Full House at Caprice

Our weekend of non-stop eating began with a buffet dinner at a hotel near our home Friday evening then with lunch at Caprice on the next day. It's good to see the familiar faces of the front and back teams at the restaurant returning from holidays or guest chef appearances elsewhere - we certainly picked the right time to visit with a full house at work.

Autumn is our favorite time to eat at Caprice, as they always have great dishes of game meat and white truffles, both seasonal ingredients at this time of the year. All the dishes from their weekend lunch menu sounded attractive but then we took up an even better option of letting Chef Guillaume decide on our courses when I ran into him working the pass at the kitchen.

We went straight to the aromatic white truffles with the small plate of appetizer served as our amuse-bouche, a simple dish with picked Alaskan king crab, mushroom puree and a light citrus dressing. From what we heard this has been a difficult year for truffle harvest with high retail price and so-so quality. But this one is the best I had so far this year and I love this combination of mild flavor highlighting the rich aroma of the truffles.

The Amuse bouche course was followed by another dish with white truffles immediately - this time the seared Brittany scallops served on its shell with pumpkin puree and chanterelles underneath, and cep foam and toasted pumpkin seeds on top. It's a kick up in intensity with the umami flavor from the perfectly cooked piece of scallop, sweetness from the pumpkin and earthiness of the mushrooms accented with the flakes of white truffles on top in a mesmerizing presentation. This is my favorite dish of the afternoon.

I have been getting regular mumblings from CYY about me having Guillaume's signature laksa dish without her (when I came here with other friends a few months ago), so I made a special request to him for the dish. And he prepared for us a special version using lobsters instead of crabs with the same set of components: sautéed leeks, quail egg confit, hazelnuts, a light drizzle of lime, and topped with the laksa-coconut milk espuma. It's delicious and thanks chef for getting me out of jail for letting CYY try the dish finally.

No surprise we had game as our main course - venison with a slice of roast pear, celeriac and black garlic purees. Once again, it's a well orchestrated combination of tastes using seasonal ingredients. Being slightly health conscious we figured it's a better idea to stay away from wines this afternoon having the whole weekend of eating and drinking. But at the end I did ask Victor their sommelier to pour me something for the main course, and I think the glass - a super Tuscan with a blend of Cab, Merlot and Sangiovese - worked well with the herbal nose matching that of the dish with a lively, fruity palate.

A simple cheese platter was served after our mains, then followed by two desserts and we loved both. We joked the pre-dessert of grape sorbet and espuma with osmanthus jelly could also be served at Lung King Heen downstairs with osmanthus syrup being an ingredient commonly used in Shanghainese cuisine. It was an excellent palate cleanser with light and refreshing flavor.

Chef Nicolas also made us a maple and pear dessert. I never thought of this combination, but it was amazingly good. I especially liked the round cake at the bottom, soft and light and not too buttery, with pear sorbet in the middle and glazed with maple and nuts. On top was the dulce de leche cream and maple sugar for the overall well balanced taste and another genius creation!

More photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/g4gary/albums/72157666253016899

When? November 11 2017
Where? Caprice, Level 6, Four Seasons Hong Kong, 8 Finance Street, Hong Kong
Menu Highlights? Brittany Coast Scallop, Pumpkin Puree, Cepe Mushroom and Alba White Truffle
Drink? 2012 Grattamacco Bolgheri Superiore Vendemmia No. 30
Web: www.fourseasons.com/hongkong/dining/restaurants/caprice