Zafran - Theatre of Tapas

Price: $$$$

Cravingness: ★★★★☆

Zafran, the Spanish Restaurant under Aqua Group, is among one of the popular Spanish Restaurants in Hong Kong. That's well known, but what you do not know is that Zafran now offers a 15 course degustation menu named "Theatre of Tapas". Created by Spanish Chef Pedro Samper, the menu is designed to bring his best version of Spanish on the table. Be prepared to be blown away!



Zafran has a sweet garden outlook but once you stepped in, it transformed into a grand underground restaurant. The restaurant is incredibly spacious with two huge dining halls divided by an open bar and kitchen in the middle. The front dining room is more causal and lively, while the back dining room is in a much grander settings, perfect for romantic dates or private parties. 

To enhance the whole dining experience, we were asked to sit at the bar table facing the open kitchen for easy interaction with Chef Pedro. He began the night by understanding our food preferences and allergies, followed by an explanation on how his culinary experience inspired the creation of the dishes tonight.

I started with a glass of Kiss From A Rose - HKD120, a beautiful cocktail with rose pedals garnishment. It was a light and dry vermouth based cocktail with a lovely note of elderflower.

To align with the theme 'Threater of Tapas', the 15 courses are spread through a series of 'Act' with desserts as the finale.

The 1st Act: Los Aperitivos consists of 3 bite sized tapas, presented all at once on the bar table. They did look quite impressive especially under the spotlight.

First tapas is a Water-Melon-Sangria served on a Stainless Steel pot. The sangria infused watermelon and melon were refreshing with a mild sangria taste which was rather interesting!

Next tapas was the Olives, Anchovies and Vermouth which I love very much. Chef injected Martini into the center of the olives as he explained how Spanish usually drink Martini during Spring. Savoury white anchovies was nicely paired with the sweet pungent olive to give an extra texture to the tapas.

A reminiscent of Amber signature lollipop Foie Gras, Chef Pedro's version is a bit smaller and covered with pistachio, Mango and chocolate. The Pistachio, Foie Gras and Mango Lollipops was nice, smooth and sweet but not as magnificent as the one offered by Amber.

The 2nd Act; Las Verduras, again consists of 3 tapas but in much bigger portion. First we had the Red Prawn Carpaccio. Ajobianco, Apple and Pine Nuts. This dish was heaven on earth and is the signature of Zafran. The carpaccio was sweet, fresh and tangy with pungent prawn flavour, highlighted with sweet green apple note and crisp pine nuts.

Next up was the Cucumber, King Crab, Sour Cream, Caper which was a refreshing summer roll beautiful to the eye and flavourful on the palate. The juice bursting cucumber wrapping, smooth sour cream and sweet pink crab meat was something you can't forget. The savoury anchovies was brilliantly paired with the roll to give a popping flavour on the palate.

While preparing for the next tapas, Chef Pedro showed us an interesting nut which was one of the key ingredients for his following tapas. Only the seed of the nut is edible. The seed was very nutty, crispy and raw with loads water content.

The next tapas was a cold soup called Lobster, Ox Heart Tomato, Beetroot Gazpacho, Fresh Almond. I love the savoury Spanish tomato jus gelatin and the succulent sweet lobster. The the tomato broth was however a tad too bland in flavour for my liking.

To commence the 3rd Act, we had the Martín Códax Albariño 2013. It was a powerful wine but very smooth to drink with a submerging pineapple sweetness

The 3rd Act: La Matanza started with Zafran's another signature dish, the House made chorizo which it was cured for days. Spicy paprika was one of the main spiciness in here which tasted addictingly spicy. The chorizo at Zafran was simply amazing that I can finish the whole plate myself.

Another Zafran's signature dish was the Ibérico Bellota Ham Croquettes made with 48months old Iberico pork. The Iberico croquette was utterly creamy, smokey and savoury which I love. On the same plate also held the Mushroom, Porcini and Spinach Croquettes which had a drier inner with bold mushroom flavour.

Also on the 3rd Act was the Padrón Peppers which was crazily smoky with a slight bitterness. It was utterly tender and was well seasoned with a pint of salt to give a great green flavour. It was also not as spicy as I thought it would be.

Coming up on the 4th Act: La Mar...Bacalao we had the Octopus, Sea Urchin, Spanish Smoked Paprika Potato which had the same origin as the wine. The 3kg octopus was bouncy, garlicky and herby with the perfect ratio of lean and fat meat. The creamy paprika smashed was also yum.

The cooking of the Cod Fish, Kokotxas, Clams in Basque Style "Salsa Verde", Organic Asaparagus was exciting where I want to eat the cod fish directly from the pan. The Cod fish tenderloin was smooth, succulent and supple on the side but a bit tough in the middle which was slightly disappointing. The claims on the other hand was fresh, sweet and meaty with a lovely briny note. The rich, creamy and flavourful clam sauce was utterly delicious that I could literally licked off the plate.

Finally the last act before the finale - The 5th Act: La Tierra features an excellent beef dish, Spanish Churra Air Dried Beef Twnderloin, Romesco Sauce, Seasonal Vegetables. The beef was meaty, flavourful and carried the right bounciness. It was one of the best steak that I have had recently. The sweet pepper sherry based creamy sauce was equally nice and sweeten the veggies on top.

Finale comes the dessert. Kicking off The 6th Act: La Fiesta we had Mojito and White Peach which was very Refreshing. The icy and creamy white peach dessert was perfect to clean the palate after the bold flavoured beef.

Next the house signature was the Torrid and Orange which the brioche was used to replaced the traditional deep fried hard bread to give a better texture. Coated with a crisp caramelised edge, the brioche had a lovely contrasting light and fluffy inner. The  cute sweet orangy ice cream remind me of childhood, garnished with white chocolate bits

Next was the chocolate dessert, the Coffee, Chocolate and Baileys. A coffee bean shaped chocolate cake with a moist and rich inner, spiked with a lovely cinnamon note.

The new 15 courses Theatre of Tapas of Zafran was a lovely dining experience where we got to understand more about Spain's culinary culture while enjoying delicious food. I found it particularly fun watching Chef Pedro plating the dishes beautifully with great skills, I tried to pick some techniques myself. The tasting menu features the signature items at Zafran but also includes some seasonal offerings which I reckon is a great deal to get, especially having Chef Pedro explaining his dishes in details!

Rating
Food - ★★★★☆
Service - ★★★★☆
Ambience - ★★★★☆
Overall - ★★★★☆


Zafran

Address (E) Basement, 43-55 Wyndham St., Central, Hong Kong
Address (C) 香港中環雲咸街43-55號地庫
☏ 2116 8855
Opening Hours: Mon - Sat: 12nn - 3pm | 6pm - 3am; Sun: 6pm - 3am
Reservation Available? Yes
Walk In Possible? Yes
Website: http://www.zafran.com.hk/

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