La Brasserie by ÉPURE (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

There's been a lot of changes in the Harbour City late last year with a number of restaurants closing and also a few making their debuts before the holiday season. One of those is not a true newcomer but one that has been re-branded under a different name. I'm talking about La Brasserie by ÉPURE, a casual French brasserie from Michelin starred ÉPURE which used to be called La Terrasse not too long ago.



Taking over the space previously occupied by La Terrasse by ÉPURE and a big part of their pastry shop, La Brasserie aims to serve up simple and casual French fare in an elegant but unpretentious setting.



Sautéed escargots ($108) - First up was the timeless combination of escargots and garlic butter to set the tone for us.



Didn't realize that the toasted brioche was so tasty until I got a final bite. Not bad.



Polmard beef carpaccio ($168) - Polmard is responsible for one of the most expensive meat in the world (the vintage cote de boeuf) so getting a taste of the Polmard beef was high on our agenda this afternoon.

The carpaccio made with Polmard beef was flavorful though a little bit chewy for my liking. But I have no complaints about the balance of flavors here, with parmesan, lemon vinaiegrette and capers providing some cheesiness and acidity to the mix.



Chicken spaghetti ($178) - Mom had a choice between mushroom and tomato sauce; and she promptly went with the mushroom sauce, which was a good choice for the al dente spaghetti. I stole a corner of her chicken breast and thought it was pretty tasty too.



Lobster spaghetti ($198) - I have never been much of a meat lover so I went with this lobster spaghetti. Was a little surprised with the abundance of lobster meat in there and the spaghetti had very nice bite. The only weird part about it was the fact that they made the tomato sauce a little too sweet like those it's coming from a Japanese pasta joint (Italian Tomato Cafe?). There's nothing wrong with the taste but just a little weird (coming from a French brasserie).



Roast chicken ($198) - The roast of the day was roasted chicken and judging from the appearance, it's probably the same chicken from the previous spaghetti dish. The French yellow chicken was fairly tender and succulent but the supporting cast of baked potato, onion and green leaves looked a bit weak.



Crêpe suzette ($128) - Dessert was the classic French dessert,  Crêpe suzette, served with the usual orange sauce and flambeed with Grand Marnier. They have added a little twist to it by offering a mandarin sorbet on the side. Very interesting considering the contrasting temperature between the two.



Time to enjoy a cup of tea while my nugget has finally fallen asleep.....



This is a serviceable French brasserie with a very limited food menu so if you're looking for something more sophisticated, ÉPURE the fine dining restaurant is still the place to go.

Food Rating: 5/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop 403, Level 4, Ocean Centre, Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 3185-8331
Website: www.epure.hk