地中海舍 (已結業)

I just got back from Europe and missed the food there. So, my friend suggested Taverna Del Mar a Spanish restaurant. I visited last Friday and there was a party which was also a buffet. I looked through the menu and ordered their Single Paella Negra $160 and Sangria (Happy hour $50). I was impressed with the food. The seafood was fresh and was cooked properly because the rice didn't taste fishy from the ink. And there was scorching! which is what I always looked for in Paellas. Seeing the party, I would love to celebrate my birthday here. They said it's minimum 12k to book the whole place. I think that's a reasonable price. 繼續閱讀

Went for lunch. Ordered 2 sets.The set was supposed to come with a choice of soup/tapas/salad, but the soup appeared to be the only available item today. Having said that, the pumpkin soup is rich and hot. It is not bad a start.What upset us were the mains. We ordered Arroz a la Cubana (with rice) [$85] and Seafood Panella for one [$140]. To start with the Arroz a la Cubana, the minced meat, sunny side up egg and roasted banana are normal. At least they are edible and they are what you can expect to be served in a restaurant. What dismayed us is the rice. They are dry and hard. They stick to your teeth and never come down. Obviously, the rice are scorched and are those that stay at the bottom of the cooker that one would never try to eat, let alone serve the customers. When we first pointed that out to the server, she barely reacted. It is only when we requested again for another bowl of rice that she finally acceded to our demand, though not wihtout some reluctance. The Panella was even worse. The shrimp was apparently not fresh and the rice that soaked with the juice from the shrimp stank. Overall, discounting the part that was contaminated by the stinky juice, the panella is way too bland. It is the worst Panella that I ever had.The bill, with an additional 10% service charge, finally came up to $248. What a waste of monies and our appetite. 繼續閱讀

雖然我喜歡吃牛肉，但不是每道菜非牛不可的「牛魔王」。一隻牛身上有著不同部位，牛腩、牛肋骨等固然是心頭所好，但若論最愛的部位，卻只對「牛尾」情有獨鍾。而且，對於牛尾的烹調方式，只是純粹地接受「燴牛尾」而已。就像對一個心儀已久的女生，即使久久不見，偶然在人海裡遇上的話，必定要好好重聚一番，訴以舊情。這天受同事所邀，前往這家西班牙餐廳吃午飯。眾裡尋覓，又被我在餐牌上發現了「她」的蹤影。餐牌上的選擇很多，但第一眼看到「她」的當下，不用豫疑，就決定是這道菜了。* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *前菜 - 跟餐西班牙蛋餅早有耳聞，這家的前菜中也有包括在內。口感是冷冷的，不甚得我歡心。另一小片麵包上面塗的橙黃色醬味道鹹鹹的，卻未嘗出是什麼味道。麵包的底部還是烘焦的，不合格呢。燴牛尾 (跟飯) - $85滿碟鮮豔而濃烈的紅色，像在鬥牛場上勇士手中不住揮舞的紅氈一樣，氣勢無可抵擋，賞心悅目之極。牛尾肉有兩大塊，份量不俗；稠稠的醬汁油份很足、濃郁惹味，牛肉的香味盡展無遺。加上有不少燜煮至蓉的蔬菜融入其中，簡直是無可挑剔。牛尾肉燴得非常軟腍，很容易便和骨頭分開。整碟主菜配以紅糙米飯，兼顧美味之餘，令食客吃得更加營養均衡。 檸檬水 (是日特飲) - 跟餐加$12和一般茶記的檸水很不同，整杯也能嚐到檸檬的苦味。* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *後記：超級滿足的一頓午餐。能夠在午餐時段搶位異常激烈的海光街和心愛「燴牛尾」來一場如斯美麗的邂逅，實在是不可多得的緣份，在此要多謝同事R的介紹。 繼續閱讀

