Hola to Tapaella grill at Kennedy Town

Located in Kennedy town is the Tapaella grill on Hau Wo Road where there are lots of eateries.

 

I have not had Tapaella in ages since Uno mas closed down so I was craving for Tapaella again.

When you enter this restaurant, there is a cocktail bar facing you, with tables either side, there are sofa seats as well.
The style of this restaurant is really nice which is Western style.

 

Tapaella grill is a really nice place to hang out with a group of friends because their portions are quite big compared to other Tapas places.

While we were waiting for the food, they will give you bread as a starter and there is a bottle of vinegar and olive oil for dipping the bread.

 

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Traditional Spanish Vegetable cold soup:

 

This was the first time I tried the cold soup and it was lovely and refreshing, the soup was strong.
The taste was cooling and refreshing with a lovely mix of pureed red bell peppers and cucumbers in the soup and the julienne cucumbers and red bell peppers gave it more depth.
It is an ideal soup for the summer.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Ham & Chicken Croquettes

 

Compared to other spanish croquettes I have tried, I found these bigger and contained more meat in it.
Despite that there was lots of meat in it, it still remained silky and there was some potato in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fried Potato with Spicy Tomato Sauce:

 

These pieces of potato were heavenly because they were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside sprinkled with paprika.
They tasted nice with or without the tomato sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep-fried Squid Ring with Aioli Sauce:

 

The squid rings were tender but I found them slightly bland but they were compromised by the mayonnaise.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sauteed Artichoke Heart in Olive oil and Garlic:

 

The artichoke heart was nice and tender with strong olive oil taste.
It was nice having a sauteed version because they are usually pickled and sour, however this one was mushy and had strong garlic taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mixed green with orange, roasted green apple, Buffalo Mozzarella with Chef Dressing:

 

The salad was big and wholesome with refreshing apples and oranges to cleanse the palate, and the buffalo cheese was soft and delicate which paired nicely with the strong fruits and dressing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Saffron flavored Spanish rice with variety of Seafood:

 

When this came, the smell was amazing, it was rich and the peas in it contrasted the redness of the rice.
The rice was in rich thick sauce with strong seafood taste and it was slightly bitter because there was strong white wine in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pan-seared Sea Bass Fillet in white wine tomato broth with Fennel, Potato and Asparagus:

 

I loved the fish, it was tender and soft accompanied with tantalizing tomato sauce.
The potatoes which looked like mushrooms were delicious as well because the texture was lovely and the potato skin was gorgeous without being too dry.
The asparagus was nice and tender too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Ginger Ale:
Compared to other ginger ales, the ginger taste was faint.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★.
Refreshing Spanish Drink Sangria:
Although I did not order this I tried some and it was really nice and pleasant to drink for a drinker because the fruit juice taste in it is strong.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

I will definitely be back with a group of friends to try the Spanish omelette and other items.

Blue secret: Come to Blue's of Shau Kei Wan

I was walking along Shau Kei Wan Main street when I saw this stand with the name Blue's.
When I went closer I discovered it was Western food which was great because there are not many restaurants in Shau Kei Wan for Western food.

 

They were serving the brunch menu at that time and they had Croque Monsieur which is rarely served in Hong Kong.

The location of this restaurant was interesting, it was on the corner of some Chinese temple at the far end of the Cul de Sac.
I quite liked the location because it felt like a private secluded corner where you can relax.

 

 

As expected, the restaurant had a nice blue theme to it with matching blacks.

 

They had al-fresco dining too as well as tables inside.

 

Inside, they had a lovely huge blue light bulb and the corridor was blue and classy.

 

 

Sat down and ordered the Croque monsieur and the spaghetti with clams.
Both came with a drink.
Found out that this place was recently opened and the Chef has gained culinary experience in France.

The knife that they supplied was interesting because there was a ridge near the handle.

 

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Croque monsieur:

 

The taste of this was delicious, much better than Delifrance which is disgusting because it was sweet.
The croque monsieur was nicely layered with two different cheeses especially the cheddar, however the cheese has been modified so it does not have that offending cheesy taste that the locals do not like without loosing its cheesiness.
Visually it was really nice with the orange and pale yellow tones of the cheese against the slices of ham.
I loved the way the cheese was oozing out when I sliced it.

 

As a personal preference I would have liked it if it had a sharper cheese in it.
The cheese in this croque monsieur was rather creamy, it was more like cheese sauce.
It also came with cubes of sauteed crisp potato cubes which were a perfect pairing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Spaghetti with clams:

 

The pasta was lovely and al-dente with generous herbs sprinkled on it.
It was really good there were plenty of herbs because it gave the pasta and clams more flavour.
The basil was really fragrant and they had a sprig of fresh basil to garnish the pasta.
Overall it was a very nice dish but it was slightly too salty and I wish the wine taste was stronger.
The clams were nice and clean and did not have any sand in them.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Tea with milk:

 

The tea was a perfect way of ending the brunch, but I was still hungry because the pasta and the croque monsieur was really delicious.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Improvements:
For improvements, I felt that they should give you an extra plate for the clam shells, because there was a point where the shells were getting in my way on the plate when I was eating the pasta.
As for the menu, there are a few English typo's and for one of the dishes the English and Chinese do not seem to match.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
I definitely will come back again if I am in the area because I want to try the Yorkshire pudding as well.