Went on a weekday but still busy. We first had a drink at the bar located on the ground floor then moved to 2nd floor for dinner. We ordered dinner set for 2 and left us really full. Staffs were cheerful, service was good. Food was good and the night was well spent in this restaurant. Will come back again. Dinner set for 2 2 starters - grilled baby squid and albondigas 2 mains - Grilled chicken & rib eye steak 2 sides - chive rice & roasted potato 2 desserts - crema catalana and Churros bites For $100USD for 2 read more

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The food, service, and ambiance here are all phenomenal! The bread was so fluffy, and the butter so rich. I got the house salad which was amazing with the ham. And for entree, I had the oxtail rice - if you haven't had oxtail before, you must try it! I'll be coming back with my coworkers to try more. The manager Ricardo is so helpful and nice; and the staff were wonderful! The food came out quickly, too. Taste 10/10, everything 10/10. read more

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I have friends from Malaysia in town, after dinner we came to The Optimist for drinks (beer... Spanish beer!). We love the vibe projected from the lighting on the windows, and definitely a way to draw attention from across the street too! Nice work team! read more

Wow. That's all I can say. I'm not sure I've ever given a 5 to a restaurant offering a limited time prix-fixe menu (Restaurant Week, Summerlicious, etc.) But The Optimist. Just wow. This place hasn't just raised the bar for prix fixe event restaurants, it drop kicked the bar into another field. Where do I even start? Well for one, I don't think I've ever had a better deal at HKD $200. It's not the cheapest lunch, but for that much, you can buy quality AND quantity here! 1) Appetizer: You ever leave an expensive restaurant and then go straight to McDonald's afterwards to fill up? Why do some prix-fixe places insist on skimping on portions? The Optimist says "to hell with that" and gives you full access to a buffet table filled with Charcuterie (Iberian Ham, Chorizo, etc.), great cheese, and a variety of delicious salads. YES, even the salads were amazing. We're not talking the usual spring mix, we got decadent pumpkin salads, refreshing kale salads, minty melon salads. I can write a review on the buffet table alone. And if you're hungry afterwards (impossible), you can always go back! 2) Appetizer 2: Oh you thought we were done? We're 2 "huevos rotos" or "broken eggs" away from being done! Beautiful potato slices with a fried egg in cast iron pans. One had Iberian ham mixed in. The other had large slices of black truffle. These were meant to be shared but we couldn't even finish them between 5 people! 3) Entree: We all got steak. 3 flat irons with Chimichurri from Australia and 1 Chateaubriand (for 2) from Spain. The flat iron was so delicious. Mine came out too rare at first (still delicious), it came back from the kitchen a little too well done...and it was STILL DELICIOUS! I was even blown away by the grilled veggies accompanying the steak. The Chateaubriand was also something else. First it came on a plate big enough to hold a baby. The steak itself was so tender, it felt like a pillow in my mouth. Even so, the flavour exploded: a little smoky, a little charred, and 100% savoury goodness. 4) What the hell, Optimist, you can't be such a well-rounded over achiever, and excel at apps, entrees, AND desserts! I got the flan and it was such a nice, light finish but with such appealing contrasting textures. It came with a scoop of cream and a crispy wafer roll that was clearly made in-house. The berry cheesecake was rich and tasted heavenly, especially with a bit of sour berry jam. The coffee and ice cream used real vanilla ice cream (with the little black specks of vanilla)! And on top of all that, is the most wonderful server named Nezz. I was awestruck at your ability to seemingly fly around from table to table, fulfilling one request after another without missing a beat. And you did all that with a smile! I love this place, I love it so damn much. I walked in loving it, I loved it during my two hour lunch, and I'm loving it hours later, with a full stomach still. Just as its name would suggest, I walked in hungry and walked out a much more positive person. (62/100) - 2017 read more

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Nice snacks & drinks during the HH. And generally the place has its charm and atmosphere.

