Olala Charcuterie (Closed)

三月下旬‧晴走了去看食品展，在EDO巨浪大切及各式乾果小食當中有這間賣36個月風乾黑毛豬火腿的地方，幾異數。買了一杯雜乾火腿去吃，莎樂美油潤，風乾火腿鹹香有致。那邊箱在切300元100克的火腿，跟15元3包的EDO大切巨浪相映其趣。不過不要說笑，這些美食展大陸人也真多。 continue reading

Knowing the Olala series of shops and its boss being slightly 'unpredictable', was happy to see the Olala Charcuterie shop re-open again but without the hot food stuff. This one is the Charcuterie retail shop section, which is like a delicatessen and also sells Bordeaux wine (best vintages of them, but nothing else) and cheese, smoked eels, french duck confits, echire butter, etc. I have to say, Olala has got the best imported French and Spanish stuff in the world, especially the Jamon (Spanish Ham). Cheese meanwhile is not very exciting here.There are 5 types of Jamon Iberico de Bellota available on the board here, ranging from $300 to $480 per kilo. In reality, they actually have around 7-8 types its just that some of them have certificates to prove that they're cerdo negro Iberian pigs fed with acorns, but some are repetitively, virtually the same thing.Honestly, the Jamon Iberico de Bellota's selections here in Olala are the best in Hong Kong by far. I've tried all the other shops and they don't come close. First of all, Jamon Iberico de Bellota are the highest grade of Jamon Iberico ham (higher than Recebo and Pienso grades). Then there are Jamon Serranos with Riserva or normal grading, which are still quite good in a way. Also there are Paletas Jamons which are from the front legs/shoulders which are less tasty than the hind legs used for top grade Jamon Ibericos. The top Jamon Iberico de Bellota are sometimes known/called Pata Negra, Joselito or Jabugo, but these are actually more referring to either producers or regions that produce the Bellota although all 3 are often used to refer to the ham directly, in HK, especially Pata Negra and Jabugo. It really becomes very confusing until you understand what each and every word means.By my experience, no Italian Prosciutto/St Danielles or French Jabugo de Bayonne (even Ibaiona ones) come close to the best of Spanish Jamon. Furthermore, the selections at City Super or 'Wong Sheng Yuu's shop in Central' do not even come remotely close in quality, in fact, the latter also imports the exactly the same Joselito 36 months range, but at Olala's, the hand-picked, bigger and fatter Joselito selections from the same producer are just that much more better. Tapeo's Bellota's or Ole's 5J or Marriott's The Loung buffet 5Js might have pretty good Bellotas as well, but still, they're off the mark compared to the selections here, its almost scary why exactly the same name and producer, will have such a big variation in quality....Out of the 5 on the board, the no.1 recommendation is of couse the no.1 selection Olala's special selection, for $4XX/100g. This 48months cured ham is super ridiculously good and melts in your mouth, with a lasting finish that coats the mouth for many many minutes, with a distinct nuttiness and developed taste. Goes well with a Fino or Amontillado Sherry. The difference between this, and the CitySuper's 2 Iberico selections or the Great Supermarket's Pata Negras 2 Ibericos (Pacific Place, under Seibu). is like day and night..... if you have tried this Iberian Ham, you'll never be able to go back to those 2 shops' ones, nor the ones at Ole's or Tapeo's.The 4th selection on the board, the 5J Jabugo here is also very a good producer and choice (same as served in Marriott and Ole, but slightly different yet again due to hand selection). The colour here is a darkish red, but it falls apart meltingly. Its deliberately made this way to enhance its deep, deep flavour, yet its not too dry in a way. Highly recommended. $300/100g. Very deep profound taste, not salty, but slightly not as fatty or fresh as others.The 5th selection, the Joselito Grand Reserva 36months, is the same as in 'Wong Sheung Yuu's shop' but its much much much better, despite having exactly the same grading and name. Its even dearer at the other shop, funnily enough. Here, the boss picks them by hand and they're much bigger than the other shop's ones. Also $300/100g. Unbelievably good Joselito.... melts in your mouth as well and a long lasting finish. I've had Joselito's many times in my life, but the Olala's selections are just the best ones.The 2nd selection on the board, which I only tried a little bit, also had a very long lasting taste. Think its called Martinez? Also very recommended, kind of similar to 4th one, the 5J. The 3rd one on the board is slightly too salty and yunan ham like for my taste, but it also has a very deep flavour. Each to their own.I think the tasting order I recommend here - is to buy the 5th, then 4th, then 2nd, then 1st one on top of the board (the best and most expensive one). But in all seriousness, all of the 5 hams available here are already the best in Hong Kong compared to everything else I've bought, by a very great margin. AMAZING FEAT.Also, some of the selections here are available off-the-bone, which means it can be sliced across the grain - which is a much much much better way to eat Jamon than the hand-cut version, which is restricted to cutting along the grain. Its funny how even in Spain, or in Hong KOng, everyone thinks Hand-Cut Jamon is traditional and the best, therefore its cool. In reality, the best method to eat Jamon is 1) hand cut across the grain, 2) machine cut across the grain, before 3) hand cut along the grain, serve in almost all restaurants or shops in HK, as the last method becomes more chewy and less melt in your mouth tender or flavoursome.First Openrice '5' score I've given in HK, although not for a restaurant. I feel its unfair in a way, but this shop's food selections are really worth '5' anyway you look at it! continue reading

