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All my previous dining experiences in Cepage were highly rated and enjoyable, so it always remained among one of my highest acclaimed restaurants in Hong Kong. Until my recent Christmas dinner

Service is always spot on with no doubt. From how they dealt with our reservations(I was sent pictures of the exact seating area and menu) to actually serving us on the night.
Cepage has the whole package: with one michelin star under its belt, the Les Amis group restaurant located in Wanchai nestled between all the other bustling restaurants firmly holds its place as the most refined among them all. It boasts beautiful decor, tasteful artwork and one of the hugest wine collections in town, with over 2000 wine labels if memory serves me well.

We were set to sample either the Christmas Set Menu (Menu Noel) at approximately 1,580 HKD per person or a regular 5-course Epicurien menu at 1,070 HKD.
In light of the festivities we opted for the Christmas Set Menu - looking at it retrospectively that was a poor choice on my part.

I'm not a particular fan of fried food so when we were presented with this to start with, it etched a slight frown on my face, nevertheless I was looking forward to sample the rest of the menu This was an alternate dish offered to me as I don't eat raw food. It was very nice, well paired with an asian inspired sauce This was not as simple as it looked! The scallop was wrapped in truffle This was by far the best dish among the entire menu! The onion tart was very refined and went perfectly with the trufflesThis dish was rather average. Despite the use of delicate ingredientsI was not impressed by this dish. It didn't feel very Christmasy for starters, nor did it stand out to me at all. I had much higher expectations for Cepage. If I dare be rude, it instantly reminded me of beef brisket noodles and for the price charged per head for the dinner, much need not be said of that..So for dessert they served us with this Christmas Log. I took one look at it and instantly lost interest. It did not look creative, appeasing nor appetizing and I can assure you that its taste reflected that too. Again, I had much much higher expectations for Cepage. I sincerely had hoped that they made more of an effort with their christmas menu. This so called dessert was something I could've bought from any supermarket and I'm leaving it at that.In conclusion, we were not happy with our Christmas dinner at Cepage. We've always had nothing but praise for the restaurant and its food. It was always a treat to dine here, but this time, we were thoroughly let down by the food. The menu didn't seem to be very well thought out nor executed up to its normal standards. We would have been much happier ordering off the a la carte menu. It came to around 4000HKD and neither of us walked away patting our wallets happily thinking it was good money spent on a decent meal.
Still skeptical of returning again to allow it to redeem itself, but our recent dining experience really struck itself off my favourites list..

Once a year you get to choose where you wanna go, on that special day. You are very grateful for what you've been blessed with. Every good, beautiful and delicious thing is from above.

Environment:Diana Krall singing S'wonderful softly in the background.
Note: 36-month iberico ham available that evening. 25g per serve.

Service:
Excellent, as expected. Participation of the entire table for a particular menu is not mandatory. like!! Our server asked if H wanted only hot food, and thus served hot water and made a substitution for the originally cold amuse bouche. They also gave us plates to share food - no intimidating airs and graces here! And I had a small stool to put my stuff on. Sadly, sparkling water was imposed on the other diners.

Food:

Bread basket
Sourdough, tomato focaccia, bacon rolls. Bacon roll was the best - haven't had it elsewhere. Very chewy body and the pancetta was very fragrant. You could taste the delicious oils.

Menu epicurien (for me)

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~

My mom loves beautiful artful food, and she also loves white asparagus, and corn. So when I saw all the latest food pictures of Cepage by Chef Lepinoy, I knew Cepagewas the place that I needed to bring her for Mother's Day celebration. Even though I hardly posted reviews these days, the food was so aesthetic and beautiful that I couldn't help but to share. Of course, the lovely afternoon with my dearest mom was also worth the record.

We started with some bread, and despite how tempting the Bordier butter was on the side, the bacon flute and tomato and black olive focaccia were great on their own. .

White Asparagus Blanc-Mange, Oscietra Caviar, White Asparagus Coulis, Green Asparagus PureeMom loves asparagus especially the juicy white ones.This dish is simply perfect for her. The silky white “flan” and the white asparagus coulis were packed with the sweetness of white asparagus, further accentuated by the marine saltiness of the caviar and the mild grassiness of the green asparagus.

