Theatre of tapas by Pedro Sampler

The Tapa showcase begins with Chef Pedro Samper of the Basque Country whizzing his magic in the open bar kitchen.

If you think this is good, there is CUATRO MANOS - TWO CHEFS~~ 8 tapa menu from the creative minds of Pedro Samper and Jordi Valles of Catalunya. Available on the 17th and 18th September for $560 with 10% service charge on top.

Here was our personalised Theatre of tapas prepared by Chef Pedro Samper.

Each tapas was like an act from plays with different scenes.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
First act: Los Aperitvos
Watermelon sangria

The watermelon was so refreshing with sangria infused in it, the melon had sweeter tones.
It oozed out with alcoholic infused juices when you ate them tasting like sangria.

Olives, anchovies and Vermouth

Delicious big olives soaked in Vermouth which were juicy with a salty touch from anchovies and a bitter kick from the Vermouth.

Pistachio, foie gras and mango lollipops

The foie gras was extremely silky covered in delicious crushed pistachio which had a nutty and buttery taste.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Second Act: Las Verduras y Mariscos
Red prawn carpaccio, ajoblanco, apple and pine nuts


This was amazing, the red prawns have a strong unami lobster prawn taste and it was visually stunning to watch Pedro patiently garnish it with passion.

Cucumber, king crab, sour cream, capers

Next was the cucumber which looked like a caterpiller filled with fresh crab with a creamy taste.

Marinated salmon and hokkaido scallop ceviche, avocado egg and crab caviar
This was wonderful and simple.

Lobster, spanish ox heart tomato, fresh almonds, gazpacho

The gazpacho was refreshing and had a pretty shade of blush orange.

The lobster chunks were fresh and meaty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Third actL La Tierra
-xixa hori – chantarelles, 63 degree C egg, potato and black truffle

This was sensational because eggs and mushrooms are always great together especially the runny yolk mixed with the mushrooms and a luxurious hint of black truffle.

24 hour slow cooked ox tail, celery root, green peas, smoked eggplant
The ox tail looked interesting because it was shaped into a block yet the texture was soft and effortless to eat.

free range chicken stuffed with prunes, bacon and shiitake mushrooms
This reminded me of Christmas with turkey, bacon and cranberries.


The chicken was gorgeous with appetizing prunes and smokey bacon.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
fourth act: la fiest
Mojito and white peach

I loved the refreshing slush at the bottom which was sweet and soothing and the peach sorbet on top was fragrant.

Torrija and orange

This was my favourite because the blood orange sorbet had a really strong citrus flavour and the Torrija was soft and sweet dusted in delicious cinammon sugar.

Coffee, chocolate and baileys
These were huge pieces of chocolate with velvety filling shaped like a huge coffee bean.
A great ending to dinner with hot tea.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
The above dishes were cooked by pedro sampler

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Zafran
Basement, 43-55 Wyndham St., Central

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Evilicious tapas at Casa's in Sai Kung

Casa
Shop 1, G/F., Sui Yat Building, 1 Sai Kung Hoi Pong Square
西貢海傍廣場1號兆日大廈地下1號舖

A newly opened Tapas bar in Sai Kung.

It's so new that its news hasn't really reached the city of Hong Kong and yet there are lots of people dining there on a weekday evening!
The Casa logo reminded me of Fred Cheng's (鄭俊弘) HOME band logo.

It is located behind the main minibus stop in the hustle and bustle behind the seafood restaurants.

I just had to dine there because it reminded me of 22 Ships in Wan Chai, and their staff were British too (great for expats).
The staff were really friendly and attentative.

Again it has an open kitchen just like 22 ships with lovely bench tables and stools.

I was attracted to the Bocadillos which were bite sized tapas on bread and there are six pieces per portion which is good for gatherings.
As well as Bocadillos, they serve hot/cold tapas, sandwiches, platters, desserts and drinks.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Bocadillos - Serrano Ham Quails Eggs:



These were too cute, fried quail eggs on top of serrano ham with freshly cracked black pepper on delicious crispy soft bread.
The quail eggs paired nicely with the ham and the size of the quail eggs were just right for the bread.
The yolk was slightly runny, which was really good with the bread and the ham was not too salty.
It must have been a nifty and fiddly job cracking these dinky eggs and frying them just right! BRAVO!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mussels:

These were fresh mussels and I loved the white wine sauce it was in.
The texture of these mussels were really soft and a bit like jelly, the byssus threads came off easily which was really good.
It is quite interesting that people use these byssus threads to make byssus cloth and seasilk.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Bocadillos -Anchovies and Tomatoes:

I loved this one because it had a piece of fresh tomato, a piece of fresh basil and a piece of anchovy and all the tastes complemented each other especially the fragrant basil leaves.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Bocadillos - Blue cheese and caramelized onions:

This had the strongest taste out of the three but the strong taste of the blue cheese was balanced by the sweetness of the caramelized onions and the fancy leaves took away the heavyness of the blue cheese.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cherry, Almond Fudge Ice-cream:

The icecreams served here are made by Happy Cow which are all made with Coconut milk and not milk!
It had an interesting taste because there was a strong hint of coconut and the texture of this icecream is much creamier than icecream made with milk.
It was really smooth as well and there were generous pieces of cherries in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Payment using Paypal:
When I was about to pay, I was really surprised they said it would be done using PayPal but luckily I did not have to log in my personal PayPal account.
Basically they took my card and put it in their device, after keying the bill amount, I thought to myself am I going to be signing on that device!!!

My questions were answered when he passed me the stylus to sign on the device.
(It feels weird signing digitally! The screen below is blank because I have not signed it yet!)

The receipts for this restaurant and paypal were emailed to me imediately after the transaction with the address I provided!
I was really surprised with this payment method in pre-historic Sai Kung!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Back for more tapas @ Estudio

Estudio (Admiralty)

Decided to go back and try more tapas.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Anchovy fillets in seasoned vinegar:

The anchovies were delicious with bread, the fillets were soft and the all the bones had been removed.
I loved the sharpness of the fillets because it was soaked in vinegar and they were definately not canned ones because they were not mushy and hard.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Scrambled eggs with black sausage:

The eggs were cooked with black morcilla and it was basically scrambled eggs with black pudding sausage and skinned peppers.
There was a metal holder put on the plate before serving, the scrambled egg took form of a cake shape when served.
The taste of the black pudding was faint and the texture of the egg was so light and the scrambled egg was like droplets of cooked eggs forming into one. mass.★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Galican style octopus with potato and olive oil:

The octopus was a bit boring compared to the squid ink I tried last time.
It was quite chewy, and this dish was a bit too plain to be honest, because it was a sliced potato with octopus on top drizzled with olive oil.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Halloumi cheese, Warm brie and Tapas @ Sauce

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grilled Halloumi cheese
Havent tried Halloumi cheese so ordered the grilled Halloumi.
The appearance was dark brown and it looked it was fried and not grilled.
Anyway the texture of the cheese was rubbery and dry and it made a squeaky noise while it was in my mouth when it rubbed against my teeth.
Although halloumi cheese is meant to be salty, the halloumi cheese served at this place was extremely salty.

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Warm brie
This was heaven, the cheese was lovely, gooey and soft.
There was roasted garlic to accompany it as well and the garlic was soft and mushy and came out of the pod easily with a fork.

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Other tapas that were ordered: