Olala Charcuterie (已結業)

三月下旬‧晴走了去看食品展，在EDO巨浪大切及各式干果小食当中有这间卖36个月风干黑毛猪火腿的地方，几异数。买了一杯杂干火腿去吃，莎乐美油润，风干火腿咸香有致。那边箱在切300元100克的火腿，跟15元3包的EDO大切巨浪相映其趣。不过不要说笑，这些美食展大陆人也真多。 继续阅读

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! 继续阅读

早前经过这里，见这间价钱唔贵，虽然地方细细，但感觉都几舒服，便入来试试。看完餐牌后，便选择了红萝卜沙律、忌廉汁羊肉饭和肉酱(猪肉)千层面。蕃茄麦包(跟餐送的) - 微微焗热、加上少少牛油、面包松软、麦味香浓但蕃茄味就唔多觉，的确几好食，侍应见我们唔多够喉，还问我们要唔要多件，当然唔客气啦！^.^红萝卜沙律- 生菜加上红萝卜切丝及橄榄油，又爽口又清甜，作为开胃前菜都算几适合。忌廉汁羊肉饭- 忌廉汁香浓又好味，羊肉微微带膻味，但唔算严重，肉质嫩滑又好味，几出色。肉酱(猪肉)千层面- 肉酱味过浓，千层面面粉太厚，表面的芝士味还算不错，但比起羊肉饭就差得远了。回家后看见这里的食评唔多好，又话服务差，又话羊肉膻，实在感觉奇怪。自已食完，这里虽然唔算太出色，但也不至于这样差，而且侍应还好nice，最重要是价钱一d都唔贵；难道给这样的价钱，想起五星级的服务，真好笑！ 继续阅读

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 继续阅读