bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

EL CID is literally a breath of fresh air for Tsim Sha Tsui. Located on TST's best-kept secret, Knutsford Terrace, it breathes bouquets of geraniums and looks of pillar-box-red and not too carefully etched Spanish white walls.

   The doors open to the trees outside on the terrace, the music is purely Spanish, and diners almost feel like they're dining in the only way to dine in Spain, al fresco.

  Unfortunately, the laws don't permit eating on the terrace itself. But this hasn't stopped a nearby Italian restaurant from opening to the outside. Nor has it stopped a bevy of bars in the area, with warm character and good drinks.

  El Cid has the drinks as well. A good selection of Spanish wines, one extraordinary Spanish brandy, and of course Frangelico, the vanilla-based post-prandial.

  Frangelico is necessary, because El Cid cooks with garlic. Garlic chunks on the chicken marinated in garlic sauce, prawns marinated in garlic and grilled fish with garlic.

  But nothing in this two-year-old restaurant, which was founded by a local girl who's had a love affair with Spain since her childhood, is cheap Spanish garlic. When the restaurant became successful last year, Anna Chau did the impossible. She not only didn't raise her prices, but she also started giving out larger portions.

  The manager is Jose Margarin, who is certainly not one of your Fawlty Towers comics. Jose is a knowledgeable and opinionated man who knows his food, explains it, and loves people who love his food.

  And they do. El Cid has nothing of the age/race ghetto quality. The attractive restaurant attracts Chinese, Spaniards, Americans and Europeans of all types. Simply because it is so charming, the prices so reasonable, and the menu so enchanting.

  Or should I say menus. There's a tapas menu, listing almost 40 Spanish hors d'oeuvres. Then a special daily menu (which actually stays around for a few months), with more tapas, the main menu and finally some suggestions on the blackboard.

  We started with the tapas, of course. The simplest are the best. The omelette, for instance, is a tiny plate of fresh egg containing onions and potatoes. After that came the ''specials'' as delicate as French pastry. Inside the filo pastry wrappers was fresh spinach and mild cheese. The taste was like Russian blintzes, prepared by an especially artistic chef.

  What was disappointing were the ''raincoat prawns'', which were simply battered deep-fried prawns, with parsley and tartare sauce. But the stuffed mussels, on the other hand, were splendid. They were stuffed with a cream sauce containing . . . well, moremussels.

  Our problem was the main courses - there were so many to choose from.

  It was easy to ignore paella, the traditional rice nonsense. But the fish in rock salt is apparently quite an event - a ceremonial event wheeled to the table and cut up through the salt a la Beggar's Chicken.

   My guests, long-time EL Cid diners, say the lamb fillets here are the best in Hong Kong, better than in the best hotel restaurants. And they were. Lightly grilled and cooked without any sauce and all the tenderness of lamb at its youngest.

  Another guest had a sliced duck served with Spanish figs. The combination, like duck a l'orange seemed to breathe of the Mediterranean. I had the garlic chicken, though boring in comparison, it was not unpleasant.

  The El Cid menu lists a plate of Spanish cheeses, but they only had one cheese which tasted very much like a mild cheddar. But the chocolate nougats - both crispy and soft - were almost sensuous.

  Along with the meal, we had two bottles of Monistal white wine (the house sangria is made with cognac), followed by some cognac and finally Frangelico.

  This, with knowledgeable conversation from Jose, the prospect of exploring the Knutsford Terrace bars, and the relatively moderate bill of $1,200 for three, transformed the cool Sunday evening into something approximating the sun of southern Spain.



The fresh breeze from Spain