QUEMO (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

From the folks that brought us yè shanghai and nanhai no. 1 in the past, they proudly introduced a brand new contemporary Spanish restaurant, QUEMO, in 2013. Perched on the 5th floor of the QRE Plaza in Wanchai, QUEMO is one of the many Spanish restaurants "invading" the food scene of Hong Kong this year.



I was in the neighborhood for a meeting and decided to grab a quick lunch afterwards. But to my surprise, QUEMO did not have a lunch menu yet as they are only serving an all-day menu for the time being.

I was offered a seat at the long bar table and had a nice chat with the bartender who was trying his best to introduce me a few of their signature dishes. He also warned me of the small portions and advised me to at least get 3 items from the menu.



After finally placing my order, I got the chance to check out the place including a corner where they stocked their ham and cheese.



Then came the welcome dish from the chef - a tomato bread with olive oil. That's a little on the hard side (3/10).



First to the test was Chef Quim Marquez's "El Quim de la Boqueria's fried egg", a special fried egg dish served with foie gras, mushroom, prawn, chorizo and toast ($118). 

The taste of foie gras was missing and I thought it's a tad too heavy for my liking. Probably would be better to share among 2-3 friends (4/10).



I heard this is a must-do here and I definitely enjoyed it - oyster bocata with BBQ foie gras and homemade sweet potato bread ($88).

It's a burger of sweet potato with crispy foie gras and deep fried oyster sandwiched in the middle. To my surprise, it's not that oily and as expected, very rich and flavorful (7.5/10).



By the time I finished my "oyster burger", I was 80% full already. So I had to take my time to slowly finish my last dish - garlic beef tenderloin with homemade chips ($168). The beef tenderloin was pan fried to perfection but like the dishes before this one, too much grease (6/10).

My family doctor won't be happy with me having this meal.

 

You can tell they are using top-quality ingredients here but some dishes work better than others. I was still a little disappointed that they didn't offer a lunch menu and was kind of forced to take on more food than I should have (bad advice from the bartender?).

Note: In the latest news, QUEMO is finally offering a set lunch at around $170-200 from Monday to Friday.


Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 5/F, QRE Plaza, 202 Queen's Road East, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Wanchai
Tel: +852 2836-0699
Website: www.elite-concepts.com/page.aspx?corpname=elite&i=439