THEATRE OF TAPAS | ZAFRAN | HONG KONG

Zafran, Spanish restaurant & bar under Aqua Amani Group, is located in the basement of LKF (Lan Kwai Fong) with a chic black image with golden shades. Chef. Pedro Samper, brings a unique Spanish tapas journey this season, combing the charming art of open kitchen. "Theatre of Tapas", such a decent name, combines the artistic Tapas, the art of communication among the eaters, the Chef and the restaurant, and theatre-luxury dining space. 

To quote the Chef's saying about this tasting menu, "Theatre of Tapas",

"An experience around Spanish flavors, Spanish ingredients, and my life experiences".

So weird, I'm obsessed to any bottles, cups, glasses placed in a line somewhere. Especially they are functioning. 

Black and golden is two main colors leading this basement restaurant & bar, interestingly, there is one hidden area perfectly for private party or special event in the backside (even DJ lounge) which shares the bar & tapas bar with the other public dining chamber. We are resting firstly at the bar which is in the charge of cool bartender. I had one "Kiss from the Rose" as the beginning drink of that night. Quite strong cocktail actually with the crystal liquid decorated by bloody rose.

1st Act: Los Aperitivos
Just as a Spanish to start the tapas night, chapter one starts from fruits, sangria, olives as traditional way but full of fun 

• Water-Melon-Sangria: a strong alcohol after-taste to lighten up the night is always the most cheerful and surprising. I was so obsessed to those four cubes letting lights from the sexy kitchen going through. A perfect combination of juicy, refreshing, sweet and liquid.  
• Olives, Anchovies and Vermouth: the fresh light green olive is sweating in front of me. It tastes similar to what I have tried in Milano, where I bought a small package of olives for beer's night. The firm while tender olives have a thick and rich texture, every bite releases a mouth of salty sweety juice, meanwhile matching to the anchovies perfectly.   
• Pistachio, Foie Gras and mango Lollipops: it would be the most fairy-land dish that night with its grass-green and fluffy lollipop-looking. The crisp pistachio cover has a strong conflict to the mouth-watering foie gras filling, playing a game in your mouth; meanwhile the two fat-rich ingredients bring the richest and smooth tasting experience. 

2nd Act: Las Verduras
A chapter of fresh seafood with vegetables, very impressive in beautiful presentations 

• Red Pawn Carpaccio, Ajoblanco, Apple and Pine Nuts: a quite summer-feeling plate with a rich color spectrum. The chef combines the Carpaccio (a dish of raw meat, fish or seafood) to Ajoblanco (the famous Spanish white cold soup made of crushed almond, vinegar, garlic, olive..... and normally take with fruits). It is not only fresh in presentation, but also fresh in taste. A fresh pawn sweetness with the rich but healthy seafood fat melted in your mouth, meanwhile it contains the richness in taste for the sank of Ajoblanco.
• Cucumber, King Crab, Sour Cream, Capers: the smashed king crab meat rolled by thin cucumber slices, it's a freshly green looking and in fact, the taste is just as its looking. The crab-meat sweet is perfected accompanies by the juicy cucumber; need a stronger taste? the sour cream is slightly strengthen the overall taste.
• Lobster, Ox heart Tomato, Beetroot Gazpacho, fresh Almond: cold-sea animal, lobster with Spanish cold soup, never miss this dish in any Spanish restaurant, especially we are craving cold and fresh dining experience in hot summer. The fresh lobster is prepared in a cube shape to enrich the chewing texture. The tomato and beetroot gazpacho (cold soup) has a strong flavor of farm and soil, and the smooth liquid has a 360 degree coverage of lobster with the natural sweetness.
• Basque style Sole Fish Cake, tartare sauce: the special dish prepared by Chef that night when one blogger raised 'Basque'. The Chef adapted the original recipe of spider fish cake in Basque Country (North Spain region), but innovated with sole fish, which is lighter and smoother, and tartar sauce to represent mayonnaise in the original recipe. Actually it is quite playful creation, because the tapas toast is moved to the side as a crispy slice of bread, and the tapas remained on the plate.

