Video
Read full review
2009-02-18
10 views
This place hasn't been around for long - in fact I just read about it in some recent articles and blog entries. Its name is spanish, meaning "one more". Quite a lot of people have raved about the nice food and decor, etc etc , and with the chef reportedly being a Valencian, we decided to give this place a try. The place is certainly not difficult to find - it is in fact right on top of the Heat Bar. Place was almost empty when we arrived at around 7:30pm on a Monday evening. The nice modern deco
The place is certainly not difficult to find - it is in fact right on top of the Heat Bar. Place was almost empty when we arrived at around 7:30pm on a Monday evening. The nice modern decor is certainly appealing, and there is a big open kitchen, plus lots of provisions for outdoor sitting (i.e. out in the balcony, where smoking is permitted). Fairly decent wine selection as judged by a quick glance on the drink menu. We quickly got seated on a big sofa in the balcony. We ordered 2 jugs of sangria, a glass of coke, and a few tapas to kick start the evening (there is a "buy 3 get 1 free" offer, by the way, so we just ordered 4 tapas).
The drinks were fine. The classic Sangria was perhaps a bit lacking in alcohol content and tasted like fruit punch, but at least it was cool and refreshing. The Pere Sangria, with plums and strawberries and a bit of liquor inside, was obviously much stronger and far more enjoyable. With such an enticing environment, and after a few drinks, it certainly looked as though we were in for a wonderful evening at this place ... ...
However, our hopes were shattered with the arrival of the tapas. Although I might not be an expert at Spanish cuisine, at least I have tried tapas both locally and while at Spain and I have some basic ideas as to what to expect. However, I must say the quality of the food served here was only mediocre even when compared to local standards. Apart from the green salad (with tomato, onion and cheese, fresh vegetables used, ok), the other cooked dishes were not satisfactory at all. The fried manchego chees was not hot when served, lacked the usual aroma associated with cheese, and had a rubbery texture . Likewise, the bread with tomato was also only served luke warm, the bread was not cripsy, and there was hardly any tomato on it. To be honest, the whole thing just tasted like some pieces of left over bread really The grilled sardines were also quite disappointing, with the sardines soaked in too much oil, and quite "mushy" in texture, possibly suggesting that the fish was not too fresh (the ones done at Nino's the Portuguese restaurant were far better in our opinion), and the dish could hardly be called enjoyable. Our moods just sank after the first round of tapas. Although I would have liked to try a few more things and the paella, my friends insisted that we should just leave, as they saw no point in continuing with the more "complex" dishes, when even the "simple" ones were handled in such a poor way. Hence, reluctantly we bid farewell to this place. By the way, service wasn't particularly impressive, either, and they charged us for 4 tapas instead of 3 - fortunately that was taken care of eventually.
I guess I shouldn't really judge a restaurant with just one try, knowing that it might just be a lapse in standard, or that we ordered the wrong dishes. This place appears to be ok for drinks and for chatting with friends etc etc. So, will it be "Unomas" for us again ? Well, I couldn't say for sure, but perhaps not in the near future ... ...
Luckily for us that was not quite the end of the story, for we eventually ended up having a nice meal elsewhere in Wanchai on that particular night ... ... will talk more on that in another review.
Post
