地中海舍 (已結業)

I just got back from Europe and missed the food there. So, my friend suggested Taverna Del Mar a Spanish restaurant. I visited last Friday and there was a party which was also a buffet. I looked through the menu and ordered their Single Paella Negra $160 and Sangria (Happy hour $50). I was impressed with the food. The seafood was fresh and was cooked properly because the rice didn't taste fishy from the ink. And there was scorching! which is what I always looked for in Paellas. Seeing the party, I would love to celebrate my birthday here. They said it's minimum 12k to book the whole place. I think that's a reasonable price. 继续阅读

Went for lunch. Ordered 2 sets.The set was supposed to come with a choice of soup/tapas/salad, but the soup appeared to be the only available item today. Having said that, the pumpkin soup is rich and hot. It is not bad a start.What upset us were the mains. We ordered Arroz a la Cubana (with rice) [$85] and Seafood Panella for one [$140]. To start with the Arroz a la Cubana, the minced meat, sunny side up egg and roasted banana are normal. At least they are edible and they are what you can expect to be served in a restaurant. What dismayed us is the rice. They are dry and hard. They stick to your teeth and never come down. Obviously, the rice are scorched and are those that stay at the bottom of the cooker that one would never try to eat, let alone serve the customers. When we first pointed that out to the server, she barely reacted. It is only when we requested again for another bowl of rice that she finally acceded to our demand, though not wihtout some reluctance. The Panella was even worse. The shrimp was apparently not fresh and the rice that soaked with the juice from the shrimp stank. Overall, discounting the part that was contaminated by the stinky juice, the panella is way too bland. It is the worst Panella that I ever had.The bill, with an additional 10% service charge, finally came up to $248. What a waste of monies and our appetite. 继续阅读

虽然我喜欢吃牛肉，但不是每道菜非牛不可的「牛魔王」。一只牛身上有著不同部位，牛腩、牛肋骨等固然是心头所好，但若论最爱的部位，却只对「牛尾」情有独钟。而且，对于牛尾的烹调方式，只是纯粹地接受「烩牛尾」而已。就像对一个心仪已久的女生，即使久久不见，偶然在人海里遇上的话，必定要好好重聚一番，诉以旧情。这天受同事所邀，前往这家西班牙餐厅吃午饭。众里寻觅，又被我在餐牌上发现了「她」的踪影。餐牌上的选择很多，但第一眼看到「她」的当下，不用豫疑，就决定是这道菜了。* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *前菜 - 跟餐西班牙蛋饼早有耳闻，这家的前菜中也有包括在内。口感是冷冷的，不甚得我欢心。另一小片面包上面涂的橙黄色酱味道咸咸的，却未尝出是什么味道。面包的底部还是烘焦的，不合格呢。烩牛尾 (跟饭) - $85满碟鲜艳而浓烈的红色，像在斗牛场上勇士手中不住挥舞的红毡一样，气势无可抵挡，赏心悦目之极。牛尾肉有两大块，份量不俗；稠稠的酱汁油份很足、浓郁惹味，牛肉的香味尽展无遗。加上有不少焖煮至蓉的蔬菜融入其中，简直是无可挑剔。牛尾肉烩得非常软腍，很容易便和骨头分开。整碟主菜配以红糙米饭，兼顾美味之余，令食客吃得更加营养均衡。 柠檬水 (是日特饮) - 跟餐加$12和一般茶记的柠水很不同，整杯也能尝到柠檬的苦味。* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *后记：超级满足的一顿午餐。能够在午餐时段抢位异常激烈的海光街和心爱「烩牛尾」来一场如斯美丽的邂逅，实在是不可多得的缘份，在此要多谢同事R的介绍。 继续阅读

