Al fresco Spanish dining at Causeway Bay's Aire - review

Feb 113 min read

Hong Kong's Epicurean Group has opened its third Spanish restaurant. Carolynne Dear headed over to Causeway Bay for lunch

Bold sharing plates served for review at Aire

Al fresco dining joints are few and far between in central Hong Kong, so Aire in the city’s Causeway Bay district is something of a surprise. Its generous outdoor space is backdropped by the district’s shiny high rises and it's a rather delicious escape at this cooler time of year.

Aire bills itself as a ‘Spanish dining sensation’, serving an Iberian Peninsula-focused menu of Basque grill specialties alongside meats, seafood and tapas plates.

The dining spot is helmed by Spaniard Edgard Sanuy Barahona, who heads-up Epicurean Group’s Spanish Division. This is the group’s third Spanish-focused restaurant with a fourth - a pintxo bar - due to launch later this spring. Former openings include Pica Pica tapas bar in Shueng Wan and Wan Chai’s Barbar, marking Epicurean Group out as something of a trail-blazer for Spanish cuisine in Hong Kong.

While Sanuy admits that a true Spanish restaurant would not mix the menu like Aire - tapas and pintxo are strictly served in tapas and pintxo bars rather than restaurants - he’s gratified that Hong Kong’s sophisticated dining palate means Spanish cuisine can stand alone these days rather than as part of a generic ‘Mediterranean’ menu.

Aire’s smart and spacious venue is located on the third floor of Lee Gardens One, the interior of the restaurant dominated by floor to ceiling glass with doors that lead onto the expansive terrace. Inside, an open kitchen allows diners to see the chefs in action.

Executive chef Pere Moreno Germes has worked with Sanuy to produce a varied menu including Basque grill cuisine, meat sourced from Spain and seafood from the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

I headed over for lunch with Sanuy just before Chinese New Year while the restaurant was still in its soft-opening phase.

Our meal kicked off with the Para Picar (snacks) menu and a theatrical presentation of the Oyster Daniele Surlut in a smoke-filled paper bag. The bag is torn open, releasing the smoke and revealing a gleaming applewood smoked oyster topped with a delicate slice of Iberico pork jowl.

Epicurean Group's head of Spanish Division, Edgard Sanuy, and Aire's executive chef, Pere Moreno Germes

Further sharing plates included moreish slices of Beef ‘Cecina’ Discarlux wrapped around crunchy almonds from the cold cuts menu and a deliciously creamy eggplant ‘escalibada’ with romesco, almonds and spring onions from the tapas menu. The Galician octopus over smoked potato was a stand-out from the seafood tapas selection and this was followed by an expertly cooked and oozing Spanish tortilla, also listed as a tapas dish. The final tasting dish, a deboned suckling pig with jus and pureed pumpkin, was a rich note on which to end the appetisers.

We then moved to the Basque grill with a succulent whole wild turbot served on the bone and with a smooth garlic oil. Meatier options featured juicy pink pieces of Galician dry-aged sirloin with piquillo peppers. Further enticing options from the girll include milk-fed Castilla La Mancha lamb, yellow chicken and prime rib of Galician beef.

The final piece de resistance was a shiny paella dish of Seafood Black Rice with baby squid, ink and ali-oli from the rice and fideo (noodle) list. Sanuy had prepared it ‘pequeno senor’ style, or ‘for the little lord’, in other words, ready to eat with all seafood shells neatly removed. All that remained for me to do was to dig into the unctuous dish.

We finished with a stunning Basque cheesecake; I’m not a particularly sweet-toothed diner but for this alone I would make a return visit.

With plenty of sangria, Spanish wines and sherries to wash down the bold, sharing dishes, Aire is without doubt a crowd-pleaser. Book now for a relaxed, long-lunch on the terrace before the heat hits.

Aire, Shop 301B, 302, 3/F, Lee Garden One, 33 Hysan Avenue, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong; Monday to Sunday, 11.30am to 2.30pm and 6pm to 10pm; +852 2866 3286.

Don't go, there's more...