First Visit to Amo Eno

Savoury HK waffles with 3 dips

29 Dec 2011: I could not resist the temptation any longer and decided to take a quick look at Amo Eno, the latest wine bar concept in HK.  Amo Eno (Love Wine) is the brainchild of 3 people: Andrew Bradbury (formerly Wine Director of Aureole, Las Vegas) who has mastered the art of combining wine and technology, Brook Bradbury (Design Director) and Charles Banks (Investor). Amo Eno features a very large range of wine by the glass, with everything from a tasting sample priced at HK$ 19 to a tasting sample at over HK$ 1,000.  There is something for everyone, with wines sourced from France, Italy, Spain, Austria, California, Canada and so on....and grape varieties from the familiar to the more adventurous.  It's very smartly designed, making full use of glass and light bulbs to create a more open feel within what would normally be quite a small space!  It's quite easy to go wild there with the spending.....a bit of strategic planning wouldn't be a bad idea!

I was told that the badly needed bar stools would be coming soon.....as would be an Enomatic that takes sparkling wine. For now, there is no tasting measure for sparkling wine - not that it bothered me. I rather enjoyed the glass of Agrapart Les Sept Crus (100% Chardonnay, a blend of wine made from young vines planted in the 7 crus owned by the family, entry-level champagne, refreshing with nice complexity and a lovely creamy texture).  There is a semi private area, which comfortably seats 12 I think.  I ordered a snack from the menu: the savoury Hong Kong waffles, with dips: champagne mustard, muscat bacon and sherry cherry chutney. The muscat bacon was a firm favourite....a naughty play between sweet and savoury!  I wasn't so sure about the sherry cherry, thinking that it might be too much for pairing with most wines, except Italian reds?  Richard quite liked the champagne mustard - I was thinking a parmesan or cheesy dip would be better.  We were told by the friendly sommelier that the sandwiches were really delicious and the ingredients of very high quality.  The best value French white was probably the Bouzeron by de Villaine. I haven't spent too much time browsing the reds, but the Petalos by Descendientes de J. Palacios caught my eye as a good value red!

I am definitely going back to try again when we have a bigger group.  There are 3 pouring measures....I recommend going for the middle-sized measure and sharing with someone!  Also a great place for corporate entertainment!