Meet the Fockers: VIP birthday

This would be the first time that dad is spending his birthday in Hong Kong, and I have the rare pleasure of taking him out to a nice restaurant.  While a number of restaurants in town could have done a good job for the occasion, in the end I decided to go back to Caprice and let Hairy Legs and team take care of us.

As usual, mom would not be able to take in a whole set menu, so I asked for the à la carte menu and explained each dish to mom, gauging her interest for each dish while trying to make sure that mom gets in the new experiences that would bring her so much joy.  In the end we decided to order 3 appetizers for her, while Hairy Legs put a menu together for us after I requested that he not send us too much food...

Victor offered us a little bubbly to help kick start the evening...

1995 Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires - warmed up a little in glass and showed a nice, toasty nose, and also citrusy.  Ripe on the palate and slightly bitter on the finish.

Then, a few nibbles...

Egg sabayon with mushroom and sabayon

Capsicum with cauliflower purée - loved the capsicum but couldn't really taste the sea urchin...

Tuna tartare tart - topped with cucumber miso jelly and flying fish roe (とび子).  Very savory.

Pita puff stuffed with chicken butter masala - loved the cumin and spices.  Topped with coriander.

Hare soup - the soup was pretty thick in terms of texture, a little on the salty side (which I fully expected), but also surprisingly a little sweet.  Served with some hazelnuts, and a piece of toast on the side with quince, Fourme d'Ambert, foie gras, and white truffle.

Scrambled eggs with ceps, figs, and white truffles - with chicken jus and some hazelnuts.  I gotta say, though, that I'm not a big fan of the French way of making œufs brouillés.  Just don't like the consistency.  But of course, one can't complain about the fresh ceps or the figs.  And most certainly not white truffles!

1940 Haut-Brion - initially a little dirty, stinky, bretty, smoky, but still have fruity notes like prunes.  Surprisingly crisp and fresh sweetness underneath.  About 10 minutes later, the nose showed more leather and stewed prunes notes, even some pencil lead.  With the second pour some 30 minutes later, the nose was clearly less fresh, and palate showed more acidity.  It all went downhill after 45 minutes.

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Kinki, shrimp bouillon, sudachi, and ginger - the broadbanded thornyhead (喜知次) was very, very delicious as I would expect.  So, so, tender and succulent.  The bouillon was delicious, too... and the fragrance from ginger was definitely there.  The sun-dried tomato was nice, but the zing from the finger lime caviar was certainly felt.

Carré d’Agneau de l’Aubrac, Epaule Confite, Caviar d’Aubergine et Sauce Massala - the confit lamb shoulder on the right came with eggplant caviar and was done with Ras el hanout, which made it very, very tasty.   The rack of lamb was seasoned with Canadian trapper spice - dried onions, garlic, and maple sugar.   Pretty good.  The nice piperade came with an egg on top. 

Knowing the cheese selection here, it wouldn't be right to dine here without having some.  Especially since mom normally doesn't have the opportunity to have most of these...

So I picked Brillat-Savarin, Colombier fermier, 24-month Mimolette, 3½-year Comté, Brin d'Amour, Perail de Brebis, and Fourme d'Ambert.

The sommelier graciously offered us another glass to go with our cheese...

2010 David Duband Chambertin - very fruity, showing fragrant cedar notes, and almost a little floral.

The pastry station delivered a millefeuille as dad's birthday cake.  It was absolutely delicious, and mom loved it. 

The sommelier once again graciously offered us another glass to go with the cake.

Jacques Selosse Exquise, dégorgée à 27 Julliet 2016 - a little sweet on the palate, with marmalade and a little toast.

And we would finish with some mignardises.

Chestnut profiteroles

Raspberry jelly with white chocolate - with rose mousse in the center, white chocolate rice crispies, and raspberry on top.  Lovely rose fragrance, and definitely reminds me of Pierre Hermé's ispahan.

Almond dacquoise with marmalade

Pecan brownies

Passion fruit/lime chocolate, chocolate pralines

The Parental Units were happy tonight. Mom got to try out a few interesting dishes tonight, and really enjoyed herself in spite of her slightly overcooked quail breast.  And dad was happy because, well, mom was happy.  Also, Hairy Legs gave us some serious VIP treatment for dad's birthday - even more so than when I celebrated my birthday here.  I couldn't think of a better way to have celebrated dad's birthday.

P.S.  The Parental Units and I were very impressed by Hairy Legs' Mandarin.  His accent is actually pretty good!  Well, done, Bilbaobab!