Just when I thought I've given up on fine dining altogether, a voice inside me urged me to do something special on my day-off. So, once I dropped little nugget home from his Mandarin class, I decided to head out on a small culinary journey on my own, something I haven't done in months.
Michelin starred ÉPURE at Harbour City is my lunch venue this afternoon. I didn't realize it was already 3 years since my last visit so this was really long overdue.
After starting me off with some homemade bread, it was today's amuse bouche taking center stage, sweet corn cream and charred corn kernels with a scoop of mustard sorbet on top.
The sweetness of the corn was a nice way to get my palate ready but I wasn't sure about the powerful mustard. I thought the intensity of the mustard sorbet really caught me by surprise (not in a nice way).
The second dish of the afternoon was octopus served with a small porridge topped with a drizzle of date infused vinegar. I thought the octopus was very bland as if it's been poached and left there without seasoning. I didn't know if it's such a good idea to match it against the vinegar (definitely not for someone who hates strong acidity like me). The burst of acidity was way too much for my liking.
For my main dish, I decided to pick fish over meat. The brilliantly cooked suzuki fillets from Japan, lightly peppered, were matched with an earthy herb emulsion, and zucchini which was cooked with what I thought was pumpkin purée.
While the combination wasn't perfect, it was easily the best dish of the afternoon.
I particularly enjoyed the lightly roasted zucchini, which was enriched by the flavors of the melting pumpkin.
Dessert was a staple in ÉPURE's menu for years - chocolate and raspberry.
Under the sheets of beetroot wafer were Tulameen raspberry, raspberry purée and 70% Guanaja chocolate cream. A lovely balance between sweetness and acidity!
I am always delighted by cutting edge cuisine with bold flavors but there were just way too many hit-and-misses here from this afternoon (sweet corn + mustard; octopus + vinegar). And I thought today's service was a little "robotic" as well. I had an exchange with one of my servers when I asked him about the herb emulsion that was served with my Japanese suzuki. I still remembered the words I used and I was asking exactly what was in that herb emulsion (parsley, coriander?) but the poor guy caught me by surprise when he responded, "Oh, it's a foamy sauce made with herbs using French cooking techniques.". Well, that's not what I was asking him, is it? Of course, I could've asked him to go back to the kitchen and find out about the ingredients but I wasn't in the mood for that fuss today.
For some strange reason, I wasn't enjoying this meal like I usually do and it's not 100% the food. I think the pandemic is really getting to my head.
Food Rating: 6/10
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
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm, 6:30pm - 10:30pm (Tue - Sun)
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