Caprice

Quintessential French Fine Dining with a View in Hong Kong

Located inside a building with a total of eight Michelin stars, and holding the coveted three stars, Caprice is a homage to French fine dining in Hong Kong. Originally envisioned as a Mediterranean restaurant, Chef Vincent Thierry moved over from the Four Seasons in Paris to open the restaurant in 2005. I was able to meet Chef Vincent recently at an event at Racines, and I’ve also tried his French restaurant, Chef’s Table, in 2022. Both times, I came off thoroughly impressed.

Under Chef Vincent, Caprice received two Michelin stars in the inaugural Hong Kong edition of the guide in 2009, before receiving its third star in 2010. Chef Vincent ran the kitchen until 2013, when he left the restaurant in the hands of Chef Fabrice Vulin. In the next year, Caprice dropped down to two stars and it wasn’t until Chef Guillaume Galliot took over in 2017 that Caprice regained its third star.

Chef Guillaume trained with his brothers in Jardin des Sens, before his culinary journey took him to the States, the Caribbean and eventually over to Asia. His stated focus is to highlight seasonal ingredients and letting them speak for themselves, instead of covering everything in rich, heavy sauces. I would soon see that in the unique menu that I would be trying.

I managed to get a reservation to Caprice on a quiet Wednesday night. I had some time, and a last minute reservation was available, so I decided to give Caprice a try. I have spent plenty of time drinking in the Caprice bar, as well as patronizing the other restaurants in the building, but never Caprice, so why not see if Caprice lived up to its reputation?

Stepping into the sixth floor restaurant, I was escorted to a table facing floor to ceiling windows overlooking Victoria Harbour and toward Kowloon.

I was shown a menu with three choices of tasting menu, and chose the seasonal menu which highlighted white truffles and caviar. In retrospect, I probably should’ve just gone with the regular menu. Toward the end, it started feeling like they were throwing white truffle on to every dish without regard to how well it complimented the other ingredients.

Skipping on the full wine pairing, I started with a glass of Domaine Achillée orange Riesling from the Alsace region of France. An orange wine, made with white wine grapes using a skin contact process typically used for reds. Very neat, very acidic, and not what I expected when I ordered a Riesling, but not bad at all.

The “before” picture of the white truffles to be used in my meal. Toward the end of the night, this truffle was reduced to nearly nothing.

The canapes from the left - a light but savoury mushroom mousse on a biscuit, an anchovy cream in a crispy spring roll like wrapper, topped with a bit of anchovy and a salmon and caviar tar, topped with some lemon and dill.

The bread course had two kinds of butter from Brittany - a salted and unsalted, served with a selection of breads. I chose a light, fluffy brioche and a crusty sourdough.

The first course was one of the signature dishes at Caprice, an Alaskan crab and oyster mince on top of a briny mollusc jelly, all topped with a generous helping of Osciètre Prestige caviar, some microgreens and gold foil. A very rich and refreshing start to the meal. Hits of salt from the caviar and mollusc jelly offset by the firm crab texture. Absolutely top notch execution and a big hit.

Next, some pan-fried scallops and mushroom on a pumpkin royale mousse with mushroom velouté, topped with a generous helping of white truffle and a single sage leaf. The mushrooms were precisely cut into a crisscross pattern to hold the sauce. Altogether, well executed and the mushroom velouté was particularly memorable.

Sometimes, the simplest dishes are the best dishes - buttery mashed potatoes with a massive scoop of caviar, served with a rich champagne sauce and thinly sliced chives. Another big hit and highlight of the night.

Slow roasted Red Mullet topped with shaved raw mushroom and a crispy fingerling potato with a saffron sauce, again topped with white truffle. Interestingly, the highlight of this dish was the shaved Parisian mushroom, just thin slices of earthy, woody flavour that worked really well with the saffron sauce. The saffron sauce added a bit of Middle Eastern flavour to the dish.

The next dish was a Brittany blue lobster tail, served in a rich, sweet chocolate vinegary sauce with a beetroot puree and a lobster tomalley puree, topped with white truffle.

Finally, the last hot main, an A4 Wagyu tenderloin, served with artichoke puree, artichoke crisps and some baked artichokes, topped with a thick, sweet beef and lemon jus, topped again, with white truffle. The chef explained that they didn’t like using A5 Wagyu for steaks because it was too fatty and A4 had a much better fat to meat ratio for steaks. Interestingly, Chef Kenzo from Tapas Molecular Bar had the same view as well.

The cheese cart came around next, with a variety of cheeses that skipped as I was way too full and wanted to keep room for the dessert.

The pre-dessert was a coconut dacquoise - a layer of meringue, topped with a coconut and lime sorbet and some lime zest. Fortunately, after a meal with white truffle in nearly ever dish, a respite from the white truffle.

The dessert was an extremely aromatic almond souffle, perfectly set, topped with the rest of the white truffle. Soft, fluffy, light, with a slight crunch of crystalized sugar around the ramakin and crust and a bit of texture from the sliced almonds in the souffle, it was everything I wanted a souffle to be.

Finally, the petit fours, featuring a homemade Ferro Rocher, a mango and passionfruit mousse, and a hazelnut cream puff all on the top layer.

On my way out, I was gifted with a giant vanilla tart for the next day. This had to be 6 inches across, and definitely not meant for one person.

Caprice had excellent execution and there was little to complain about - lots of hits on the menu. It was a great meal, but it felt like there was a lack of a distinct personality or style. In retrospect, I probably should have chosen the regular menu for a bit more variety and not having the flavour of white truffle thrown into everything.

Overall, my impressions of Caprice were that it felt a bit corporate and sterile - a place where boring bankers entertain equally boring clients, and neither really want to be there. Nonetheless, I would probably rank Caprice near the top of my list for haute French dining in Hong Kong. In a similar style, I much preferred Les Amis or The Ritz Restaurant. It’s worth trying, once, but I probably wouldn’t return.

Total damage: 9250 HKD/head