早前經過這裡，見這間價錢唔貴，雖然地方細細，但感覺都幾舒服，便入來試試。看完餐牌後，便選擇了紅蘿蔔沙律、忌廉汁羊肉飯和肉醬(豬肉)千層麵。蕃茄麥包(跟餐送的) - 微微焗熱、加上少少牛油、麵包鬆軟、麥味香濃但蕃茄味就唔多覺，的確幾好食，侍應見我們唔多夠喉，還問我們要唔要多件，當然唔客氣啦！^.^紅蘿蔔沙律- 生菜加上紅蘿蔔切絲及橄欖油，又爽口又清甜，作為開胃前菜都算幾適合。忌廉汁羊肉飯- 忌廉汁香濃又好味，羊肉微微帶羶味，但唔算嚴重，肉質嫩滑又好味，幾出色。肉醬(豬肉)千層麵- 肉醬味過濃，千層麵麵粉太厚，表面的芝士味還算不錯，但比起羊肉飯就差得遠了。回家後看見這裡的食評唔多好，又話服務差，又話羊肉羶，實在感覺奇怪。自已食完，這裡雖然唔算太出色，但也不至於這樣差，而且侍應還好nice，最重要是價錢一d都唔貴；難道給這樣的價錢，想起五星級的服務，真好笑！ continue reading

I must make some comments hereConfusing menu:Menu in Italian which no one could understand. The Philippines waitresses were so impolite and impatient to explain the menu. We were like ordering mystery food.3 courses 98, 4 courses 118. Sounds very cheap. However, coffee is counted as 1 course. 2/3 of the selections there require an additional $20. For example, a regular salad (filthy raw carrot) is included. A salmon salad require $20 more.Very bad and unprofessional service:The waiter could not under what we said in English. The Philipphines waitress did not understand anything. Instead, when waitress A did not understand, she left and asked waitress B to help. Waitress B then took 1 order and left again. So waitress A and B had been swapping to take overs.As a result, wrong food was delivered. While some of us were still waiting for the cold dishes, the main courses arrived. Very unprofessional service hereThe food:carrot salad: mini portion, looks cheap and filthy. Salmon salad: same as above, with 3 thin slices of salmon, potato + mayo salad (even worse than the one in fast food rest.)steak: chewier than any material on earth. The bill:very dishonest, counted us 4-courses menu (none of us had ordered 4-courses)very over-priced as we were paying for the worst dinning experience in my life continue reading