We didn’t plan to dine at Taverna originally. But I have to write about it now that I finally found the time -even weeks after- because it certainly left an impression – a lasting one we didn’t expect. My friends and I are expats from the states – Chicago – and we came to Hong Kong for an internship opportunity at Christian Dior in island east. We were told that the Island East area had been blossoming in the past few years since the inception of one island east (typically tall HK highrise) which brought an influx of young workers from all over the world like myself. Naturally a number of restaurants and bars opened up to welcome these weary would-be yuppies for reasonably priced lunch sets and happy hour drinks and so on and so forth. Last Friday my friends and I got off a slightly later shift and wandered around the streets looking for something good and light. We were really just looking for a drink, maybe two, and something to fill our stomachs. Taverna Del Mar is not located on a main street. In fact, if one weren’t observant enough, they could walk right pass it (nearly did). Tucked away in a neat little corner on Hoi Kwong st in Quarry bay – not exactly soho or wanchai or even Causeway Bay – it’s not the brightest star on the block. We walked in because a friend of mine stopped for a cigarette and peered through the transparent windows and saw that there were a good number of people inside and the ambience felt lively and homey (there’s a damn hammock hung from the ceiling – a hammock). A warm welcome greeted us and a pretty girl brought us to our table – we didn’t waste any time and ordered three pints of the house draft – Estrella – to start off with. It certainly beat the Coronas we were accustomed to, and the pint was generously topped off – little foam and foreplay. Quite an extensive menu – we were quite hungry after our beers and were extremely pleased by the photos that accompanied each dish (rusty Spanish on our part). Hailing from Chicago, we aren’t really familiar with Spanish cuisine besides the occasional trip to the local taqueria or Chipotle (frankly more Tex-mex and less European) – so the photos definitely helped us choose the dishes that answered our hungry prayers. We begun the night with some hot tapas – traditional snack-style Spanish dishes: the Huevos Estrellados con Jamon was delicioso. Basically a chef’s special of crushed (poached?) eggs with a generous helping of ham scattered in it, this dish was one of the best things we’ve eaten in a while. Much like a breakfast omelette of sorts, but so much more refined that my words probably won’t do it justice. Try it. For our main course we ordered a large sized helping of seafood paella – the only Spanish word we recognized in the whole menu (the large photo made us feel better too). It most definitely did not disappoint. The dish itself was quite enormous, bigger than we expected – at $500 it was more than enough for three hungry gents. We were actually recommended the regular size but we’re so glad we ignored our common sense on this one. The rice was cooked to near perfection – the last time I personally had paella was on a trip to the lower west side in chi town, where the paella was decent but nothing special; the rice was too soft, in fact – with a lovely mix of flavors that brought us out ‘to a sunset on the Mediterranean’ (my bud’s words, not mine) The seafood that accompanied the rice were large and fresh (to my surprise) and was certainly a good bang for the buck. But we weren’t finished yet; against our better judgment we decided to order more drinks – the waitress told us thirsty men that the sangria they made was off the charts. We didn’t expect much – sangria was something we made and drank a lot back to college – but when it was served up in a pretty jug we knew the stuff was legit. The chunks of fruit that were floating gorgeously on the surface (some sunk, pulp-y) speak for themselves – they pack great fruity flavor that doesn’t quite overpower the Rose, which is sweet on its own. I asked the bartender – quite a jovial character – for the special ingredient (ours was Sprite usually) but she just smiled and kept her mouth shut. Rather disappointed but otherwise bursting at the buttons and satisfied we left all with bittersweet smiles on our dumb faces. Dumb because we were quite tipsy, if not slightly drunk. Bittersweet because she guarded that secret and we’d never know. Satisfied because, man, will you just look at the photos? Authentic, 9 outta 10, will definitely become a regular soon if we ever got off late again. (: 继续阅读

原来呢条街仔都好多野食bo!唔住附近or架车人士应该唔会发现。推荐各位唔太钟意等位同人逼的朋友;)。我带埋狗仔所以简左呢间，贪佢有得坐出面。当晚有少少雨，气温ok唔热，坐出面都冇问题，落左几个set dinner!先黎一碗餐汤，我唔100%sure系咩汤，但应该系用绿色的豆豆做的！呢个汤唔会好似一般豆汤咁「确喉」，浓稠程度适中。豆味非常香浓亦好creamy，加上用少少香草点缀，竟然比忌廉汤优胜，仲冇咁「滞胃」呢。味以为呢碟青口红色，一定又系茄汁味，原来系红椒加其他新鲜蔬菜。啲青口只只肥美，冇一只有沙。入味得来又唔会cover左青口的原味，我就连个shell啲汁都饮埋添。西餐都会有餐前小食，西班牙的餐前小食我却未试过。呢件好似芝士蛋糕的原来系冻蛋饼，其实同潮州冻蛋角有几分相似，不过冇菜圃。感觉几新鲜得意，食完都唔会饱晒食唔落其他。呢个西班牙海鲜汤饭我唔太like…第一，个人喜好问题，我唔太钟意龙虾的味道，个汤底好明显系用左龙虾去「淆」；第二我唔太喜欢汤饭。如果系同样味道同样材料，焗饭会正好多，不过相对制作时间都会长好多。评心而论，汤饭中饭粒有咬口唔会成糊已经好出色，汤加入左名贵的番红花同用龙虾制都应该好费功夫！十分欣赏厨师的心机！牛尾烩得好入味，橙橙红红的色唔单止有茄汁味，而且仲有浓浓肉香，丁点都唔腥。食得牛尾都预左肉唔太多，但胜在入口即溶兼冇筋。伴在执边的薯蓉好smooth,有微微香草味，加埋牛尾汁食简直一流。 继续阅读