Our team finally hit a major milestone at work (the annual jackpot!) after months of hard work. Following an early meeting in the morning, I decided to take the afternoon off for some much-needed rest. Before I go home and relax on that sofa of mine, I am meeting up with mom in IFC for a small celebration that I have planned for myself more than a month ago.
The so-called celebration was a late lunch at Caprice, a place that mom knows a little something about from the recent celebration of her birthday, my wedding anniversary and then Christmas over the past 24 months.
The so-called celebration was a late lunch at Caprice, a place that mom knows a little something about from the recent celebration of her birthday, my wedding anniversary and then Christmas over the past 24 months.
Miss K (our fav server) wasn't here this afternoon. With her absence, I am hoping that we're still getting the same level of heart-warming service from the rest of the crew this afternoon.
This looked like my favorite roll from Gaddi's that they were serving up here...
Lunch got off to a quick start with a small amuse bouche – lightly fried cuttlefish with variations of green peas. There was a fair amount of acidity in the dish, presumably from a touch of yuzu.
Parmesan Tarte "Riviera" – A starter that came highly recommended by our server.
The tarte was beautifully decorated with different kinds of tomatoes from Chef Guillaume Galliot's home garden (in France), sardine, pickled onion, almond and edible flowers, finished off with a basil sauce and tomato marmalade. The crispy pastry on the bottom was flavored with parmesan cheese giving the dish some cheesiness on top of the clean flavors from the tomatoes and lovely acidity from the sardine and pickled onion. A very refreshing dish to start the meal with on a hot summer day like today.
Green pea soup, wild garlic ham emulsion, frog leg – A very common dish to see at a French restaurant in the summer. I thought this was better than the one I had at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon last month based on one single factor, temperature.
While the one served at Joël Robuchon was at room temperature (I rather have it chilled or warm/hot), this was served warm (actually slightly hotter than warm). It was the perfect temperature to bring out the best out of the soup which meshed well with the fricassée of frog leg and mushroom. And there was the nice finishing touch delivered by the savory flavors of the wild garlic ham emulsion.
Hake fish, seafood Bomba rice and saffron sauce – The seafood Bomba rice with tomato, pickled pepper and saffron sauce wasn't bad but the texture of the hake was certainly disappointing. Just a tad too soft for my liking.
Roasted yellow chicken leg, spiced quinoa and lemon from Nice – Every French restaurant in town is serving yellow chicken these days and Caprice is into the act as well.
The deboned chicken leg was nicely done with great depth of flavors and just the perfect, satisfying texture. But the spiced quinoa was just too overpowering making the dish a little too heavy as a whole.
White peach, vanilla pastry, basil and Semolina sable – Dessert was white peach from France, matched with vanilla pastry, basil and Semolina sable. I like everything about this dessert with the exception of the basil which didn't seem to work well with the rest of the cast.
Petite fours were raspberry lychee tart, hazelnut praline chocolate and mango mini-religieuse. I was in need of something sweet so I traded my mini-religieuse with mom for her hazelnut praline chocolate. That trade worked out well for the both of us.
All in all, a reasonably good meal but I have to admit, there were dishes that I didn't enjoy as much as the others (such as the hake). Of course, I was partially to blame as well in my part of ordering too many dishes with very strong flavors. I was so thirsty after the meal for a few hours.
But having said that, I need to be back sometime for their omakase lunch menu. I was all geared up for it today (after hearing that steak tartare with caviar was part of the menu) but mom pulled out at the very last minute. Of course, they needed full participation from the table so it definitely sucks when you have dining partners who are picky eaters!
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: 24th (2022)
Post a Comment
Please tell us what you think