Hyde – Tapas Menu

UPDATE: Hyde is now closed.

Pretty much every time I’ve been at Hyde, it’s been for frolics- late night drinks and a good dance off with fun company. So you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that Hyde serves up real food, not just liquid diets. If you’re sitting there reading this and going, “Hyde does food?!” then join the club, as all my friends responded in the same way when I told them I was invited to try their new Tapas menu. One prattled on, saying, “Are you sure you’re going to eat, maybe you’re confused and you’re trying out some cocktails…”

I can assure you I was not confused, nor did I have a tipple, but what I did have was a joyous hour or so reclining on one of the back sofas on the pool table floor, nibbling on a delectable selection of dishes from Hyde’s new tapas menu.

For a short time only, you can have 3 dishes for $99 or 6 for $188, which is a great deal judging by their portions. In most tapas joints I find that their portions are created to tease the customer- not enough on the plate to quench the craving, but to order an extra plate would seem glutinous or frivolous, especially as the prices aren’t exactly cheap. But in Hyde, they are a lot more generous, which deserves a good thumbs-up from me.

It’s a rather nice concept. Hyde creates an intimate chilled-out vibe for social drinks and snacks, and then transforms itself into a hub of raucous drinking and dancing. As well as the tapas (available from noon daily), at lunch you can also have a light meal for $78 which includes a soup, salad, dessert and coffee or tea, or you can have the full course menu at $98 for soup or salad, mains, dessert and coffee or tea.

I started off with the slow roasted crispy pork belly with spicy sauce and mint sauce. Cooked for 3 hours (so they say), then grilled to attain the crispy crust, it was moist and tender and the crunchy fat was delicious. The sauces were particularly good, though you don’t really need to dip the pork in them, or rather, you will forget that the sauces are there and keep chomping away.

The Chuletas de Migas (NZ lamb cutlets coated with Dijon mustard and basil crumbs) was fantastic. Juicy, well seasoned lamb cutlets are my weakness and if it weren’t for my snacking companion (Hyde’s wonderfully helpful Events lady, T) I would have scoffed both cutlets and gnawed them to the bone. But obviously conscious of maintaining my naturally dainty and lady-like eating persona, I refrained from such cave-man behaviour.

An interesting dish was the Hyde fusion loaf. A homemade bread stuffed with Portobello mushroom, bell pepper and feta cheese pesto, it made for an unusual addition to an otherwise fairly traditional tapas menu. It’s quite heavy, so if there are only two of you, try to even out your dishes with something lighter and less carb-laden.

The Tortilla con chorizo was standard and a bit on the soggy side, mostly due to, I think, too many ingredients- baby spinach, chorizo and cheese. I prefer plain tortilla with no embellishments as I find that the omelette stays firmer that way and has more depth to it.

The baked Portobello mushrooms with melted gorgonzola blue cheese was quite good, but stay away if you think blue cheese is like Satan’s mould, as it is pretty pungent and strong.

The last two dishes- the lemon chicken on couscous and the Provencal mussels were of a high standard, both with sufficient amounts of sauce to be mopped up with the Fusion loaf.

As I’m a greedy guts, I couldn’t resist requesting the Truffle fries which were lovingly tossed with truffle meat and steeped in truffle oil. I couldn’t finish them so I took them home in a doggy bag. Trufflelicious!

Hyde has a selection of Spanish wines on the menu that have been carefully chosen to be paired with the tapas. This is especially useful for those of us who haven’t a clue what is an appropriate wine to have and end up ordering the bog standard Pinot Grigio.

So, considering I didn’t know Hyde even served food, I was pleasantly surprised. Their food is good and filling for the price and quite honestly, 3 dishes is more than enough for two people craving a hearty snack. A very comforting prelude to an evening out.

Hyde 2/F & 3/F, Lyndhurst Tower, 1 Lyndhurst Tce, Central
2522 2608 www.hyde.hk/

2522 2186 (Main)