Seafood makes up most of the menu at Estiatorio Keia, many executed with Greek and Mediterranean influences. Aside from a wide selection of seafood dishes, guests can also choose chilled imported catches from a display bed of ice at a market price. While the raw bar offerings are highly recommended, we found much comfort from the appetiser selection instead.

A welcome amuse bouche of taramas, or salted roe of cod cream, is topped with cured black olives and bell peppers, a refreshing beginning to our meal.

The spreads with pita offer a good range of spreads to select from, each accompanied with a basket of paprika-spiked pita chips. Addictively crunchy on their own, the pita chips are great with the creamy hummus, or cooling tzatziki with finely grated cucumber and mint. The smoked aubergine dip we known to be baba ghanouj, had the strongest clash of flavours, as a fiery spike of garlic and sweet onions are balanced with the mellow sweetness of roasted aubergines, best enjoyed on steamy fresh-out-of-oven pita breads available on request.

Saganaki cheese starter is served with hearty wedges of pears and served flambéed with ouzo at the table. While the burning ouzo offers an Instagrammable moment at the table, the anise aroma was almost unnoticeable. Grilled octopus leg is also impressive. Slow-cooked until tender and finished on a hot grill, the tough tentacles of the octopus yielded to the bite, almost like soft butter best enjoyed alongside the creamy puddle of earthy fava bean puree and a generous helping of tomato concasse and chopped black olives.

We skipped the salads and pasta and dived straight into the mains. Grilled tiger shrimps arrived on an enlarged platter, where four butterflied shrimps were flash-grilled with their heads on, and dressed with a rich tomato-based seafood sauce. The sweet tomatoes and savoury contrast from crumbled feta cheese stole the show from the rich umami of the shrimps, as the deshelled crustaceans lost their signature crunchy texture. The sauce, however, was rich and had us fighting for the last bit of pita to enjoy it.

We opted for the spanaki, a traditional Mediterranean filled bread instead of another main dish. Generously spread with chopped spinach and feta cheese, the vegetarian dish is crusty on the outside and mildly chewy within, a refreshing alternative to other carb dishes.

The dessert selection at Keia is impressive despite keeping the list small. Loukoumades, or small fritters are popular, but we fell in love with the homemade saffron ice cream, a generous canary-yellow globe of a frozen treat, paired with a chocolate tuile cookie, was a simple finish to the meal. Poached quince with pistachio meringue and frozen yoghurt was the only fruit-based dessert on the menu. The poached quince slices were floral but needed a little bit more sugar to taste, and the frozen yoghurt on top brought a light, tangy touch.

Keia’s wine selection is impressive, as the list leads a tasting journey of options from the France, Italy and Switzerland, extending towards Turkey, Morocco, and Lebanon, including a few indigenous grape varietals rarely served in fine dining establishments. The wines by the glass options are generous as well, as most whites on offer are great pairings with seafood. Cocktail offerings are a small handful, but reasonably featuring Mediterranean elements including the use of liquors and spices commonly found in the region. We highly recommend Forest Hugging The Sea, Keia’s answer to gin and tonic, lightened with mastika, cypress and marine fennel with the lightest zing of citrus.

Service is mostly attentive at Keia, and the majority of the service team are helpful. Some of the members of the service team can benefit from better knowledge of the menu as well as wine pairing suggestions, but the latter was very well compensated with comprehensive tasting notes and suggestions from the resident sommelier and mixologists.

Unfazed by their previous failed attempt to polish the seafood restaurant concept in Hong Kong, the Bulldozer Group has steered the ship in a better direction with promising results at Keia, garnering considerable raves and some promising returns.

A meal for two including drinks and service amounts to HK$1,300.

Rating: 3.5/5 

How we rate
Each of our reviewers score restaurants based on four main criteria: setting, food, service, and drinks, taking into account more than 35 different points of reference including manners of staff, usefulness of the wine list, and whether or not the restaurant makes an effort to be environmentally aware. 5/5 indicates an exceptional experience; 4-4.5/5 is excellent; 3-3.5/5 is good to very good; and 2.5/5 or lower is average to below average. Before visiting a restaurant, the reviewers will book using a pseudonym and do not make themselves known to restaurant staff, in order to experience the venue as a regular guest—if this is not possible, or if we are recognised, we will indicate this in the review.