3rd Act: La Matanza
Traditional tapas journey throughout Spain starts from here

• Home made "Choriza": when the words come to "home made", I'm always looking for something raw in appearance but 'greasy' in taste, coz every time my mum's dishes are sooooooo flavorful with too much ingredients and seasoning, of course, with side-effect of 'mass' looking sometimes! Well, Zafran's Choriza, looks and tastes so flavorsome in its impressive spicy salty way (spicy & earthy taste, by using La Chinata- Paprika powder), and its greasy style, and I'm quite appreciating this cute black pan fully occupied by those cute red sausages. 
• Iberio Bellota Ham- Mushroom, Porchini and Spinach croquettes: I'm not a fried-dishes fan, but I strongly recommend this dish. It has 2 flavors for this traditional Spanish croquettes dish. Each ball has a thin crispy and oily-fragrant fried skin, and the art of croquettes is the awesome smashed fillings, for this dish, which is extremely smooth and mouth-watering. Iberio, mostly produced from the south or southwest Spain, Iberio (pig) ham smashed with mushroom and spinach, to double-up a flavorful taste.

4th Act: La Mar...Bacalao
We continue the exploring in Spanish sea area

• Octopus, Sea Urchin, Spanish smoked paprika potato: the octopus was too eye-catching with a tender but freshly living texture. The smoked paprika potato, when the air fried chili combines with grilled/smoked potato, you can imagine the earthy flavor!  
• Cod Fish, Kokotxas, clams in Basque style "salsa verde", organic asparagus: continue the seafood journey and again Basque Country. The traditional Basque style sauce in green "salsa verde" for famous fish and shellfish in Basque Country. We have such a sea-taste dish with tender cod fish, luxury kokotxas (fish chin) and clams.

5th Act: La Tierra
Crawl from sea to land

• Spanish style Suckling Pig, roasted red apple puree, Oloroso sherry wine sauce: I have tried Portuguese suckling pig before, compared to it, Spanish style has more focus on the sauce. I fell in love with the dark sauce made of Oloroso sherry wine which is a kind of darker and richer sherry. It is perfectly balancing the taste of suckling pig, giving a fruity and sweet flavor. 
• Spanish "Churra" air dried Beef Tenderloin, Romesco sauce, Seasonal Vegetables: beef tenderloin and air dried, the Chef selects the least fat beef for the firmer and solider experience, actually not only the fat but also the flavor coming from air-dried beef and the softness of this fresh pink beef. 

6th Act: La Fiesta
Refreshing and refreshing!

• Mojito and White peach: I just recognized the Chef has big passion on creation and "playing game". We are presented with a mint-fresh mojito in a dessert type. It has such a strong mojito taste even overwhelming the flavor of peach ice cream. Very thoughtful design of 1st dessert when finishing the whole savory tapas chapters.
• Torrija and Orange: all around with orange ingredients, the 2nd dessert keeps the freshness but moves a little bit towards warmer side. Another typical Spanish dessert, Torrija, actually is quite similar to French Toast which Hongkongers are familiar with. It is a slice of bread with some honey, milk or other ingredients, dipping into the egg and goes for pan fried. Well, the taste differentiates a lot! It is much more mouth-melted, less-firm in texture, and of course, more honey-sweet, than butter and sugar. 
• Coffee, Chocolate and Baileys: dark, dark and dark. I didn't 'smell' a lot Bailey to be honest, but I did enjoy a lot with the coco aroma. And the rich and slightly bitter taste is the best way to close the whole tasting menu.

Maybe you have recognized how much dishes I have that night; Yes, totally 16 dishes divided into 6 'Acts'. It is a shocking number actually, even it's tapas size, it's still a lot. It seems that to have some wine and a digest coffee is also included in the whole tasting journey. Nice :)

Zafran

Basement, 43-55 Wyndham Street
Central
Hong Kong
+852 2116 8855
zafran@aqua.com.hk

Mon to Sat. 12nn - 3pm & 6pm till late
Sun. 6pm onwards

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