FoFo by el Willy

Lunched at FoFo (20/F M88, 2-8 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong, tel : +852 2900 2009).

Located on the 20th floor of M88, the restaurant was positioned to provide a pleasant and tranquil view of the hills and the mid levels at the rear of the Central. Where one could dine shielded from the hustle and bustle.

We were served a platter of amuse bouche to munch on while perusing the menu. Think it was sardines on tomato and salmon mousse, both on crostini.

Since we were out to have a nice lunch, why pass on the alcohol eh?  The jug of red from FoFo's sexy sangrias which contained a bunch of stuff that was lost in translation the mix. Like Cognac, tempranillo, cointreau and peach liqueur. Except for the cinnamon which really perfumed and mellowed the drink. I liked the red.

We had cooked octopus with potatoes blanketed under Teruel ham. The slices of octopus were chewy and tender at the same time, salted by the ham and spiced by paprika.

We ordered some jamón Ibérico shoulders to see what they were about. FoFo uses the ham from Iberselec which make them from 100% Iberian pig. The result was a healthy warm red hue in each slice laced by flecks of intramuscular fat. These ones were very very good. There was a lot of that buttery component of flavour in the fat than I had ever noticed. Those flavour were all nicely layered on top of the bodied nutty aroma that one is generally accustomed to from the ham.

The jamón Ibérico was accompanied by some Catalan styled tomato toast. A fresh, crispy and perky counter to the ham.

We ordered up some fried baby squids that were accompanied by a smokey chilli lemon mayo which I thought was an excellent concoction. Rich, tart and spicy at the same time underneath that moderated smokiness.

We also had at Montadito des foie gras with truffle and confit onions. I've just found out that Montaditios for the Spanish refer to a bite sized open faced sandwich and can be used with various toppings. I guess this is a FoFo interpretation. And I liked them.

Then, there was a bowl of eggs in a nest. Organic eggs cooked at 63 degrees (omg, the precision they have to sell here!) in a nest made of crispy potatoes and onions. Topped with sliced truffles too. And more foie gras. I found that the best way for me to enjoy this was to let the eggs soak into the nest by tossing them a little before forking them out with bits of the foie.

The last of the small plates came in the form of FoFo's suckling pig served on top of a gratin of onion, potatoes and black truffle. These were amazing. The skin was moderately fat laced, crispy on top of a tender slice of flavourful pork. Underneath that sure fire combination of potatoes and onions. Good for return orders I say.

Next up were a duo of their juicy rice. This first was done with sea cucumber, scallops and Iberico pork. It was rich, creamy and dotted by freshly cooked green peas. This was very nice. The only thing that didn't settle with me was what they had claimed were sea cucumbers and had insisted so. It had definitely tasted and looked like razor clams.

The second was a Boston lobster juicy rice that was sadly not as flavourful as the previous. I had really been expecting a lobster bisque quality to the creamy stock infused grains but it wasn't as I had imagined.

Desserts were a white chocolate mousse with mixed berries and churros. All were competently done with what I thought was well moderated sweetness that didn't make me feel like stopping after a single spoon. We were already quite stuffed at this point.

I think FoFo is good for returns.