant & Bar. Oh I was really excited as it had been on my wish list for a long while already.
On the day I went to the restaurant with the friend who made the reservation beforehand. We had to hike up Ice House Street which was quite a pain under the summer heat! And I was at a loss of where the entrance was (thanks to the rather inconspicuous looking thick wooden door).

But once we were inside, we were almost enchanted. I've never been to Spain but I felt like I was there at Olé. Since we were a large group (more than a dozen) we were assigned a long table at the back of the restaurant and thus I got a pretty good view of the whole restaurant. A picture says a thousand words:The "Special Lunch of the Day" seemed to be a bargain. For just $158 (+10% service charge) you could choose any soup or salad, a main dish and a dessert from the a la carte menu, complete with tea of coffee. If you want a Paella, you'd have to share between 2 people. (You'll know the reason later, read on...)Since the paella took some 30 minutes to make, we decided to order it first. We went for the classic Paella de marisco (Traditional Spanish seafood rice, a la carte price $420). I picked another traditional Spanish soup, Gazpacho Andaluz (Traditional cold vegetable soup, $70) and my friend chose a salad Ensalada de pez espada en escabeche (Swordfish salad, $95).

After we've made our orders and while waiting for our other friends to come, came bread and tapas. I loved the warm and crispy bread, and the stuffed olives as well. There were also potato salad, and meat balls and sardines in tomato sauce, which were good too.My gazpacho was cool (not to the degree of cold though), smooth, and refreshing.I tried a bit of the swordfish from my friend's salad but the flesh was firm and sort of bland and I didn't like it too much.

Later we managed to persuade some of our group to order the Cochillino asado a la Segoviana (Suckling pig baked in the oven the Segovia way, $255) so that we could share that as well.I didn't manage to taste a lot of the paper-thin golden crisp skin, but that little bit was still very tasty, and the meat underneath was tender and juicy, retaining the pork's natural flavors. And finally here it was - the Paella! It was like huge and could actually feed more than 2 people even if you eat just that. The paellera (the pan in which the paella is cooked) looked like a big Chinese "wok" and thus the passionately named 西班牙大鑊飯 (!!) in Chinese. In this one it got prawns, mussels, cuttlefish, and also some vegetables like peppers, chickpeas and beans complete with a wedge of lemon. The rice was moist and soft and colored to a bright loveable yellow with saffron, and infused with the appetising aroma of garlic. Even better than the seafood that was inevitably the frozen variety. Still I think it is one of the better paellas in town (though it is not something I eat all the time or a lot).

As time was running short and everyone was starting to feel the pressure of having to head back to work soon (we all hate Mondays don't we?), we'd better go on to dessert. That was another separate menu with things from classic Spanish stuff like churros to even tiramisu (but I don't know of a Spanish version of that). My choice was Crema Catalana, or Catalan cream ($55). It was actually Crème Brûlée of Spain, and tasted similar. I liked the feeling of cracking the caramelised sugar on the top . Just a side note, this dessert originated from Catalonia in Spain, which has just passed a law that banned bull fighting in the region.And after finishing the coffee, I really had to go. I had an enjoyable meal at Olé which was worth my three cheers!

P.S. The staff here are all English-speaking (didn't test on their Spanish though), and the bilingual menu as you can see, is in English and Spanish. I don't think they have a Chinese menu here.

今天友人生日，選了地點方便、風評頗佳的 Ole 來慶祝。

可能時間尚早，進去時人不多。我留意到這裡大檯較多，反而 2 人檯只有三數桌，可能是公司聚餐較多吧。安坐之後，看看環境。燈光頗爲昏暗，裝修比較簡約。現場有樂手彈吉他唱歌，食客開懷暢談，氣氛不俗而不拘謹。送上麵包和小吃。麵包不過不失，小吃中薯仔不俗。紅酒選擇頗多，我只簡單點了 House Red，以 $260 的價位，居然一點也不差。餐廳不提供開水，要另點瓶裝水。吃西班牙餐，當然要點 Tapas。

Jabugo Ham 即點即切，味道濃郁。我偏向喜歡口感較挺身的火腿，現場即切最合我口味。口裏充滿火腿的油份與鹹香時，配上紅酒，感覺美妙。$110 Tapa 份量，十分划算。吃完意猶未盡，要再 encore 了一份。蒜蓉蝦上菜時尤吱吱作響，熱氣騰騰。屬水準之作。
炸 Anchovies，有點像椒鹽多春魚，不過不失。Baby Squid 有驚喜。Squid 裏面壤了一些肉 / 小蝦，吃的時候出奇地感覺很像在吃一隻雞蛋 -- 當然超級惹味版。很有趣。墨魚汁本身味道不錯，但吃起來真的要很小心。「點心」過後是海鮮湯。不俗，但無大驚喜。吃到這裡，主菜來了 - 燒乳豬！皮薄、而十分之脆，肉嫩得不得了，實在不能再挑剔。唯獨是皮下的一層厚脂肪，吃第一、二件後，喝一口紅酒，拍案叫絕。但吃第三件時，已經吃不消。還好，六件的份量，兩人剛剛好。中式、西式乳豬都是美食，各有千秋、互相輝映。甜品是 Tiramisu，點上了蠟燭，在碟上寫了 Happy Birthday ，樂手也適時伴奏。頗貼心。

整體來説，食物質素值得滿意，氣氛輕鬆舒適，價錢合理。加上地利，值得一來再來。

晚飯過後，非常滿足，也實在有點飽。沿上亞厘畢道，在禮賓府（我始終更喜歡理解它為「舊港督府」）附近繞了一圈、再到聖約翰座堂走走，才打車離去。身處中環，但完全感覺不到中環的煩囂，實在是一頓美妙晚餐的最佳飯後甜品。