This entry took me a while to write up because (1) I am lazy (2) I am lazy and (3) I am very lazy! I have passed by this establishment way too many times but never really got the chance try it. Since I felt like Spanish Tapas on this evening, why not give this place a try. So what do I think of it? I was 1/5 satisfied with the food but I was 5/5 happy to have a wonderful dining companion with me this special evening! I can go on forever about how much fun this evening and how the both of us took pictures of the food with undivided concentration; but let me get back to the review first. It was to my surprise that the actual dining area was rather small, almost half of the establishment is dedicated to the bar area with about a dozen of tables for diners.
(1) Eggs & onion dips
It was literally eggs and onion dips, how unoriginal! Truly no surprises in my opinion.
(2) Goose liver pies with port wine sauce
We were attracted by the name of this dish and the presentation was interesting enough that we took quite a while to take pictures of it from different directions. However, taste wise we can't even find hints of the goose liver flavors, perhaps overtaken by the rich port wine sauce??
(3) Chorizo sauteed with onions
Too salty, too oily and too chewy! Enough said.
(4) Pata negra iberico ham
Based on my humble knowledge with cured ham, pata negra or Jamón iberico ham (which consists of different variations as well) is of better grade than the slightly varied Jamón serrano. If we were to try, why not try the better grade right? It was to be ordered by the grams and was cut right in front of us.
It was good. Not too salty and very thinly cut. The flavor was very intense as it should be; a great way to stimulate my taste buds before the mains!
(5) Sea-bass, scallops ceviche
Definitely not something we expected; I mean not how we imagined it would look like. It was more like a dip to me, a very lightly flavored dip to be exact. I could not remember how the diced sea-bass and scallops tasted like, likely because there were not surprises.
(6) Seafood paella
Where can I find good paella in HK??? Not here (nor at Hemingway's by the Bay @ Discovery Bay) for sure. It was rather dry but at least it was served in the right paella pan compared with Hemingway's! Plenty of ingredients and flavors were alright, it was the dryness of the whole thing that they really need to work on!
(7) Steak Frites
Looks alright? Yeah, it tasted alright as well. We ordered Medium Rare and it came Medium Rare. Meat was tender enough that we gave it a passing rate. Fries on the other hand, no, it failed because it was rather stale and plain.
(8) baked chocolate cake & caramelized baked apple tart
One word: SWEET! Sorry I mean 2 words: TOO SWEET! Both the baked chocolate cake and caramelized baked apple tarts were way too sweet for my liking. The apple slices in the apple tart seemed to be soaked in sugar for a long while that even with the ice cream the sweetness remained. The sweetness of the apple tart and chocolate cake took over my sense of taste to a point that I thought I would get a sugar overdose!
Likes:
- Pata negra iberico ham - very thinly sliced + flavors were rich and intense, very good.
- Desserts way too sweet
- Seafood Paella - too dry! I really want to find a great Paella place!
- Chorizo sauteed with onions - too salty & too greasy!
1/5 Nuevo
9 Star Street, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Tel: 852 2529 2300
http://www.elite-concepts.com/eatplusdrink.php?id=50
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11 comments:
I couldn't take clear photos in this place coz it's extremely dark there, how could you capture all the dishes neatly?
Sounds like ythe food there was no up to par for you. I like their squid ink paella though, ^^.
@KennyT: sigh, we should have ordered the squid ink paella. As for the pictures, I just CRANKED up the ISO level hence the extreme image noise ... haha
your photos are fantastic! you should teach me something about tweaking that ISO level.
i totally agree, food was a let down but the company really made the night! :)
Hi! I've just found your blog and since I'm spanish I had to see what you had about spanish food! hahaha First of all I must say that, except for the jamón and the paella none of those dishes are spanish at all!! (cebiche is from south america). I've never heard about egg&onion dips... and porto wine is from Portugal! Concerning chorizo, it's spanish but that "tapa" is quite strange... anyway, chorizo is salty and oily... Probably not that much but it is salty and oily. And then that fries... They look like frozen fries... hahaha the ham doesn't look bad but an advise: Good Ibérico ham must have lots of fat, I mean it should have lots of white parts in the middle of the meat and not just in the borders. I've been to several spanish restaurants abroad and all of them where horrible! hahahah I didn't find a good one so far.
Sorry for such a long comment!
@uvepece: Thanks for dropping by my blog! All comments both short and long are welcome because I can continue to learn more about food through your comments. Isn't it funny how creative restaurants in Hong Kong can be with all these interesting dishes which are not even Spanish right? haha ... I am yet to try other so-called authentic Spanish restaurant in Hong Kong and perhaps I can find one that is CLOSEST to the true Spanish cuisine :)
Yeah, I like my Ibérico ham with plenty of fat as well but I think it is a local culture (unfortunately) that seem to have something against overly fatty things, especially girls. Again, based on my personal observation. :D
hahaha Yes... you're right. Many "extra-healthy minded" people here in Spain complains about fatty Ibérico but the true gourmets always say that Ibérico without fat is not Ibérico. Anyway you can eat good Ibérico without having a fat based diet haha. Apart from the fact that that the fat in this ham is not saturated fat and it's totally natural and it's not that bad for health, the same as olive oil.
I hope you find a GOOD spanish restaurant to enjoy and discover spanish cuisine. If not I can try to send you some translated recipes, if I have some time, for you to try!
Hi!!I love your blog!Im also spanish.living in Hong Kong.On my search for a real good spanish restaurant I've come to terms with the idea that there is not such a place yet opened in HK.Besides my house haha.My friends keep on asking me for a good spanish restaurant in HK and i have no choice but inviting them over for dinner at my place.I travel back home 3-4 times a year and bring many ingredients back as i dont find.not even in the best gourmet supermarkets here, the quality of what you can get anywhere in Spain.As the previous person said none of those dishes were really spanish besides paella and jamon.But i do understand,i have given up trying to get decent peking duck,fried rice or dim-sum in Spain,because after living in HK I simply cant eat what they serve at chinese restaurants in Spain.Starting with something as simple as bread(bread tends to be served with ANY dish you eat in Spain) I have tried getting baguettes from L'atelier and even those are too chewy and far from what real bread should be.I think as much as many people say they love "the real thing" restaurants tend to adjust their menu and dishes to the demmand habits and likes of the people they are serving.Might be why if you order fried rice in Madrid you get a chinese "bread bun" on the side...
@Joana: Thanks for dropping by my blog! Yeah, I think all great restaurants (or all restos for that matter) tend to adjust their flavors to suit local culinary cultures. For example, to my knowledge, Italian cuisines tends to carry stronger flavors, more intense and aggressive to be exact. Salty is another board terms if I may use it. However, that's not really what the locals prefer in Hong Kong in most cases. After all, it is a business that a restaurant is running. Rather unfortunate yet understandably.
Have you tried Ole yet? ( http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=1796 )
You can check out my friends review on it. The review is done quite a while ago but still valid I am sure. ( http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2005487 )
1/5 Nuevo was really not my cup of tea in terms of Spanish food, plenty out there that is better yet of course not entirely authentic in most cases. :)
OMG, when u mentioned Paella I immediately thought of the Seafood Paella I had at FOFO El Willy. That one is juicy, rich lobster taste and has a creamy and smooth texture! Try it!! :DDD I will shoot up the entry abt FoFo soon so u can have a look;)))
@Suzanne: haha ... please do share! btw, the pictures are before the DSLR as you can see haha :)
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