After failing to secure a table at Ted’s Lookout, we decided to head over to Plaza Mayor around the corner for some tapas instead. I haven’t been to the Star Street area in a while, and it’s amazing how many new places have opened up in the last year. Named after a stunning central plaza in Madrid, it was a grand name to live up to. Sadly, it didn’t quite do so.

At Plaza Mayor, you can choose between small and large portions. We started off with a small portion of 50% Ibérico Ham (meaning that the pig that the ham came from had only one parent that was an Ibérico pig). The ham was tasty, although the bread was a bit stale.

The croquettes were a waste of calories – very rarely do I refuse a croquette, but I had one bite and pushed it aside. They had a taste and texture of something taken out of the packet and stuck under a grill.

These Huevos Estrellados were an improvement on the meal, with crisp fried potatoes and a generous helping of chorizo. However, after trying the same dish at Solero in Discovery Bay, this paled in comparison.

Again, the patatas bravas were decent, and the spicy sauce had a nice warm flavour to it, but otherwise unmemorable.

The gambas were definitely the best part of the meal, plump and juicy with a crunch of crispy garlic.

The tortilla was nice, the egg nicely cooked. As a staple to a tapas menu, it would be quite a disaster to screw this up.

The food is just as uninspiring to write about as it is to eat, and I find it highly improbable that this restaurant will stick around for long.

After just now looking over the receipt, the total came to $625 for us three ladies. Sure, we’re small eaters, but I thought that was a very well priced meal for Start Street. WAIT A SECOND – It’s quite funny the things that we would notice, if only we looked at the receipt more before paying! I’ve just realised that:

1.  they didn’t charge us for the $400 bottle of wine!! Oooooh, that waitress is in trouble.

2. I’ve also noticed that we were charged HK$25 for the bread basket- I had assumed it was complimentary, considering it landed on our table without any prompting.

3. Our waitress’ name was Creamy…hmmm

4. You can enjoy 10% off lunch on Monday to Saturday if you bring back your receipt!

Considering that they also sell quite a large selection of Spanish wines as well we some cheeses, their website is surprisingly bad. If I did want to purchase some of the Albarino that I saw on the shelves, I would have to go physically to the restaurant to review the choices again. I can’t see myself doing that any time soon.

Plaza Major

G/F 9-11 Moon Street
Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Tel: (+852) 2866 6644

Website: http://www.plazamayor.hk/