Where To Eat
... Where Not To Eat
VOLUME XV No. 126
W E D N E S D A Y
July 10, 2013
Dining and Wining ...
Where To Go ...
Where Not To Go
THE BEST
RESTAURANTS OF HONGKONG ...
AND THE WORST !
| Name of Restaurant | Caprice, Four Seasons Hongkong | |||
| Address of Restaurant | No. 8, Finance Street, Central, Hongkong | |||
| Date of Visit | Monday, June 3, 2013 | |||
| Category |
TARGETs Rating |
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| Service | ||||
| First Impression | Excellent | Acceptable | Poor | |
| Attentiveness to Customers’ Needs | Excellent | Acceptable | Poor | |
| Flexibility | Excellent | Acceptable | Poor | |
| Product Expertise of Serving Staff | Excellent | Acceptable | Poor | |
| Speed of Service | Excellent | Acceptable | Poor | |
| Cleanliness of Uniform and Serving Staff | Excellent | Acceptable | Poor | |
| Ambiance | ||||
| Lighting | Excellent | Acceptable | Poor | |
| Music | Excellent | Acceptable | Poor | |
| General | Excellent | Acceptable | Poor | |
| Food | ||||
| Presentation | Excellent | Acceptable | Poor | |
| Taste | Excellent | Acceptable | Poor | |
| Quantity | Excellent | Acceptable | Poor | |
| Wine | ||||
| Choice | Extensive | Limited | Unbalanced | |
| Cost | Reasonable | Unreasonable | Expensive | |
| Storage of Wine | Good | Poor | Unknown | |
| Expertise of Sommelier | Excellent | Acceptable | None | |
| Total Cost of Meal | ||||
|
Very Expensive |
Moderately Expensive | Very Reasonably Priced | ||
| Name of Director of Food and Beverage | Mr Gianni Costa | |||
| Name of Executive Chef | Mr Herve Fucho | |||
| Comments | ||||
|
Ever since the Four Seasons Hotel opened in the Hongkong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), it has been one of the best hotels in the territory. Ever since Caprice opened at the Four Seasons Hotel, Hongkong, it has been among the best of French restaurants in the territory. Today, Caprice is, still, one of the best and, perhaps, right out of the top drawer as far as restaurants of any European cuisine is concerned in these 416 square miles. TARGET (泰達財經) visited Caprice on Monday, June 3, 2013, at 6:30 pm, after an absence of some years. Outwardly, since its opening in September of 2005, little seems to have changed at this restaurant that specialises in the preparation of French cuisine, except, perhaps, that the prices for dishes and wines seem somewhat less than during this medium’s last visit. On scanning the menu, it was clear that the prices, demanded today, are not too dissimilar to the prices, demanded in yesteryear – which means that one gets more for one’s dollar, compared with a couple of years ago. The following is the menu, chosen for three people on the evening of TARGET’s visit:
Steamed Duck Foie Gras
Langoustine Lasagne
Duck Foie Gras Terrine
Normandy Sole (For Two People)
Aveyron Lamb
Cheese Selection With the meal, two bottles of Deutz Champagne were ordered at the price of $HK1,050 per bottle. Deutz is a Champagne house in the Aÿ Region of Champagne, France, and, since 1983, it has been owned by Louis Roederer, another Champagne house, founded in 1776 in Reims, France. Deutz is, still, a lovely Champagne, but, of late, it has been having its fair share of problems with its two partnerships, first with a New Zealand wine producer, and, then, with a California wine producer. The Food The appetisers were unique and sublime, and special mention should be made of the foie gras de canard (duck liver). Duck liver is less fatty than its goose counterpart and it is more suitable for sautéing at high temperatures. Of the above menu, outstanding and very memorable was another winner: The Normandy Sole. It just could not have been better. The fish meat just melted in one’s mouth and its taste was par excellence. With this dish, TARGET ordered two glasses of White Riesling to complement the elegant fish. The cost of the Riesling was $HK180 per glass. Another headline dish was the Cheese Selection, a cheese board that is unrivalled in any restaurant in the territory, to be sure. It was very apparent that careful attention to detail at Caprice is paramount in the mind of Chef de Cuisine Vincent Thierry, and the cheese board is a good example of this very important aspect of the restaurant. TARGET cannot say the same with regard to a pretender of French cuisine, located on Hongkong Island, because, on the last visit to that restaurant, the cheese trolley was laden with about eight different cheeses that were so old that they had whiskers. As for the soufflé, well, what can one say about it except that it was glorious. The Restaurant Caprice sits on the sixth floor of the Four Seasons Hotel and can seat a maximum of 84 diners, according to the Public Relations Department. The Chef de Cuisine has been in charge of Caprice since its opening and he is assisted by some 25 cooks of various nationalities, by the looks of things. The view of Victoria Harbour is beautiful and the layout of the restaurant is such that one may view the cooks, preparing one’s food in the open kitchen. The tables are not very close together so that one may have an intimate conversation without having to worry that somebody might be trying to listen in. The service, as with the food, is top-notch – it would be difficult to imagine that it could be improved. The only real problem that this medium discovered about Caprice was that one could, very easily, over-indulge oneself and, then, the next morning, invariably, one would suffer the consequences of gluttony. |
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