Located in a small alley in Sheung Wan, Eclectic is not the easiest place to find. And even after you find it and enter the small private kitchen, it is not very impressive. Requiring a minimum of 10 guests and a maximum of 16, Eclectic requires you to book out the whole space, which is separated into a dining area with a long table, and a living area with a large couch and a table where cold cuts and cava are served. What is impressive, however, is that you can see the tiny kitchen where the chef knocks out very decent dishes for all the guests with nothing more than electric stoves and small toaster oven.

Food critics are a hard species to please. Just a year ago, we were moaning that there were no decent Spanish food in Hong Kong, and now a year later, after the opening of 22 Ships, Boqueria, BCN and Vi Cool, we are wondering why all these new Spanish restaurants are tapa joints. This is where Eclectic, a Spanish private kitchen in Sheung Wan comes in. Opened by chef Juan Martinez Gregorio, the food served is southern Spanish, rustic, family-style dishes from his hometown of Cartagena. When making your reservations, guests are presented with a seven-course menu, which changes regularly and can also be amended to suit your preferences. Our meal started with Iberico chorizo, manchego drizzled with olive oil and thyme, and pan tumaca. The tomato on the bread is pureed into a cream, and the bread is crusty enough for us to construct mini ham and cheese sandwiches. Following that was the chef’s version of empanada, and we like his decision to use puff pastry to encase a filling made of tomatoes, zucchini, black olives and tuna. It is flaky, tasty and still piping hot, impressive given that he had to painstakingly carve up ten neat portions on his own. Other highlights of the menu include a cold tomato cream soup from Cordoba, which differs from the standard gazpacho with its exclusion of cucumbers and red onions. The result is a cleaner, lighter yet still deeply aromatic soup. Also worth mentioning was our main course of pork jowl: the delicious round discs are cooked in a litre and a half of Rioja for two hours, and fall apart in the mouth. Dessert was flambéed strawberries with ice cream, enlivened by the unusual addition of black pepper, a perfectly light and spot-on dessert to round out a satisfying meal.

There is not a wine list as such, and guests are encouraged to BYO with a corkage fee of HK$60 per bottle.

Chef Gregorio is assisted by just one other waitress, yet the service is efficient and smoothly run. The wait between courses are not too long, and the chef takes time to introduce each course, explaining for example the regional differences between an empanada from the north and south of Spain. All in all, Eclectic provides an intimate and friendly environment, perfect for friendly group dinners.

The seven-course meal is priced at HK$400 per head, although with wine and cava, the final bill may be closer to HK$600 per person. Although the setting may be somewhat lacking, we feel that this is good value for what is a delicious, home-cooked Spanish meal.