Bedecked in an exterior of blue-and-white porcelain tiles, Calle Ocho is a hard-to-miss addition to Causeway Bay's Fashion Walk that carves out a space for Hispanophiles to soak up the atmosphere of one of Madrid's most historic neighbourhoods, Los Austrias. Featuring two floors that span 2,500 square feet and 130 seats, it's an ambitious 25th opening for the Pirata Group that evokes the experience of dining in the Spanish capital, with all its grand plazas, hidden squares, and cobblestoned streets.
The interiors are equally charming and evocative, with arched windows, tiled murals (with cheeky nods to recognisable faces from the Pirata ranks), and a wealth of curios and framed art spiriting diners away to the confines of an authentic boqueria. The restaurant also contains a number of private rooms that can be configured for different party sizes.
The menu espouses the virtues of tapas, with an opening selection of 34 tapas dishes and two paellas offering guests a panoply of Iberian flavours. "It's adventurous because where you might be eating a main course in a restaurant, here you can be eating three tapas," says executive chef Victor Caballé Molina.
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A typical spread of tapas at Calle Ocho (Photo: Gavin Yeung)
Executive chef Victor Caballé Molina (Photo: Gavin Yeung)
Grilled cuttlefish (Photo: Calle Ocho)
Signatures include the made-to-order tortillas, the grilled cuttlefish with aioli and lemon, where the cuttlefish is tenderised by being agitated in a machine for up to eight hours; and the Spanish suckling pig terrine with pineapple salsa and vermouth jus, where the suckling pig is deboned, cooked overnight, and the skin crisped separately, before the terrine is assembled. There are also modern interventions in tapas like the "Uni-Cone", containing layers of tuna tartare, Japanese uni, wasabi-avocado and lime; as well as in the pumpkin-coconut puree that adorns the Wagyu beef cheek. Wines are predominantly Spanish, with cava, sherry, and vermouth on the menu as well.
"In Calle Ocho, you can eat as little or as much as you want," says Molina. "There’s a huge variety of small dishes. I will say it’s the Spanish dim sum style of eating."
Calle Ocho, 8 Cleveland Street, Fashion Walk, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong; +852 2638 8895, calleocho.hk
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