Zafran

I've been contemplating for a while to start a food blog, after eating at Zafran I just had to share my experience; it was THAT GOOD! This place has been on my "Restaurant Bucket List" for a while now and I finally, FINALLY, had a chance go there yesterday. For those who haven't heard of this place yet, I would say it's modern/contemporary Spanish tapas. I'd heard quite a few people rave about the food so I was looking forward to some good tapas, but to my surprise, the whole dining experience was absolutely wonderful. I was so glad I chose to go on a Monday night instead of the weekend. I got in about 7:30pm and there were only two other people in by the bar (me and my partner pretty much had a whole section to of the restaurant to ourselves!). I read up on all the OpenRice reviews (Hong Kong's version of Yelp, only for food) before coming and went with the recommendation of eating by the food bar. Since it was an open kitchen and you were right-up, front and center watching all the action. I LOVED IT. It was like watching Hell's Kitchen, but not so "hell-ish", I don't know if that makes sense but it's the only way I can describe it. While we were at the bar the chef, Marc Lores, took the time to explain a few of the dishes and deserts and we got to try a new "special" which wasn't up on their board yet! His sous chef was so nice too, we got to sit and chat with the both of them after our meal was over.

The view from my seat :) was so exciting watching everything in action. I didn't think I would be coming anytime soon so we pretty much ordered half of the tapas on the menu. Here are a few of the tapas we had

We started off with the Patatas Bravas. Don't be fooled by its simplicity, the homemade garlic and tomato (maybe event a hint of red bell pepper?) sauces are nothing like I ever tasted, I pretty much finished half of it on my own!

 This was the dish that wasn't on the specials menu yet. It was a super large scallop with carrots 2 ways and artichoke. I really enjoyed this, scallops were super plump and juicy (it was so big they had to cut it into three pieces). Very nice textures in this one :)

This was my second favorite dish of the night! The lamb was to DIE FOR. You can only truely enjoy this dish if you take a piece of the lamb with the mash below and the brown sauce (what was in that brown sauce I have no idea, but it pretty much made that dish)

Creamy paella with red shrimp. Doesn't this look like the prettiest dish ever? Very rich in flavor, big thumbs up. Paella lovers should definitely try this while it is on the specials board.

This dish is what everyone raved about, their suckling pig. We got the "small tapa" and it was cooked to perfection, the meat just fell off the bone. I'm not sure what was in the mash, it tasted like a bit of apple and squash, maybe both? I liked it anyway. 

My favorite dish of the night, Huevo Frito! Looks like fried egg, chips with ketchup with black pudding, but its nothing close! The yolk was squash ice cream, the egg white was (I think) vanilla/white chocolate foam. the chips were compressed pineapple with strawberry and cherry sauce as the ketchup and the black pudding were small little brownies. This was so much fun to eat, the chef told us to figure out the flavors on our own. It may look heavy but it was super light. Kudos to the chef for making such an innovative dessert! 

Because one dessert just wasn't enough, we had the brioche which had bit of a bread pudding texture with pine nuts and vanilla ice cream. It had a touch of spice as well, and not heavy at all. 

Really a great end to a Monday, I left Zafran with a big smile on my face. More restaurants in Hong Kong need to have an open kitchen where guests can interact with the chefs, it just brings the whole dinning experience to a whole another level. I will definitely be back again.

Zafran

Tapas Y Musica

Basement, 43-55 Wyndham St., Central, Hong Kong