The Best Paella in Hong Kong is on Lamma Island – Say What!?

As ‘Asia’s World City’, one where roughly 10% of its population is classified as ‘non-Chinese’, you’d be hard-pressed to ever encounter a Spaniard in your daily routine. If one of my OG friends in Hong Kong weren’t a Mallorca native, I wouldn’t even believe they exist, mentally classifying them in the same category as the Chupacabra and Abominable Snowman. 

This means that there is a glaring lack of Spanish restaurants in the city, the few and proud that exist primarily being concentrated in the Sheung Wan/Central biodome of personally and professionally underachieving expats – myself included. 

I’m not entirely sure how it took me so long to write a post about this Spanish restaurant and gem out on the most Bohemian of all Outlying Islands in Hong Kong. 

Mea culpa. Well, it’s here now. 

In the not-too-distant past, several top dawgz and I had a day out on Hong Kong’s third largest yet most-spirited island – one filled with a brisk walk from the Yung Shue Wan Ferry Pier and swim down by that one power station which now makes me glow in the dark at night, capped off with an unsuspectingly authentic and bangin’ paella that would have a Spanish abuela howling in delight.

Here’s your new go-to spot in Hong Kong to snag you a bite of this vibrant, flavor-packed Spanish staple and why it emphatically puts the ‘yay’ in ‘paella’. 

Pale Ale Travel Note: Also, just to clarify. Spaniards are real and exist in Hong Kong unlike the Chupacabra and Himalayan Yeti. 

An Unassuming Spanish Tapas Oasis on Hong Kong’s Most ‘Alternative’ Island

Website, Address, & Details: https://www.facebook.com/DaleCandelaHK/ 

• Location: G/F, 23 Main St, Yung Shue Wan, Lamma Island Lamma Island
• Price: $ – $$ – Keep in mind that it is CASH ONLY and seatings are on a first come basis. 

Just a stone’s throw from the Yung Shue Wan Ferry Pier, on Lamma Island’s Main Street, Dale Candela is a venerated (and very relaxed) Spanish tapas restaurant (and wine bar) that has been serving Island residents and ‘mainlanders’ (like myself) since September 2017. 

Having opened a bustling takeout window several years prior, Chef Carlos (as he’s affectionately known) sought to introduce authentic Madrid-style tapas and wines to a (relatively) gastronomic landscape greatly lacking in all things Iberian. 

My favorite spot to swim and absorb the radiation from the Lamma Power Station.

A row of al fresco picnic tables underneath entrancing yellow lights, coupled with a reverberating interior warmth of deep reds and cool blues (visible from Main Street), lure you in like a cake-covered roof and sugar-coated windows owned by old decrepit, presumably estate tax paying, witch. 

Except it isn’t the promise of delicious treats and warm beds that awaits your barely put together, emotionally crumbling millennial self, it’s a cauldron of piping hot, slightly firm yet creamy, saffron-infused paella.  

Hong Kong’s Best Kept Paella Secret

Look, you’ll read reviews stating that the British woman/waitress working at Dale Candela is rude, abrasive, and indifferent. That’s all true. But that doesn’t matter to me. And that’s coming from someone who was once ‘mayonnaise shamed’ by her for inquiring whether a specific dish was served with mayonnaise or aioli. 

What matters is how Chef Carlos takes position and command over this steaming technicolor concoction, wielding his wooden spoon (spatula?) with the precision of a matador, rendering a harmonious hodgepodge of savory, earthy, juicy, tender, and crunchy flavors and textures.

In my opinion, it’s the best (and most reasonably priced) in the city. 

What takes Dale Candela’s paella from just another paella to a ‘pae-yay-a’ is its fine-tuning and capturing of what many consider to be the true test of excellence – the socarrat, aka the crispy caramelized layer of rice at the bottom. 

I firmly believe it’s what bibimbap’s bottom rice layer aspires to be. 

The use of real saffron threads (you’d be surprised by how many imposters there are in the city) adds an unmistakable aroma and its signature golden-red color, while Chef Carlos’s proprietary homemade stock of high-quality seafood, chicken, and vegetable charges every single grain of short-grain rice (unsure if Bomba or Calasparra) with a flavor so fresh, so clean, clean, that Atlanta hip hop dupe Outkast would write an early 2000s rap song about it. 

Generous chunks of well-seasoned seafood, vegetables, and chicken further assuage any paella trepidation. 

I’ve frequently run into paellas in the past, like that one ex and her new boyfriend you keep bumping into in SoHo, that just never struck a balance in flavor, typically erring on the saltier side – a major paella faux pas when you should be letting the brininess and freshness of the seafood speak for itself. 

Dale Candela decidedly steers clear of that.

A more egregious gaffe committed by Hong Kong Spanish haunts is the flagrant overcooking (and even cooking) of the rice, resulting in a mushy, clumpy, and gummy mixture best suited for the Gerber Baby – more of the ‘idea of the Gerber Baby’ rather than the actual woman who was behind that iconic logo (who lived to be 95 years old) – along with burning of the socarrat to such a char that you wouldn’t even serve it to that old blind dog your Abuela owns. 

You know, the one that every time you go over to her place she looks at you and says, “I don’t know how he’s still alive.”

Luckily the relaxed, slower-paced Bohemian oasis that is Lamma Island perfectly lends itself to a deliberate and unhurried preparation. 

Note that the paella is only served on weekends and there are typically two key preparation and serving times. The first is right after opening (noon) and the second is mid to late afternoon. I always recommend getting there right at opening if you want your paella served fresh. 

While this post is written in celebration of paella and everything it stands for, Dale Candela is home to a hunky menu of Spanish tapas classics like patatas bravas (this was the dish I was ‘mayonnaise shamed over’), Galician style octopus, ham and mushroom croquettes, garlic shrimp (highly recommend), clams, chorizo and eggs, and about 30 other dishes that you know and love (ex. Burrata and cheese/cold cuts). 

And, Dale serves up ice-cold Estrella Galicia cervezas (under HK$50 per pint!) that will have you wondering why you never included Spanish ales on your top 10 beer power rankings. 

It has sneakily become one of my go-to beers when I want something crisp, refreshing, and with a bit of potency that doesn’t put me in a temporary coma like some West Coast/East Coast IPAs I’ve drank in my lifetime. 

Finally, don’t forget to toss back one of their signature ‘mega’ gin and tonics, served in a traditional Spanish ‘vaso de globo’ (big balloon glass). 

Pale Ale Travel Tip: The first time I ventured to Dale Candela was after a short walk/hike around Lamma Island, which you can read about in my post breaking down the best hikes in Hong Kong for adventurers of all skill levels! 

Big Paella Hitter, the Lamma

“So, I’m on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one – big hitter, the Lama – long, into a ten-thousand-foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says? Gunga galunga.” – Caddyshack

While I’ve never been to Spain, I once tossed back so many Estrella Galicia’s in a night that I thought I could habla some español with the best of them. Further, as a portly Little Leaguer in the early 2000s, I was given the Spanish nickname ‘El Guapo’ thanks to my resemblance to late-90s Red Sox relief pitcher Rich Garcés (pictured above). 

So, I feel a connection to restaurants like this.

This is a call for you to step outside of whatever gustatorial (and social) bubble you’re in and spend a day out on Lamma Island – you might just find your new favorite restaurant or achieve total gastronomic consciousness. 

If you have any questions about where to eat or drink in Hong Kong, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at info@palealetravel.com. 

Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to my Hong Kong newsletter, where I deliver weekly events, restaurants, and more right to your inbox – for free. 

Eat well everyone,

Big Body