We didn’t plan to dine at Taverna originally. But I have to write about it now that I finally found the time -even weeks after- because it certainly left an impression – a lasting one we didn’t expect. My friends and I are expats from the states – Chicago – and we came to Hong Kong for an internship opportunity at Christian Dior in island east. We were told that the Island East area had been blossoming in the past few years since the inception of one island east (typically tall HK highrise) which brought an influx of young workers from all over the world like myself. Naturally a number of restaurants and bars opened up to welcome these weary would-be yuppies for reasonably priced lunch sets and happy hour drinks and so on and so forth. Last Friday my friends and I got off a slightly later shift and wandered around the streets looking for something good and light. We were really just looking for a drink, maybe two, and something to fill our stomachs. Taverna Del Mar is not located on a main street. In fact, if one weren’t observant enough, they could walk right pass it (nearly did). Tucked away in a neat little corner on Hoi Kwong st in Quarry bay – not exactly soho or wanchai or even Causeway Bay – it’s not the brightest star on the block. We walked in because a friend of mine stopped for a cigarette and peered through the transparent windows and saw that there were a good number of people inside and the ambience felt lively and homey (there’s a damn hammock hung from the ceiling – a hammock). A warm welcome greeted us and a pretty girl brought us to our table – we didn’t waste any time and ordered three pints of the house draft – Estrella – to start off with. It certainly beat the Coronas we were accustomed to, and the pint was generously topped off – little foam and foreplay. Quite an extensive menu – we were quite hungry after our beers and were extremely pleased by the photos that accompanied each dish (rusty Spanish on our part). Hailing from Chicago, we aren’t really familiar with Spanish cuisine besides the occasional trip to the local taqueria or Chipotle (frankly more Tex-mex and less European) – so the photos definitely helped us choose the dishes that answered our hungry prayers. We begun the night with some hot tapas – traditional snack-style Spanish dishes: the Huevos Estrellados con Jamon was delicioso. Basically a chef’s special of crushed (poached?) eggs with a generous helping of ham scattered in it, this dish was one of the best things we’ve eaten in a while. Much like a breakfast omelette of sorts, but so much more refined that my words probably won’t do it justice. Try it. For our main course we ordered a large sized helping of seafood paella – the only Spanish word we recognized in the whole menu (the large photo made us feel better too). It most definitely did not disappoint. The dish itself was quite enormous, bigger than we expected – at $500 it was more than enough for three hungry gents. We were actually recommended the regular size but we’re so glad we ignored our common sense on this one. The rice was cooked to near perfection – the last time I personally had paella was on a trip to the lower west side in chi town, where the paella was decent but nothing special; the rice was too soft, in fact – with a lovely mix of flavors that brought us out ‘to a sunset on the Mediterranean’ (my bud’s words, not mine) The seafood that accompanied the rice were large and fresh (to my surprise) and was certainly a good bang for the buck. But we weren’t finished yet; against our better judgment we decided to order more drinks – the waitress told us thirsty men that the sangria they made was off the charts. We didn’t expect much – sangria was something we made and drank a lot back to college – but when it was served up in a pretty jug we knew the stuff was legit. The chunks of fruit that were floating gorgeously on the surface (some sunk, pulp-y) speak for themselves – they pack great fruity flavor that doesn’t quite overpower the Rose, which is sweet on its own. I asked the bartender – quite a jovial character – for the special ingredient (ours was Sprite usually) but she just smiled and kept her mouth shut. Rather disappointed but otherwise bursting at the buttons and satisfied we left all with bittersweet smiles on our dumb faces. Dumb because we were quite tipsy, if not slightly drunk. Bittersweet because she guarded that secret and we’d never know. Satisfied because, man, will you just look at the photos? Authentic, 9 outta 10, will definitely become a regular soon if we ever got off late again. (: 繼續閱讀

原來呢條街仔都好多野食bo!唔住附近or架車人士應該唔會發現。推薦各位唔太鐘意等位同人逼的朋友;)。我帶埋狗仔所以簡左呢間，貪佢有得坐出面。當晚有少少雨，氣溫ok唔熱，坐出面都冇問題，落左幾個set dinner!先黎一碗餐湯，我唔100%sure係咩湯，但應該係用綠色的豆豆做的！呢個湯唔會好似一般豆湯咁「確喉」，濃稠程度適中。豆味非常香濃亦好creamy，加上用少少香草點綴，竟然比忌廉湯優勝，仲冇咁「滯胃」呢。味以為呢碟青口紅色，一定又係茄汁味，原來係紅椒加其他新鮮蔬菜。啲青口隻隻肥美，冇一隻有沙。入味得來又唔會cover左青口的原味，我就連個shell啲汁都飲埋添。西餐都會有餐前小食，西班牙的餐前小食我卻未試過。呢件好似芝士蛋糕的原來係凍蛋餅，其實同潮州凍蛋角有幾分相似，不過冇菜圃。感覺幾新鮮得意，食完都唔會飽曬食唔落其他。呢個西班牙海鮮湯飯我唔太like…第一，個人喜好問題，我唔太鐘意龍蝦的味道，個湯底好明顯係用左龍蝦去「淆」；第二我唔太喜歡湯飯。如果係同樣味道同樣材料，焗飯會正好多，不過相對製作時間都會長好多。評心而論，湯飯中飯粒有咬口唔會成糊已經好出色，湯加入左名貴的番紅花同用龍蝦製都應該好費功夫！十分欣賞廚師的心機！牛尾燴得好入味，橙橙紅紅的色唔單止有茄汁味，而且仲有濃濃肉香，丁點都唔腥。食得牛尾都預左肉唔太多，但勝在入口即溶兼冇筋。伴在執邊的薯蓉好smooth,有微微香草味，加埋牛尾汁食簡直一流。 繼續閱讀