Memorable last dinner @ Cepage

Knowing that Cepage was wrapping up their operations in Hong Kong during the last week of June, Mr. C and his friends organized a dinner gathering to enjoy a final meal there before bidding farewell to this one starred establishment. Reserved for a Wednesday evening, the restaurant was surprisingly full on a weekday with most tables and their two private rooms being occupied. I guess we were not the only ones wanting to pay final fond sentiments to Cepage.

Only two set menus were available to choose from that evening and we all selected the Menu Epicurean. However, since Mr. C is not particularly fond of anago and I was wanting to change my dessert, we asked the servers if we could make some swaps with the Menu Decouverte which they graciously agreed to. 

A lovely looking bread basket was proffered for our selection with four varieties to choose from. Mini baguettes, sun-dried tomato focaccia, miso brioche and sourdough slices. The tomato focaccia seemed to be the favourite, tart, juicy tomato on a crispy herb oil infused dough, while the chewiness of the baguettes was pleasing. I know Mr. E certainly liked his baguettes since he had more than six of them!

The evening began with a trio of appetizers all featuring Caviar. We were advised to start with the pasta and then gradually work our way towards the left. The signature bundle of angel hair pasta tossed with truffle oil was beautifully presented. Al dente strands of thin pasta carrying a wonderful truffle fragrance was subtly savoury from the delicate brininess of the caviar. Just like before, it was an absolute pleasure to eat. If I had to pick a dish that I would miss most from here it would certainly be this! In the middle was a thick stalk of white asparagus with its tough outer skin peeled off revealing its tender inside. Juicy with a mild flavour, it was perfect in showing off the stronger taste of the caviar. A geometric pattern of marquise cut potato was the last appetiser. Spread with a thin layer of cream, the potatoes were nicely soft and like the asparagus, the slightly bland flavour of the vegetable was ideal with the caviar.

Our second appetiser was smoked anago with foie gras. When it was placed in front of me I was stunned at how big a portion of foie gras they served… Pan-seared to a gorgeous tone of  dark caramel, it was a little firm, but the center still retained a melty softness. So rich and decadent, I was only able to eat half before surrendering the rest to Mr. C. As for the anago, it tasted more like a lovely smoked ham than fish which was unusual yet strangely pleasant. And to relieve the heaviness of the appetiser, the accompanying cup of ginger broth did just that.

Mr. C’s replacement dish was pan-seared scallops. His favourite~ Two plump looking scallops with an accompanying dipping sauce. Looked really good and definitely a much lighter dish when compared to ours :p          

A covered dish when lifted revealed a single langoustine ravioli with Parmesan foam, showered with a generous shaving of black truffles. Bouncy langoustine meat paired nicely with the creamy Parmesean foam, and to me, truffles just made the dish that little bit more special 🙂

Amadai with lobster in broth was next~ I adore amadai~ no fishiness at all and it was pan-fried until each scale was gorgeously crunchy 🙂 It was a little tricky trying to maneuver the lobster meat out of its shell, but the sweetness of the lobster made it all worth the trouble in the end. Such a pretty dish, everything so artfully arranged and the colours of the ingredients just went really well together~

As we were waiting for our final savoury dish, the servers pushed out their signature roast chicken as a surprise from the chef. Thank you~ Served gueridon style, it was just as good as when I had it last time. Roasted beautifully, the chicken was tender and juicy whether it was meat from the breast or thigh and the skin retained a slight crisp. The potatoes deserve a special mention, soft and mushy with a crispy edge, they were delicious from being roasted with the drippings of the chicken. So so good…

And then our actual main dish was served. There was a choice between roasted quail and hide beef and I picked the quail. Stuffed with foie gras it was roasted and laid on top of a bed of ratatouille. The quail had a welcome gamy flavour while the stuffing of foie gras added a richness to the overall dish. If I was not so full from the chicken beforehand, I would have enjoyed this dish even more.

I did not try the hide beef, but it looked highly appetising as well. Cooked to a pink medium Mr C did say it was tender with a nice beefy flavour.

