Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - The Optimist

This restaurant specializes in Northern Spanish cuisine. Located in Wanchai over three floors in 239 Hennessy, the ground floor is a chic bar while the upper levels are dining sections, with a nice ambiance offering softly lit environment of comfort and coziness. Seated on the window side overlooking the busy Hennessy Road down below, I ordered a cocktail to start.

The Hemingway Super ($100) is a cocktail coming from Cuba, modified after the classic daiquiri, made using pineapple specially charcoal-grilled, salted, caramelized and spiced up. The pineapple was squeezed to the core to extract the special flavors, bringing a sour and spicy beverage highly appealing.

We ordered the Tasting Menu ($480 each) to try out more varieties. There were three small dishes to start. First was Ham Croquettes, with the croquettes made with Iberian ham, deep-fried to give a crispy surface while moist on the inside, with some Piquillo alioli underneath to provide a creamy sauce to complement. A very tasty starter.

Next was Patatas Bravas, with pressed Parmesan potatoes, bravas hot sauce and alioli. The potatoes were sliced and then pressed, cut into cubes and then added with the sauces. The slightly spicy bravas and alioli added flavors of the paprika and garlic to the potatoes. While the dish might look simple, it was good in taste and another small dish I recommend.

The last small dish was Gambas 'Al Ajillo', with the king prawns cooked with garlic and extra-virgin olive oil. The prawns were fresh and showing the natural sweetness in taste, and the olive oil imparting engulfing the flavors and keeping the prawns from drying out in oven, while infusing them with the garlic taste. Another simple but tasty tapas.

Then we had the Enokitake Rice, with the Enokitake mushroom and black truffle added. Intense on the aromas and palate, the rice was cooked with stock and added with some bacon to further enhance the savory notes, plus the signature black truffle characters permeating through, this rice was very good and even I was not particularly fond of the raw Enokitake mushroom added, this dish was one of the highlights in the dinner.

The main dish could be chosen from four options, and we decided to go for Grilled Boston Lobster, with kimchi sauce, and hand cut fries. The lobster was cut in halves and then marinated before grilling. The meat was very sweet and even though a bit salty, the overall grill was nicely done. The fries were good too but by the time we were so full that we could not finish all the pieces.

For desserts there were two of them, with the first being a Flan. The pudding was made with egg, with a caramel top, almond crunch and lemon cream. Not overly sweet, the lemon cream giving a nice tartness to balance too. It had a smooth texture, paired well with the almond crunch and was fairly good.

The other dessert was Strawberry Cheesecake. Instead of serving as a slice, this one was put inside a jar, in a 'disintegrated' format. However, one could easily associate back the individual components of the cheesecake, with the strawberry coulis, cheese fillings, and cookies. Tasty and there was also a nice touch with a piece of chocolate on top.

Service was very good, with the staff very friendly and introducing us to the restaurant as well as the menu right from the beginning, and then following up on the dishes and checking in. The bill was $1,180 and the restaurant was without service charge too. A good place to come for some tapas and drinks, as well as a comfortable meal.