La Rambla IFC – Spanish Restaurant

This is post #35, part of my #50PostsIn50Days personal challenge to document my first 100 days in Hong Kong. Other posts in this series may be found at the bottom of the original post.

As I continue to explore Spanish food here in Hong Kong, I can’t help but be really, really impressed.

La Rambla is a new spin-off from the very popular restaurant Catalunya, located on Morrison Hill in Wan Chai. Located in the International Finance Centre (IFC), this Catalan-focused restaurant serves all sorts of small plates (tapas, pinxtos) as well as paellas, suckling pig, seafood from Japan, as well as 90-day and 120-day aged Galician beef from Spain. The restaurant focuses on fresh, seasonal ingredients, flying in ingredients twice a week from Japan and Europe

Chef Ferran Tadeo, who is also executive chef of Catalunya, was mentored by Albert Adrià (el Bulli) and Sergi Arola (Arola).

La Rambla IFC has only been open since November 2017, but it already seems to be doing quite well. I came during lunch on a weekday and there were plenty of diners, likely the office crowd enjoying a high quality lunch in between work.

The best part about lunch is the gorgeous buffet spread of all sorts of small bites. It’s one of the options of the three course lunch (which is the only option during lunchtime).

If you don’t want the buffet spread, you can get a soup or another starter, but trust me . . . you want the spread.
I didn’t have a chance to take many photos of the spread, so believe me when I say my photos don’t do it justice. There are several gorgeous salads (including premium greens like arugula, rocket, spinach, endive, and frisee), a whole spread of cured meats (see above), as well as numerous pinxtos like small toasts with various toppings, smoked fish, olives, cooked vegetables, and much much more.

Honestly, one could easily fill up on the appetizer (which is why I think they only make it available as part of a three course lunch!!).

I was extremely impressed with the execution of my Grilled Halibut, which had perfectly crispy skin and buttery soft meat. The flavor was spot on, and I absolutely loved it. After eating so much from that massive appetizer spread (I felt like I wanted to try everything), I had planned on only tasting a bit of my entree. It was so good I somehow finished the whole thing (!).

The asparagus and shimeji mushrooms that accompanied the dish were tender and flavorful.

My dining companion ordered the Seafood Paella, which was flavorful and generous with its seafood.

You can optionally order “bikini” (a toasted sandwich) or croquetas on the side. Ha ha, if we had known how much food was included in the buffet spread, we would not have ordered anything extra. Our bikini with avocado and lobster was tasty but probably not needed in view of our appetizer spread. I’d skip this if you’re here for lunch.

The croquettas with mushroom and cheese were really good, fried to the right consistency and filled with a rich, cheesy center. You won’t get anything like this in the appetizer bar, so if you like these, they are worth getting. However, for a food amount perspective, there’s really no need!

If it’s a nice day out, you can enjoy there gorgeous patio which affords stunning views of Victoria Harbour. They even have heaters to keep you warm. Even if you stay indoors, most tables offer a similar view.

General Thoughts – La Rambla IFC

I haven’t been here for dinner, so I haven’t tried the Galician beef or any of the other entrees. Supposedly the truffle bombas are amazing. These are fried potato balls inspired by the potato “bombs” from Barcelona restaurant La Cova Fumada.

Based on my limited experience, I can tell that the quality of the food is top notch and I’m guessing that the rest of the menu is excellent as well. After all, if lunch is already at such a high quality, I can only imagine how much better dinner can be. Do note that this quality comes at a price. Our lunch was around $600 HKD per person (around $75 USD), which included a couple bottles of water as well as the extra side dishes. Expect to spend at least $400 HKD at lunch.

I would gladly come back at dinner to try some more of the food here!

La Ramba IFC
3071-3073, 3/F, IFC Mall
8 Finance Street, Central
2661 1161