I had been saving El Willy until I was in the mood for Spanish tapas, and tonight was the night. I finished my haircut at Salon Esprit was starving by the time I walked out of Citic Square. It was almost 9:00PM, so I thought it would be safe to try for a table at El Willy. Ever since it opened over a year ago, this restaurant had won numerous awards in the local culinary scene, the latest of which was Runner Up in the annual City Weekend Shanghai Reader's Poll. Sometimes, it's better to have the No.2 headband, as Afro would say.
The restaurant was packed when I got there, and even with a reservation, they could only seat me at the bar. So I put in a request to switch to a table whenever one was available. The menu was very extensive, with lots of tapas and rice dishes. I picked three items from the tapas menu as I was dining alone that night.
The scallop cerviche was very fresh, complimented by crispy shallots, avocado puree and a dash of extra virgin olive oil. It reminded me of an inverted Japanese hand roll I used to eat at Haiku by Hatsune. The gambas was also a winner, with a nice roasted flavor, strong garlic undertones and again, more of those crispy shallots which I believe are more of an Asian influence than a Spanish tradition.
My third dish was the chicken and lobster Catalonia, served with a nice brown earthy sauce like Bearnaise. The lobster meat at the center of the escaloped meat tasted a little mushy, but otherwise, the flavors were very well balanced and I soaked up the sauce with the bread.
Overall, I was impressed with the food. Definitely worth a second visit with more people so that more dishes could be sampled. I used to like Azul Viva for their tapas, but that was quite a few years ago and the Spanish culinary scene in Shanghai has shifted once again.
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