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2011-01-28
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It was a birthday, and we wanted a special dining experience. Cepage certainly provided it.The menu must change to accomodate seasonal factors -- none of the stuff listed in prior reviews was on the menu on the night we were there!The decor and service were of the highest calibre......staff were friendly and helpful. (The one little minus was the investment bankers and mandarin-speaking tourists (maybe they were mandarin-speaking investment bankers, who knows?) talking on cell phones, but I
The menu must change to accomodate seasonal factors -- none of the stuff listed in prior reviews was on the menu on the night we were there!
The decor and service were of the highest calibre......staff were friendly and helpful. (The one little minus was the investment bankers and mandarin-speaking tourists (maybe they were mandarin-speaking investment bankers, who knows?) talking on cell phones, but I suppose one can't blame the restaurant for that.
Specifics:
The wine list is huge, and most of it is wayyyyy overpriced. The staff is helpful with recommendations, if you want. But of course one loses face immensely if one says in a restaurant like that one "don't you have anything under $700?" We navigated the list on our own and chose a very nice Cote de Nuits Burgundy for "only" $880. (And believe me, this was one of the cheaper ones on the list!)
There were three fixed-price menus available....my companion chose the middle-price one (five courses for HK$1,050) and he loved his scallop with caviar on top, his lobster ravioli, and his duck breast with foie gras.
I chose the eggplant "caviar" and the venison with peppercorn sauce. The eggplant dish was more like a mousse than caviar.....eggplant with a layer of lime-flavoured sauce on top. Very nice taste, but the effect of a decent-size bowl of it was too heavy. The venison was SUPERB! An unusual (in HK) dish that was perfectly prepared.
I ended with a cheese course....their cheese selection was pretty good, though there were not enough really smelly ones for my taste. They served the cheese with a fantastic home-made cranberry bread that made the course a huge winner. The staff cheerfully offered me a refill on the cheese, but I was too full to accept.
There were also a couple of little accompaniment dishes that were offered free as part of the meal......the "amuse bouche" in the beginning was a wonderfully tasty gelee of tomato, topped with a coriander-flavoured bit of cream cheese. Sublime! And the Petit Fours at the end were delicious too.
Portions are not large. This is good, because their menus include so many courses.....
All in all, I would recommend this for somebody who has lots of money, or who wants a special splurge. (Countervailing comment from my companion, who says I am being too harsh on the price, and that there are many other places in HK which charge similar prices without offering such a great meal.)
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