Rating: ★★★★☆

Address: 5/F, QRE Plaza, 202 Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai 灣仔皇后大道東202號QRE Plaza 5樓

Telephone: 2836 0699

https://www.elite-concepts.com/page.aspx?corpname=elite&i=439

在灣仔QRE Plaza 的Quemo 是飲食集團Elite Concepts 與大廚Quim Marquez 合作開的現代西班牙餐廳。創新的西班牙tapas 有新鮮感但又不失當地風味，其中印象最深刻的是用大平鍋盛載的西班牙海鮮飯，鮮味濃郁，飯吸滿了海鮮汁，軟硬度也做得很適中。食物雖然不及新開的Catalunya 精緻，但室內的裝潢很舒適，價錢不算貴，所以是很多年輕人週末吃晚飯的熱點之一。

It is not even funny how much we Hong Kongers love Spanish tapas and how many new Spanish restaurants have sprung up these few years. Quemo, a collaboration between Elite Concepts (of yè shanghai, nanhai No.1 and 1/5 nuevo) and Quim Marquez, the owner of the eponymous El Quim de la Boqueria in Barcelona, is a casual, upbeat Spanish restaurant in QRE Plaza that serves modern Spanish tapas with an inventive twist. The spacious venue comprises of a large dining room furnished with light wooden furniture, a private dining area as well as an outdoor patio. The service at Quemo is friendly and engaging, and the prices are also reasonable, with a dinner typically setting you back around $400-500 per head.

My friend N, an outgoing, independent girl with a weakness for Spanish food, celebrated her 25th birthday here. As we were a big group and ordered several servings of each dish, the photos of food and drinks below may not represent normal portions at the restaurant.

(1) My friends and I had a great time chatting over a glass of homemade Sangria.

(2) The Chorizo lollipop ($68) not only looked cute, but tasted decent too, with the quince jelly and goat cheese filling adding a different texture and dimension to the savoury chorizo.

(3) These Quemo crab croquetas ($88) were crunchy and full of fresh, crabby flavours.

(4) There wasn’t too much foie gras flavour in the Oyster bocata with BBQ foie gras and homemade sweet potato bread ($88), but the crispy, light oysters were delightful.

(5) The Maldonado acorn fed iberico with tomato bread ($328) followed. The tomato bread was a tad too hard and had too little tomato paste on it, but the iberico ham was surely tempting.

(6) These adorable Pregnant tomatoes ($68) certainly cheered us up! Filled with smoked fish, roasted eggplant, onion and pepper and sprinkled generously in Parmesan shavings, this dish was a symphony of vibrant, beautiful flavours.

(7) The El Quim de la Boqueria’s fried egg ($118), consisting of fried eggs, shrimps and bread, was a simple and appetising dish, but it was rather oily.

(8) The Squid Ink paella ($468), ceremonially served in a gigantic flat pan, was simply the best dish one could ask for when it came to food photos! The paella was bursting with flavours, and the texture of the plumped up rice was satisfying.

Clams were served on the side with the paella and a hint of garlic accentuated their natural flavours.

(9) The Presa iberian pork shoulder loin ($638) was an accomplished dish, boasting deep, meaty flavours and a pleasingly firm texture; the level of saltiness was also spot on.

(10) These little deep-fried balls of Chocolate addiction ($58), puffy and airy without being overly sweet, were a simple but lovely dessert to round up our meal.

Conclusion: While the Spanish cuisine at Quemo may not be as refined as that at Catalunya (see my review here), the mouthwatering paellas, a buzzing, convivial atmosphere and friendly prices have made this restaurant a popular weekend haunt amongst the young crowd in Hong Kong.