Beef carpaccio with thinly shaved manchego cheese is among the main dishes. [Photo by Pauline D. Loh/China Daily]

Sugar, spice and everything nice

Sweets for the season

Lunch is not exactly the time of day to get soused, but faced with the temptation of 65 types of sangria, Pauline D. Loh has a narrow escape.

While our giggling group did not necessarily walk the straight and narrow after a long, long lunch at Tapagria, we were definitely weaving a little down Hong Kong's busiest thoroughfare.

Four of us enjoyed all the tapas on the lunch menu with a little creative ordering and some help from an amiable waitstaff.

Then we ordered two jugs of sangria, which caused us some grief because it was so hard to decide which from the meandering list on the menu. There are, after all, 65 different sangrias to choose from.

We finally settled on a light, white wine sangria gaily called the Caribbean, and then after that disappeared we chose another jug of darker, deeper flavors that was named Wild Berry.

Tapagria is definitely a festive place to celebrate, especially with the Christmas tree guarding the entrance. But even without the tinsel and bells, we would have had a grand time celebrating the birthday of one of our young colleagues.

Lunch is best ordered from the set menu, which has a grand choice of nine tapas, including vegetarian and staple options. Already, a huge pan of seafood paella was sending out signals as we passed and we doubled our orders for that particular dish.

Tapas are little plates, more a lifestyle than a cuisine style. Transplanted to Hong Kong, it totally suits the Chinese love of sharing food, especially for those who cannot decide on that one dish to eat.