Northern Spanish cuisine in the center of Hong Kong. Trendy place and good atmosphere. Ground floor bar and two more levels for eating. We got a great table in the corner overlooking the busy street. Service was attentive & amazing! We ordered octopus appetizer as well as broken eggs with ham and potato all delicious! Main courses of whole grilled Spanish fish cooked in lemon and garlic, filleted at the table. Served with squash and mushrooms. Also Chateaubriand cooked medium served with potato. All succulent and full of flavour. Washed this down with a couple of bottles of Argentinian Malbec. read more

The Optimist - Spanish Near Me - Hong Kong, HK

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same place, again blissful experience! jojo was extremely helpful! the gambas al ajillo and broken egg woke my spain-sickness... personally prefer dim lights and seeing crews having fun all the time. they did it effortlessly, will definitely revisit :) read more

This place looks way bigger inside than the outside, it's got 3 levels. Met with a friend there for dinner and they had pretty good drinks and shared plates of grilled squid, tuna tataki and rib eye steak. They grilled the octopus perfectly, and for my pescaterian friend flavor wise it's the closest to beef he can get. Food was solid so no complaints there, service was a wee bit slow but that's probably because the space is so big and vertical. Friends were happy with the strong cocktails so that was good. We were lucky it wasn't packed to the rafters with people so it was good to be able to have a conversation with a dear friend and catch up. read more

This was as close to a 5 star review as I've come. Call it a solid 4 1/2. It's funny as you walk in that such a posh and trendy western style restaurant sits smack dab in the middle of all the dim sum and char siu joints on Hennessy road. But as soon as you walk in, you know you're in for a treat. Tasteful clubby music mingles with the smell of the charcoal grill to tempt your senses. A well stocked bar helps you start your evening with a fresh cocktail. When seated, you're presented with a menu and the advice that the plates are made for sharing. We started with a gorgeous Camembert melt with walnuts, toasted bread and raspberry jam. Delicious! We also split a calamari appetizer and a great Caesar salad. For our main dish, we got the garlic sea bass for two. It was perfect! The only two things keeping me from granting that fifth star was that our table on the 3rd floor by the grill got pretty smoky. Also, the fish took a little while to get to us, but our waiter apologized right before bringing it out. The bill was surprisingly low- all that food, plus 2 drinks a piece was an astounding 1300hk (including tip). read more

The Optimist - Garlic Sea bass with Caesar salad. As tasty as it looks. - Spanish Near Me - Hong Kong, HK

It was my second time dining at The Optimist and I loved every minute of it! I've had a consistent craving for Spanish food ever since my explorations in Spain last summer. Tapas, patatas bravas, pulpo...oh the savory memories... Anyways, me and my partner started off the night with refreshing gin cocktails at the bar and scrolled through the old photos/ stories in the beverage menu, while soaking in the interior design and overall atmosphere. For starters we ordered an oyster each, the Galician octopus with potatoes, and tender padrón peppers. Another round of cocktails was in order. I had a favorite of mine, The Bee's Knees - creamy, light and refreshing. For mains we had the vegetarian chargrilled eggplant and the Iberican pork chop. The goat cheese and sweet tomatoes with the eggplant were delightful. The pork chop could've been a touch more tender but trying not to be picky - it was salty and amazing. Before our appetizers arrived, a cocktail glass broke behind me and splashed my way. The staff apologized and so generously comped our drinks and a dessert. Overall, I think we ordered one two many dishes or at least could've skipped the beginner's bread. Way too full at the end, but couldn't have been happier! Thanks Optimist! read more

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One of my favourite restaurants in Hong Kong. It served a mixed fusion of dishes rather than Spainish only. We ordered the charcoal grilled Iberrian pork, grilled octopus and smoked salmon salad for our appetizers and salad. Seafood baked rice for our main. We enjoyed our appetizers more than our main. Overall, we were satisfied with our meal and we insisted to order 2 desserts even though we are too full at the end. Our favourite is the La pinata, it is the most remarkable dessert I had in Hong Kong. It goes well with the coconut ice cream. We will come back for sure and tried our best to ordered less next time. read more

Came here with two other girlfriends and really love the interior and decor. Ordered a few dishes and all of them were very good. The steak was very tender and cooked just to the right amount. Will definitely come back. read more

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I usually go to Pirata (their sister restaurant upstairs), but decided to try The Optimist. It's street level and the decor is really appealing. Needless to say I am very glad I stopped here. I was having a bummer day and their bar manager was friendly, attentive and made a killer old fashion. I had the tuna tartare, an oyster and a steak. The food hit the spot and the cocktails were stellar. The music and the decor/atmosphere was my style and lifted my tired spirits. I highly recommend Pirata for Italian and The Optimist for killer customer service and amazing cocktails. read more