And for desserts~ The original dessert was a small cup of chilled Alphonso mango pudding with exotic sorbet. I had a small spoonful of this and it tasted exactly like a Mango Weiss bars, which essentially is a bar of ice block/cream where two-thirds is mango sorbet while the remaining one-third is iced cream. For me, I opted to change it for their chocolate souffle~ Tall, dark and handsome fluffy, it was sinfully rich and just so chocolaty… an absolute chocoholics dream dessert! Paired with a small bowl of Tahitian vanilla bean ice-cream, this really made my night 🙂

But it did not end there…

Extra desserts from chef~ Dark chocolate tart and a huge cherry clafoutis! Even though I was so full already, I could not resist sampling both. The chocolate tart made my inner chocoholic do a happy dance~ lusciously smooth and bittersweet ganache on a crisp shortcrust pastry.. so good! While the cherry clafoutis was something totally different altogether. It had a texture similar to baked custard, quite eggy, but not overly sweet and packed full of cherries. Pleasant, but really filling.

And so it concluded. A wonderful evening, great company and lovely food. Farewell Cepage, you will be missed~

Surprises @ Cepage~

When dinner was being organised for a get together with Mr. C and Miss. K, Cepage was not the original destination. It was only after my reluctance to go along with Miss K’s suggestion of Spoon that Mr. C offered Cepage as an option.

So the night before the public holiday saw us seated on the second floor of Cepage’s dining room. Situated on Star Street, it is a one Michelin star establishment with its emphasis on a fusion of French and Japanese cuisine. As I entered the restaurant I was greeted by the smiling hostess who then directed me towards the elevator opposite the hostess desk. It was a little odd stepping into the elevator with two staff members who stood facing each other, but at least it was a very short ride up. Once arrived, another waitress led me from the short hall into the main dining room. What struck me was how small the area was, with only five tables generously spaced apart from each other with I think two private rooms around the corner. The ceilings were high which was helpful in opening up the space in an elongated fashion and there was a mix of contemporary and what they term as ‘old world’ touches shown by the sleek tan wood panels on the walls contrasting with the elegant chandeliers dangling high above.

The menu for that night was actually unknown as many of the dishes were organised by the chef, but I can say that he made some fantastic choices.

We were served an assortment of bread to start with a selection of baguettes, anchovy rolls, cheese foccacia, brioche and sour dough. I picked the anchovy roll and baguette, but regretted it as the anchovy smell was extremely fishy, however the crunchiness of the exterior and soft insides showed the quality of the bread.

Our first appetiser was a signature dish. A neat bundle of angel hair pasta well tossed in truffle oil and decorated prettily with caviar, a light sprinkling of truffles and a sprig of basil flowers. We were instructed to pluck the purple basil flowers off the sprig and eat it together with the pasta. This. was. amazing. The angel hair was cooked to a perfect al dente and the truffle oil filled the senses with its wonderfully earthy aroma. The caviar added a touch of saltiness to the dish and the fresh flavour from the flowers helped awaken the palate. This was one of the best dishes of the night~

A plate of scallop maki was served alongside the pasta dish, featuring six delicate rolls of raw scallops wrapped in seaweed and crowned with caviar and a touch of gold foil. The scallops were velvety soft and I would suggest to eat these quite quickly as the seaweed became damp and slightly chewy as they absorbed the moisture from the scallops.I enjoyed this as did Mr. C which was no surprise since he loves scallops, while Miss K thought it was a bit too salty.

The next dish arrived with a very strong smoky aroma which gave me the impression that it was pork related. When the waiter described it as smoked anago, I was quite surprised as the flesh was pink hued, but this was quickly overcome by my anticipation to try it because anago is one of my favourite types of fish~ Three slices of anago were draped over a bed of tomato confit and slices of pan-fried potatoes with the funny addition of a shaving of parmesean cheese. I adored this dish!  The anago was unctuous in texture and its fattiness just made it melt in the mouth.. To refresh the palate a small cup of shiitake consomme was served to relieve the oiliness. I think I was the only one who really enjoyed the anago, as both Mr. C and Miss K ate around it, leaving most of the anago untouched.

