Caprice (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

My buddy St Paul is back in town for only 40 hours and I had the distinct pleasure of having lunch with him on his lone full day here. Needless to say, I wanted to make the most of it.

Over the past few years, the restaurants in the Four Seasons Hotel have become my go-to options for entertaining overseas guests. I guess you can’t really go wrong with Caprice and Noi when it comes to impressing friends from abroad. They truly are as good as it gets. This afternoon, it was Caprice getting the call.

While there are always unlimited conversation topics between the two of us, we decided to take a pause for a taste of Caprice’s fine bread selection.

They apparently have a new amuse bouche to kick off 2026 (OK, it’s my first visit in 2026). It’s a refreshing bite of sea bream sashimi, drizzled with white miso sauce, and served on a bed of diced cucumber.

Green asparagus, verbena, lemon, spring jelly — Asparagus season is here, so not surprisingly, it’s prominently featured on the menu. The slices, spears, and gelée made from green asparagus from Provence, were beautifully paired with lovely acidity from verbena and lemon cream. Fresh, clean, and satisfying to the palate, it’s the perfect formula for a successful appetizer.

My Hot and Cold onion soup — This is one of those dishes I’ve had on many occasions, yet I never get tired of it. 

The hot-and-cold contrast is a perfect move on a hot, humid day, quickly whetting the appetite and setting the tone for the courses ahead.

Dover sole, white asparagus, curry, vanilla — French Dover sole, served with wood-smoked white asparagus, was finished with seaweed powder and an emulsion made from curry, vanilla, and coconut. It was undeniably exotic, and sweet at the same time. While the combination of flavors and textures was certainly interesting, I wasn't entirely sure if it worked for me personally.

Yellow chicken, pea, verbena — The grilled yellow chicken, cut into little square pieces, was succulent and wonderfully complemented by baby carrots and a range of pea variations — poached, purée, and emulsion. A refreshing verbena sauce provided the perfect finishing lift.

I especially loved the crunch of the fresh peas. It played brilliantly with the richness of the chicken.

Valhrona chocolate ganache, black olive praline, dill — I thought this would be another “ordinary” chocolate dessert, but it turned out to be anything but. 

The dessert came with dill sorbet, laid over a bed of basil sponge and biscuit, along with dark chocolate ganache and black olive praline. On the first bite, the grassy notes from the basil were immediately noticeable, alongside a hint of mint layered over the deep chocolate and olive character. Pretty intriguing and definitely memorable.

The usual mignardises: Hazelnut rocher, praline chocolate and I think this is a new one, a strawberry tart with diplomat cream.

St Paul and I had never stopped talking since we met this morning. It was nice to catch up with him after his life-changing big date, and even better to finally share a three-Michelin-starred experience together to celebrate our steadfast friendship.

Food Rating: 7.6/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 6/F, 8 Finance Street, Four Seasons Hotel, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Hong Kong Station
Tel: +852 3196-8860
Website: www.fourseasons.com/hongkong/dining/restaurants/caprice
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm, 6:30pm - 10:30pm daily

S. Pellegrino Asia's 50 Best Restaurants: 35th (2026)

Grissini (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★☆☆☆☆

Our meeting near Wan Chai ran a bit long so the thought to grab lunch in central or anywhere further away vanished. A few years ago, my usual go-to spot for lunch in Wan Chai would have been Roganic, but that ship sailed when they moved to Causeway Bay a couple of years ago. I figured it was time to find a new favorite.

One thing led to another, and I ended up at Grissini — a place I hadn’t visited for years. The food has always been decent but the service never really matched the billing, especially considering it’s a hotel restaurant.

After getting settled down for a while, my server finally came up and asked about my water preference. I told her, “Iced water, please.” Instead of moving on, she kept repeating the same question: “Still or sparkling?” Like a broken record. I repeated a couple of times that I just wanted “normal” water. In hindsight, I probably should have said that tap water was perfectly fine.

Eventually, I gave in and went with still. My water arrived eventually… with no ice (just great!).

Back for the food for a moment here.

As usual, I started with the restaurant’s signature grissini, the iconic long breadstick.

Vitello tonnato — The thin slices of lightly roasted milk fed veal were pretty tasty. The cloud of tuna sauce was a little excessive and over the top but not wanting to waste it, I decided to use the extra as a dipping sauce for my bread.

Linguina gamberi, alici, nduja — I dropped a few more bucks for the popular artisan linguine served with anchovy butter, nduja and Sicilian red prawn crudo.

The fresh linguine itself wasn’t bad but the combination of nduja and anchovy butter was too fiery and savory for the dish. There was no real room for the sweetness of the red prawn or the eggy linguine to come through and shine.

Tiramisu All' Amaretto — A trip to Grissini is never complete without trying their signature
Tiramisu all’amaretto. Their version strikes a nice balance of espresso, ladyfingers, mascarpone, and amaretto liqueur, and it stays beautifully pillowy. It’s probably my third favorite tiramisu in town right now, just behind Carna by Dario Cicchetti and Tosca di Angelo.

(Here's a list of my favorite tiramisu in town.)

All three dishes this afternoon were pretty decent but at this price point, the outcome was fully expected. 

Service, however, did not match expectations at all. After taking my water and food order, my server never came back to check on me again. It was Rugby Sevens week, and there were a couple of corporate dining groups sitting next to me, so she was clearly just focused on them. I was left topping up my own water for the entire afternoon. Bus staff saw me topping my own water too but yet none of them seemed to think it was worth stepping in (They were just there to clean the tables?).

Needless to say, this effectively marked my last-ever dining experience at Grissini.

Food Rating: 6.7/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 2/F Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, 1 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Wanchai
Tel: +852 2584-7722
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm, 6:30pm - 10:30pm (Mon - Sat)

Doughman Bakery & Coffee Tsuen Wan (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Last year, Doughman, my neighborhood bakery, opened a new branch in Tsuen Wan, near the MTR station. I always assumed they carried the same baked goods, so I never took the time to check it out personally. But this afternoon, I finally went.

As it turns out, some of the popular items at my usual location like the blueberry muffin weren’t available here but there were also exclusive items that you can’t find at the other branch.

Check out this strawberry doughnut! It was so cute.

It’s disguised as a croissant, but it’s actually a doughnut with a soft crust, almost like a baked bread or brioche. Inside was a centre of sweet strawberry ganache.

This definitely gave me a reason to come back for more!

Food Rating: 5.9/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 208-212, 2/F, Tsuen Kam Centre, 300-350 Castle Peak Road, Tsuen Wan, NT, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsuen Wan

Opening Hours: 8:00am - 8:30pm daily