Zurriola Hong Kong is being led by Basque-Spanish Chef Pedro Samper, who used to work in various Michelin starred restaurants in Spain and Japan. The original Zurriola in Japan headed by Chef Honda has received a prestigious Michelin 1* status in 2012 and they also have an outlet in Spain. Here the concept is slightly more upscale, exploratory avant-garde style Spanish food than their next door casual sibling, also owned by famous actress Carina Lau at my already covered Tapagria!
One wonders how many Michelin Stars they will be aiming to attain this year.
I see quite a few Spanish restos that can reach that target in Hong Kong this year. This one also has potential to be in the mix …
Dining Hall -
It was surprisingly quite small and cosy within.
I mean this was just like a HK medium-sized apartment…
Olive Bread, Sesame Bread and Spanish Olive Oil -
Bread is improving in HK and these were definitely on the better side. Unfortunately, our Birthday girl from www.chocolatemuimui.com whom I was taking out on her actual birthday, got really crude warnings from the Zurriola staff - first by suddenly whisking away all unfinished bread plates and olive oil when they were still unfinished, then upon requesting some more bread we were warned they will incur separate charges after around 3 refills. I understand this could be an internal policy especially during lunch hours when the meal is offered at a discounted price… But FFS we also ordered individual $500 main courses on the side and A La Carte desserts, plus I already informed them it was her birthday and writing words on the dessert plates. Why be so rigid and ruin someone’s birthday lunch? 
Mackerel Confit cooked for 1 minute at 62C,
Spanish Bell Pepper sauce and Green Leaves -
One of the Signature items here but also included in the lunch course. This looked decent enough in presentation, but the Mackerel fish was dense and I was surprised this was cooked for only 1 minute at low temperature as it looked gray and tasted fully cooked. A bit dense and not oily. And no detectable salad sauce to make this exciting? ~ 3/10
Pan seared Baby Squid stuffed with Iberian Dewlap pork, and Mushrooms with Cream Cheese -
After our ho-hum and forgettable Mackerel dish, out come this memorable squid dish and which was porky and seafood-y together and cooked well. Easily my favorite dish of the day. ~ 9/10
Chargrilled Rib-eye, Romesco sauce, Sherry vinegar flavours and Roasted Vegetables -
The beef was cooked well and on the day, upgraded from the original menu item of Tenderloin… The flavour was detectable, and texture looked like it was Sous-Vide cooked then Cryo-Fried using Liquid Nitrogen prior then flash fried? It certainly gave me that impression. Great value for money as this and 2 other courses inclusive is only around $298. Sherry was spelt wrongly as Cherry vinegar here though hehe... ~ 7/10
Tiger’s Prawn broth with Seasonal Vegetables -
If you choose this Main Course at $228, you also receive an appetizer and a dessert during lunch, which again makes this amazing value. At dinner time this dish alone is a similar price but you receive Spanish Red Prawn instead. This was flavorful and we both liked it, with decent crustacean flavour and soupy. The prawn meats themselves were a bit weak in taste, and I guess such is the compromise taken during lunch courses but I will leave satisfied for lunch at $228 for 3 Courses for sure ~ 7/10
Roasted French Bresse Pigeon, Foie Gras liver Bonbon, Orzo pasta rice Mellow – $490
This dish takes 45 minutes to prepare. And it was precisely during this vacuum waiting time when we asked for more bread to keep us going but got rejected… Talk about lack of sensibility and hospitality training in HK. The whole deboned Bresse pigeon was cooked pretty well and gamey, and unlike the dry Mackerel salad above, came with some reduction sauce. The livery bonbon turned out to be a ‘Molecular raviolo’ in singular term, which was quite enjoyable and so Spanish. The side rice-like looking Orzo pasta was also cooked well and coated in sauce. It’s an expensive dish and your wallet definitely feels the dent but it arrived looking smart in presentation and flavours, but somehow knowing Spain, I expected more 3rd or 4th dimensional layer. ~ 7.9/10
Mojito Granita with Mint Soup, White Peach Sorbet –
I was told by other foodies before arriving, that the seasonal Peach Sorbet was sensational, this was certainly true and wow sweetly addictive!! On the other hand the Mojito granita was too frozen hard icy and also not minty in flavour enough. Half good and half bad? I liked the peach side of equation … ~ 7/10
Tercipelo Chocolate cream, Orange foam and Coffee Granita -
Should I be glad, they remembered my request to write word blessings on the dessert, but simultaneously keeps bugging this birthday girl repetitively with reminders that extra bread refills will cost extra? I don’t recall tasting much chocolate but mostly the cream, and there was some orange flavour but not apparent. Looked prettier than it tasted and it was really really melty… Espuma gone slightly awry ? ~ 6/10
Torrija Caramelized Brioche Toast, Lavender Ice Cream and Candied Sesame – $120
The Torrija toast was sensational and caramelized on 4 out of 6 surfaces. What it was lacking in soaked up milk flavours, like other Torrijas, it mostly delivered back in a crunchy textural surface on these 4 sides. The rest of the package was spot on in taste unlike some dishes above. If this was bigger in portion it would attract a larger crowd who might just come here to try this as A La Carte… ~ 9/10
Zurriola HK -
It was quite promising on paper and suppose to be an upgrade in level from the sister shop next door http://www.hkepicurus.com/2013/09/tapagria-hong-kong.html which was ok decent. Lunch courses are really the way to go here, you can walk way for under $300-350 per person. In our case we ordered 2 Lunch Courses then Extras on top, and it ended up just being shy of $1400 for 2 people’s lunch. I will highly recommend trying their lunch courses here for now. As for Dinner or A La Carte, only if their execution can continue to perform across the board at details vs price point, but don’t expect much bread refills.
Price: $750 Per Person
Food: ♕♕♕ 1/2 to ♕♕♕♕ 1/2
Ease of Access: 4/5
Address: 尖沙咀彌敦道100號The ONE 18樓
18th Floor The One, 100 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.
Ph: 2253 7111
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