I was a bit sad to find out that one of the long-time stalwarts at Star Street, Cinecittà, officially closed down for business last month. Cinecittà used to be one of my personal favorites in the past.
Replacing Cinecittà is a contemporary Spanish restaurant by the name of The Principal. I did some research online and found out that The Principal does have a pretty impressive resume. Firstly, the restaurant came from the same group that was behind The Pawn, SML and Classified. Then their young Chef de Cuisine, Jonay Armas, has quite an extensive credential having working under different Michelin starred restaurants in Madrid and Barcelona for almost 10 years.
The amuse bouche of the day was a slow-cooked salmon cube topped with a creamy avocado sauce and lemon foam. That was very refreshing and what I particularly liked about this little nibble - that little plate was very cute (6/10).
Scallops, 6/10
My starter were three slices of seared scallops with crab roe emulsion and arbequina oil. The crab roe emulsion acted as a strong bisque to help simmer the pan-seared scallops.
Suckling pig, 7/10
But more successful was our main courses, starting first with a suckling pig that was served with a lemon purée, sautéed red endives and pomegranata reduction.
Beef Sirloin, 7/10
Equally impressive was the charcoal grilled beef sirloin. The beef sirloin was marinated with the bone marrow and mustard before being chargrilled giving it that extra rich flavor. It was served medium as per instructed.
Apart from the outstanding taste of this dish, what was even more astonishing was the way that they presented it. The sirloin together with the roasted potatoes, pearl onions and cherry tomatoes formed a picturesque 3D painting.
Baileys Oreo, 3/10
The only blemish of this lunch came from the dessert which was a Baileys foam with oreo crumble, milk air and caramel tofu. It reminded me of a famous dish I had at Le Calandre called the cuttlefish cappuccino.
Unfortunately the texture was too fluffy for me and I thought the ingredients did not mesh well together.
Despite being open for only 2 weeks, I was surprised to find that the team is already working extremely well together. The service and food quality were very up to standard and you would think they could only get better with time. As long as they could keep this up, I am sure the Michelin guide will come knocking on their door.
Food Rating: 7/10
Price: $$$
Address: 9 Star Street, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Admiralty
Tel: +852 2563-3444
Website: www.theprincipal.com.hk
View Larger Map
I had lunch here at Caprice almost five years ago when this French restaurant made their debut. However, it was a rather disappointing and forgettable lunch and we haven't been back ever since.
Things have changed a bit over the last few years. Caprice is now one of the top French restaurants in Asia having garnered three Michelin stars starting in 2009. That had us approaching this dinner with much anticipation.
Despite it was a weeknight, the restaurant was totally packed with customers, mostly gentlemen in expensive Armani suits. Luckily for us, we got here early and were provided with a table at the corner overlooking the harbour.
Amuse bouche was a beef consommé jelly that was almost flawless (9/10). This looked completely different from our experience 5 years ago.
What appeared to be a French toast from a local cafe was in fact a Tourteau Crab Tiramisu.
The three-layer tiramisu consisted of a bottom layer of French Tourteau crab, a middle layer of fruity marinade including mango and papaya and finally atop with exotic tandoori spices and sweet pimento. That was sublime and wonderfully prepared. (10/10).
Fast forward to our main courses. We first started off with a racan pigeon feuilleté.
The mille feuille had pigeon fillet that was cooked to medium, melt-in-your-mouth foie gras and crispy seaweed all wrapped around by a pastry and served with a sweet potato puree and vinegar sauce. That was yet another brillant dish (9/10)!
Our final main course was a smoked French beef tenderloin. It didn't come as flashy as the previous dishes but nevertheless it was a well executed meat course from a very talented kitchen. (7/10).
Whatever happened 5 years ago, we could throw that away. This was well worth the three stars.
Food Rating: 8.6/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 8 Finance Street, Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Hong Kong Station
Tel: +852 3196-8860
Website: www.fourseasons.com/hongkong/dining/restaurants/caprice
S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants: 54th (2012)
S. Pellegrino Asia's 50 Best Restaurants: 12th (2013)