Their signature black miso cod was presented simply, wrapped in a hoba leaf with an accompanying side of sweet miso. The flesh was firm, but nicely moist and flaked off easily from the prod of a fork. The cod was apparently marinated using three different types of miso, and the sweetness of the marinade complimented the almost buttery flavour of the cod. This dish was liked by all three of us.

The beef tartare prepared here is a little unsual compared to others I have tried. They termed it ‘tataki’ style where the top of the tartare was bruleed and it was served over a layer of ratatouille. This dish was definitely strongly flavoured and we all agreed that the ratatouille over-powered the taste of the beef. Miss K did not like the taste of the peppers used in the ratatouille, while I found the varying temperatures from the slight warmness of the bruleed top of the beef tartare to the sudden coolness of the ratatouille to be quite strange.

While we were waiting for our next course, my attention was captured by several waiters preparing to provide a gueridon service for the next table involving a gorgeously roasted chicken. Watching them in action, efficiently carving up the chicken was quite interesting and showed no small amount of skill.

No sooner then they had finished, another roasted chicken was wheeled out, this time stopping at our table! So essentially we got the visual action twice and honestly speaking there is something just so tantalising about a simple plate of roast chicken served with a side of fresh lettuce hearts and potatoes. You could tell it was cooked perfectly, the meat was succulent from the juices retained during the roasting process, the thighs were tender and even the white breast meat normally so tough was easy to chew. The highlight would probably be the skin, I normally do not eat chicken skin, but it looked so alluring that I could not resist trying. And I am glad I did, with the excess fats roasted away leaving behind a crispy skin that gave way to an irresistible crackle. Very very good.

All too soon it was time for desserts~ Petite fours came first, a combination of yuzu marshmallow, pear and red wine jelly and a duo of oatmeal cookies. Miss K and I thought the marshmallow was way too sweet, it was also gritty in texture while Mr. C thought it was not bad, but we suspect that he was too busy looking at his phone to actually notice what he was tasting haha… the pear and red wine jelly was quite nice with a slightly chewy texture and I thoroughly agreed with Miss K that it tasted like those dried fruits ‘gar yin ji’ you eat after drinking a very bitter herbal tea. I liked the oatmeal cookies most, light and buttery with a delicate snap when you bit into it.

Alongside our petite fours, a tray of very cute mini eclairs were also served~ They were surprisingly not very sweet and out of the three flavours coffee, dark chocolate and sea-salt caramel, I preferred the dark chocolate most as it had the boldest flavour compared to the other two.

And then we were served the chocolate souffle. This was paired with a gorgeously coloured cherry sorbet which was so striking against the sombre brown of the souffle. To be honest I am generally not partial to souffles because they tend to have an eggy flavour and I like my desserts to be of more substance rather than just a puff of air. This was definitely an exception though. Sinfully rich and dark it was absolutely seductive.. the fluffy top gave way to a semi-set moussey texture and it was so chocolatey that I can guarantee that it would satisfy the cocoa craving of any chocolate fanatic out there. It was an absolute pleasure to eat.. no wonder people consider chocolate as an aphrodisiac hahaha…The cherry sorbet was delightfully sharp and tangy with no fake cherry flavour and it helped to refresh the palate for those that desire a break from all the chocolate. I could not help murmuring how good the souffle was with every spoonful and I must have driven Mr. C and Miss K insane hahaha… I know Mr. C enjoyed his since he likes chocolate as well, but not so much for poor Miss K even though she made a huge effort and finished it 🙂 I would recommend this~

We finished with coffees, cappuccinos for Mr. C and Miss K, while I had my usual skim, decaf latte. I ordered mine extra hot, but when the coffees came, the waiter taking our order must have mixed it up resulting in the cappuccinos being of the higher temperature while mine was normal. Just a small mishap. The coffees were from Nespresso which explained the lack of latte art and weak foam on the cappuccinos, but the flavour of the coffee was quite good.

Aside from the beef tartare, I loved my dining experience at Cepage. The service was attentive, the manager was friendly, not at all intrusive and made small talk at appropriate times. This is definitely somewhere I plan on returning to~