Was in HK for a business trip but was lucky enough to have the weekend to explore. Towards the end of a long walk I stumbled across this oasis! It's a nice little gin bar in Wan Chai. Looks very gentrified compared to the local places. Popped in around 4pm on a Sunday afternoon and it was pretty empty which suited me. Grabbed a cold beer and watched the world to by - perfect! They do food and happy hour specials, but I didn't try any. Will definitely go back. read more

Despite good service and nice style of this place, the food was pathetic, not much flavor at all. Grilled octopus was ok, don't order scallops or rice with sea food. On top the place is totally overpriced. I wouldn't mind paying $200 for a two person dinner if it tasted good, but this is obviously not the case. Same owner has an Italian restaurant on the 29th and 30th floor of the same building its called Piratas. read more

The Optimist - Scallops - Spanish Near Me - Hong Kong, HK

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A time spent waiting. 1.5 hours for an eggplant dish that arrived extremely undercooked. Doesn't seem like the chefs &/ waiters can keep up with the influx of hungry patrons... (Management?!?!) Once brought to the attention of our waiter all I received was a meek apology, completely brushed off after spending around HK$ 4000 with a group of friends. Night ruined and will never return read more

I heard fantastic reviews about this restaurant from many trusted foodies so had high expectations of a great evening. I arrived with a hostess head down in her computer never looking up so I walked past her to the bar area to meet my friend. We got her attention and was brought to our table upstairs, which was set up for three people even though we made a reservation for two. At no point did she smile at us - pure robotic efforts. No menus nor water were offered so we sat and waited. We finally were noticed by whom I now know to be the restaurant manager (Guzman) and he quickly brought over menus. We ordered our drinks and food and were told the lamb would take 25 minutes longer than our starters. The beer arrived with a straight pour into the glass resulting in all foam. The waiter didn't know which wine I wanted so had to ask again. Starters arrived quickly by a friendly waitress with a great smile. I went to the restroom after a staff member came out - discovering brown toilet water and toilet paper unflushed. About one hour since ordering, and some time after ordering second round drinks, no drinks nor the lamb arrived. We saw several servers crowded around an area with Guzman hard at work. My friend went to advise we wanted to cancel our order given it had been so long and no drinks came to keep us entertained. Barely an apology, we received the bill. I couldn't help but express my disappointment and shared all of the above. Many excuses followed about being down servers, pipe burst, unfinished starters, etc. Guzman gave us his business cards and said if we came again, he would take care of us personally... I'm sorry, but isn't this what he was already trying to do unsuccessfully all night? We spent $640 or so on two starters and drinks, with our stomach still hungry at 10pm. No discount offered for this experience. We will not return and we will tell all our friends to avoid this place going forwards. read more

Incredibly busy place and felt rushed with my dinner as we had to hand the table back at 9:00pm. While the food and service is good, it was not as pricey as you would expect for the quality of the food. We ordered and shared the fries, fried eggplant fries, gambas, tuna tataki, ham croquettes, the ribs, the seafood rice and it was all delicious. The bill came out to $500 per person which was quite reasonable. If you are looking for an intimate or cozy place, this is not really the place for you as it was quite loud. Avoid the 3rd floor when booking as the kitchen is located there and the AC was insufficient. read more

An excellent choice for cocktails and dinner. My steak was cooked to perfect medium-rare perfection and the wait staff was quite attentive. The bar atmosphere is chic and fun. A must-try in Wan Chai. read more

Great bar and good food. A bubble of fresh air in that area. Start with a drink at the bar and then head up to the floors to enjoy the Spanish inspired food read more

We started with the seafood platter to share, very fresh and very good. There was enough for the 5 of us. Then we shared 2 tuna tartars, which was very nice, but maybe would need some seasoning. Finally we shared a Spanish cut of beef called Txuleta, wow what a stunning flavor. All above was accompanied with a great selection of wines from their wine list. Will certainly want to go back next time in Hong Kong. It worth 4,5 stars, service was great as well read more