Anniversary lunch @ Caprice, Hong Kong

The hubby and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary last week. He took the day off, so we could start the celebration in the morning and make the most of the hours that the boy is at school. We splurged with a 1.5-hour massage at the gorgeous Spa at the Four Seasons Hotel. The spa recommended we arrive an hour early before our appointment time to make use of the spa facilities, and it was beautifully appointed with a steam room, a sauna, a jacuzzi and a relaxation lounge complete with some light healthy snacks and drinks. After enjoying three blissful hours at the spa (I fell asleep during my massage - I must have been so tired to fall asleep through a firm and painful massage!), we made our way across the hall to the 2-Michelin-Star French restaurant Caprice for our lunch. We had been to Caprice before about four years ago, and it didn't look like anything had changed much - and I don't mean that in a negative way. The same beautiful crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, the same exquisite gold-accented place-settings were on each table, and of course, the same top-notch faultless service by all staff. The food was excellent from the amuse bouche right through to the petit fours. Hubby said he thought the food was good - presentation-wise and taste-wise - but nothing wowed him (except for his French rum!). For me, the occasion, company and the atmosphere made this a memorable experience. Caprice is a fine choice for celebrating a special occasion.

The lovely dining room; shot was taken towards the end of lunch service, when most of the lunch crowd had left and tables were already cleared:

The view of the busy open kitchen in the middle of the dining space:

Gorgeous charger plate:

The sommelier pouring hubby's Rhum JM 1999 aged rhum agricole. Hubby is on the quest to find a good rum, and he said this one ranks highly in his opinion:

Bread selection included multigrain baguette, olive scroll, plain baguette and a chestnut roll. The multigrain baguette was our favourite, perfect with lashings of butter (salted and unsalted are placed on the table, shown in the background):

We could order from the full-priced a-la-carte menu, or from the more affordable Menu Affaires & Plaisirs, where we could have two courses (HK$495) or three courses (HK$560), and we could choose from four or five options for each course. We both chose the three-course set option, and indulged in an extra dessert from the a-la-carte menu because hubby saw another table being served a gorgeous-looking soufflé.

Our amuse bouche was a cream of potato with white truffle and a quail egg nestled inside a chewy deep-fried dough. This little mouthful was enough to whet our appetites for the courses to follow:

Hubby's appetiser - Shellfish Consommé with seasonal vegetables, mussels and shrimp. The consommé had a strong seafood aroma, and is a good light starter for seafood-lovers:

My appetiser was the Gillardean Oyster with veal sweetbread in ravigote and mixed herbs jelly. I really enjoyed this one - the oysters were fresh, plump and juicy, and the herbs jelly was a great refreshing accompaniment:

For his main, hubby chose the Oxtail Raviolis with poached smoked foie gras, consommé and vegetables. Big bold flavours inside each parcel of oxtail meat, paired with an equally rich consommé. This was hubby's first time trying poached foie gras, and while he said he enjoyed it, he still preferred it pan-seared:

My main - Frog Legs Meunière with potato gnocchi, lemon confit pesto and fresh almonds. Every second piece of frog leg was completely deboned, and the larger pieces had only one bone which made it easy to pick up to eat. The pesto complemented the mild tastes-like-chicken frog meat, and the gnocchi provided a nice chewy contrast of texture:

One of the dessert option was the Floating Island with caramelised popcorn and Tahitian vanilla sauce. I expected this to be overly sweet, but it was surprisingly easy to eat. I loved the popcorn flavour:

The Cheese Cellar selection, and our captain chose these based on my preference for mild-tasting cheeses. From left to right - triple cream brie, Abbaye de Citeaux cheese, mimolette and Comté cheese. The mimolette and Comté cheeses were the only two pasteurised cheese in the Caprice cheese cellar, and we are already quite familiar with these two. Out of the two soft cheeses, I liked the Abbaye de Citeaux cheese the most, but overall these four cheeses were easy to enjoy:

We were offered water crackers, fruit bread and baguettes with the cheese option (hubby's selection pictured here). I enjoyed the soft cheeses with the water crackers, and the apricot and pistachio bread was great with the hard cheeses:

After hubby saw a soufflé served to another table, he promptly placed an order for one. Guanaja Chocolate Soufflé with grilled hazelnut and Tahitian vanilla ice cream (HK$180) was decadent, rich and was perfectly airy:

After ordering our coffee, more sweets were offered to us. Petit fours were a chocolate mousse, ganache and lime & basil macaron. These were exquisite, and we would have probably enjoyed them more if we weren't already sugared out from the two sweet desserts we had:

Caprice does a good flat white:

This was a lovely way to celebrate our 11th anniversary!

[Prices quoted above do not include the 10% service charge.]

Caprice
6F, Four Seasons Hotel
8 Finance Street
Central, Hong Kong
Tel. +85 2 3196 8860