Geruhage HK tour day 2: big, bigger, and huge

Geruhage is no stranger to Caprice, having visited during Fabrice Vullin's stint there and then, amazingly, thrice in 2019 before Hong Kong closed itself off from the rest of the world. While I wanted to introduce my friend to newer experiences in Hong Kong - and Chinese cuisine in particular - I didn't think he would mind revisiting Hairy Legs as he enjoyed his meals here.

We had a pretty full house tonight so we decided to move the 8 of us from the Chef's Table to the restaurant's private dining room. We figured this would not only be more comfortable, but afford our visitors a nice view of Victoria Harbour. This turned out to be the right call.

Tomatini - I was told that the last shipment of tomatoes arrived from Chez Galliot, so of course I asked for a tomatini. As did everyone else, I think... Love the light fragrance of the poivre de Penja on top.

The familiar amuses bouches were presented in their customary boîte à bijoux:

Tomato tart - always with the Parmesan crisp, Burrata, olive, and basil. Great tomato flavors.

Obsiblue prawn tart - nice and crunchy tart shell as always, and loved the prawn tartare.

Pita with curry chicken mousse - the usual, but doesn't mean it isn't tasty.

Association entre la fraise et la tomate, crème de Burrata, coriandre fraîche - second time having this dish during the current season, with the last shipment of tomatoes. Strawberry panna cotta at the bottom topped with a layer of tomato water. Fresh tomatoes, cucumber, burrata cream, and baby coriander. So refreshing.

Langoustine, consommé de fruits de mer, poivre timut - these Scottish langoustines were pretty big, weighing in at around 4-500g each. I had this dish 3 years ago and thought it was "FUCKING AWESOME" at the time, and I don't think my feelings are any different tonight. The consommé of shrimp, ginger, and timut pepper was just out of this world! So flavorful without being overpowering, soooo elegant, just wonderful.

Rouget, sauce au safran - a repeat dish from my last visit but I didn't mind one bit. The red mullet was, again, FUCKING GOOD. So silky, so soft, with some shavings of lemon zest on top to bring a smile to one's face. A layer of shellfish stuffing below the fish gave the dish more complexity.

Them two little potatoes on the side cooked in seaweed butter and topped with crispy buckwheat and dill. That achingly beautiful saffron sauce made with orange juice to bring some acidity and lively, fruity notes dancing on one's tongue. So velvety it's almost like world class chocolate in liquid form.

Oh and that cuttlefish "bolognese" on the side. I totally forgot to ask for a plate of spaghetti to go with that! I'll remind Hairy Legs next time.

Homard bleu Breton, figues au chocolat, sauce ruby - the quenelle on the side was made with the lobster claw, and kinda like a Japanese shinjo (真薯). It came topped with a mix of diced lobster meat and fig marmalade, which was just so, sooo good. The fig (mine was a substitute as others got beetroot) was cooked in balsamic vinegar and glazed with chocolate. The king of sauce made his ruby sauce with lobster head, raspberry vinegar, shrimp consommé, and fresh raspberries. This was, of course, the killer.

The lobster had so much spring in the meat, so, sooo damn good!

Pigeon rôti de Racan, tarte au foie gras, figues et café - we all know Hairy Legs can really deliver delicious pigeon from his hometown, and this came with some fig marmalade and a sauce made with figs and vinegar. On the side we had a foie gras tart, which wasn't too heavy but didn't really excite me.

Ooooooh yeah... I loved the texture of the pigeon as there was just a little bounce. The fat underneath the skin was just so, so tasty and moreish.

We were presented with a selection of cheese, but tonight I decided to take it easy and pass...

Pommes crues et confites, glace tonka, sauce cannelle - confit was made with both Granny Smith and Golden (Delicious?) apples, as were the fresh apples at the bottom. The tonka bean ice cream was pretty nice, too.

Tarte au café, Blue Mountain - I requested this because DaRC was the reason why this recipe was passed to the kitchen at Caprice, and I figured we would all enjoy this. Chucky seemed pretty excited to see this.

Of course this had to be served with some gold on top! The coffee flavors were really intense, which is why we love this.

I really couldn't eat any more, so we asked the staff to pack up all the mignardises into these very fancy boxes, which I'm sure are loved by everyone except assholes like me thinking about the waste being generated. We were also each sent home with a beautiful vanilla flan, which I didn't know what to do with given my eating schedule...

Along with eating well, one must also drink well. Tonight we brought out a couple of big bottles...

1995 Krug, en magnum - nice and mature, still got a good amount of acidity on the palate. Kinda floral on the nose along with those familiar notes from the House of Krug. A lovely wine.

2008 Peter Michael 'Point Rouge' - HUGE nose, soooo sweet, soooo ripe with lots of vanilla. So big on the palate, really ripe and sweet, and soooo buttery. Such a beautiful wine for lovers of chardonnay.

2001 Sine Qua Non Rien Ne Va Plus, from magnum - so beautiful right off the bat after opening for 30 minutes. Notes of acetone, ripe and sweet on the nose, along with maybe a hint of straw? Just a little hint of toast here. After 3 hours the nose was definitely showing some coffee notes. Drinking very nicely now.

2016 Yann Durieux Tête de Ponts - very much bongwater, very animal and meaty, almost bretty. Does show nice and sweet fruit, though.

2002 Araujo Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard - drank about 1 hour and 45 minutes after decanting. This was soooo beautiful and lovely, showing such elegance! Lovely cool fruit, a little peppery, smoky, and minty. Drinking very, very well at the moment.

2017 Yquem, en Salmanazar - so refreshing with lots of citrus notes like Japanese mikan, so fruity yet not too sweet. Fresh on the palate with some acetone notes on the nose, too.

1955 Toro Albalá Don PX Convento Selección, bottled September 2015, from imperial - lovely notes of citrus, fragrant nose with plenty of exotic spices. Soooo rich and unctuous on the palate, very much like pei pa koa.

Plenty of fun was had tonight, and everyone was practically stuffed to the brim. I'm so happy I brought my friend back here. I hope he was, too...