Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Fofo by El Willy

This Spanish restaurant is located in M88, a commercial building in Wellington Street, Central. Originated from El Willy's restaurant in Shanghai, this restaurant is managed by Chef Fargas, offering contemporary Spanish cuisines with the menu designed by the award-winning chef Willy Moreno himself.

This is probably the fourth time I visited this restaurant and I think the lighting was turned much brighter than my previous experience. I think that is a good arrangement, not only providing a more cozy and warm atmosphere but also a good fit with the white penguin all around the restaurant. We are also better able to see and appreciate the food that we ordered.

Instead of opting for the tapas tasting menu, since I have my mom and my wife along, we ordered a la carte, starting with the signature 'Jamon' or Hand-sliced Iberico Ham, which was paired with Barcelona style crystal bread. The portion is a bit small but the quality of the ham is very good, not too salty with good fat which is savory. The bread is also very good, crispy with tomato salsa on top.

We also ordered the 'Vieiras' Scallop Ceviche, with Avocado and Crispy Shallots. The scallop is tender and marinated well, with the shallots providing an interesting contrast on the crispy texture. The avocado paste giving on the other hand a creamy note to make this even more unique in the combination of the different mouthfeel.

Then we had the 'Cangrejo' King Crab Salad, which got a basil sorbet on top, plus green apple and pine nuts. The crab meat is intense in flavors, with a good acidity from the green apple making the salad highly refreshing. The pine nuts enhanced the taste and the greens are also fresh. The salad is molded also beautifully, and is certainly a great feast for sight as well as taste.

Next we had the 'Cochinillo' Crispy Suckling Pig, which is another signature dish. The skin of the suckling pig is roasted perfectly, crispy but not burnt, with the baby confit potatoes, onions, and tomato cake and suckling pig sauce. The meat is nice and not dry at all, with the confit complementing. No wonder I saw many other tables also had ordered this dish.

We also had the Paella de Mariscos, traditional Spanish paella with Boston lobster and mixed seafood. There is maybe not sufficient seafood to do a justice to the paella. The seafood stock used to cook the rice however is intense so there is a good concentrated seafood taste on the rice making it enjoyable. If only it is not so salty the paella would be fantastic.

For dessert we each ordered something different, with me going for Mojito 2016 Lemon Cake, Mint Ganache, Lemon and Rum Sorbet, Ivy going for Fresas con nata, which is Strawberries with Vanilla Cream, Sable Breton and Red Fruits, and my mom going for Fofo's Apple Tart with Toffee Sauce and Vanilla Ice-cream.

My lemon cake is simply too sweet, and even though the sorbet is quite sour to balance it is still a bit too much for me. The mint ganache also is not particularly tasty. Quite a disappointment to be honest. The strawberries are again too sweet, while the best of the dessert is by far the apple tart. It is sweet, yes, but the buttery tart and crunchy texture helped to balance nicely with the ice-cream and toffee sauce. So if you want to pick one this would be my recommendation of the three.

The services are quite nice, with the staff attentive and friendly, and we spent $1,519 for the above meal for the three of us. Not cheap but quite reasonable considering the amount of food we ordered.

My overall rating is 68/100.