Iberian heights

Revolving high above the city, View 62 is two-Michelin-starred Spanish chef Paco Roncero's first foray in China. Rebecca Lo fastens her seat belt and samples his unique brand of molecular gastronomy.

When I was working in Wanchai, my colleagues would often book us a table for dim sum lunch at the revolving restaurant crowning the top of Hopewell Centre. It was always a treat, since the view was always changing, and after chatting and concentrating on our food for a while, we would discover we were looking at an entirely different part of the city.

My only complaint was that it turned a little too quickly and I found the revolving motions an occasional cause for nausea.

Recently, the Igor Group took over and it is now View 62, a fine-dining restaurant specializing in molecular gastronomy by two-Michelin-starred chef Paco Roncero. The Madrid native oversaw the menu's development and has handpicked executive chef Javier Carizosa to take over after the establishment finds its feet.

The best time to dine at View 62 is when the sun is low on the horizon, which is also the perfect time for a pre-dinner cocktail.

We enjoyed our Ladies Choice, Roncero's medley of fruity drinks distilled into four brightly colored balls of flavor served with sparkling wine. My favorite was the purple one, which turned out to be a grape liqueur after it exploded on my tongue.

As the sky took on brilliant hues at sunset, we debated between the tasting menu and dinner set.

Being an indecisive bunch, we thought the tasting menu would showcase Roncero's deft hand best. The snacks that arrived included frozen gin fizz, olive oil butter, black sesame miso sponge cake, filo pizza, rhubarb with black pepper, truffle dentelle and foie gras with spiced bread.

My personal pick is the olive oil butter, cleverly concealed in a little white tube which you can squeeze on top of crunchy greens and a crisp wafer. Light yet rich, its texture is a superb contrast to the fresh leaves. I didn't care for the rhubarb with black pepper despite being a rhubarb fan: I found it overly sweet and on the limp side while the black pepper was barely distinguishable.

While we nibbled on our inventive snacks, we noticed that we were sitting underneath a ceiling that contains thousands of suspended wooden pendants that formed an undulating river. Near the entrance, there is an eight-meter long black marble bar lined with sparkly mother of pearl - just one of the many design features courtesy of Ricky Hung at UN Design.

Tapas followed the snack, and we were treated to a few of Roncero's signature dishes: XXI century omelet, salmon cooked at 40 C with tartar sauce in deconstruction and carbonara egg nest. I loved the salmon's firm moistness from its low temperature oven and thought the carbonara had just the right amount of depth for a dish that looked beautiful - which carbonara so rarely does.

The standout of the night was our main of Chilean sea bass with green bean sauce and Iberico air. Perfectly cooked and flaking away easily with just a touch of the fork, the whisper of ham in the accompanying foam sauce rounded out the freshness of the fish.

Sadly, I had to skip the dessert of chocolate coulant nitro as the revolving restaurant was getting the better of me. But if the spinning slowed, I will definitely be back to tackle the sweets menu.