All these elements were crafted into a piece of art with the meticulously located green asparagus dots and the quenelle of caviar jewels.

Floating Snowball, Floral Bouquet, Chilled Corn Soup, Hidden Treasure of Oscietra CaviarAnother favorite of my mom is corn. That is why when I saw this stunningly beautiful dish on Facebook I immediately asked Chef Lepinoy if I could have for my mom. Once again, the plethora of caviar at the bottom worked brilliantly in elevating the sweetness of the corn soup, and the fluffy airy floating snowball rounded out the overall texture. The corn-flavored popcorns added an additional textural contrast, and it really tasted like Tohato caramel corns, the Japanese snack!

La Saint-Jacques - Teppanyaki seared Tasmanian scallops with teriyaki sauceIn the past, the scallops at Cepage were cooked with Bordier seaweed butter, but this new “lighter” version was equally satisfying. In fact, the execution this time was better than my previous visit, with the gigantic scallops cooked to perfection – slightly crispy on the seared surfaces, semi cooked throughout and the center almost raw like sashimi. They were also bursting with natural sweetness, which I thought was hard to find as most of the jumbo scallops I tasted in Hong Kong were quite flavorless.

The teriyaki sauce was more like a light sweet soy dipping without the stickiness and viscosity of the ones for yakitori.


Hokkaido Uni, Over Petit Lobster Flan, Light Fennel EmulsionAnother gorgeous and immaculately presented dish. There were actually a lot of sea urchin “tongues” inside, and when mixed with the lobster flan and fennel emulsion, it became a sea urchin veloute with bits of sea urchin meat in every bite. The brininess of the uni was very much toned down when mixed with all the ingredients, but I liked the pungent fennel which gave the whole dish a distinct flavor profile.

Foie Gras & Anago, En Mille-feuille, Daikon and Apple Matchstick Salad

a bit too upscale for my own personal taste; this is not a place that I would shell out my own cash to try out, and luckily i didn't have to. a family friend took us out for a celebration and celebrate we did.

we had the tasting menu which surprisingly seemed quite japanese. when we asked our waiter he told us that the chef was inspired by the Japanese belief of using the freshest ingredients (can't remember the Japanese term off my head)

starters:
spanish ham and bread

tasting menu:
sushi made with some seafood(?)
white asparagus jelly with caviar
shrimp ravioli with truffle
deep sea lobster pure with hokkaido sea urchin
udon with lobster bouillon
wagyu beef with white asparagus
sake jelly with fruit sorbet

wine
2 whites
2 reds

i'm not usually a fan of "inspired" fusion dining, but i found this dinner to be rather scrumptious. the ingredients were fresh, the service close to impeccable. i don't usually eat lobster or shrimp, so i don't feel qualified to comment on them. i enjoyed the wagyu beef the most, it was simply divine. my next favorite dish was the white asparagus jelly with caviar. it has a great texture, you can really taste the essence of the white asparagus. a bit of this mixed with some caviar with a sip of white burgundy was an amazing experience.

with regards to the "value". in terms of pure dollar for food it's low. the overall dinner came to be...A LOT. so for a place like this i need to judge it relative to a special occasion situation.

It was the first time I had dinner in this Michelim one star restaurant.The amouse bouch is really elegant and special with "blossom caviar salmon"!So I was full of expectation for the starter. The prawn was nothing for special but I am really doubted about the hygiene of spring onion placed on the origami. It is very odd!!!Even a bit 'kindergarten' feel! May be I do n't know how to appreciate such kind of ART! The main course I ordered one Amadai. It was fresh and crispy and nice for giving a try. Overall I was satisfied by the taste of food rather than the strange, naive decoration and painting of dishes that may affect the food quality-hygiene!!It is not worth for giving a second try for its unreasonable cost!

A group of friends gathered at Cépage for a relaxing brunch. Sitting in the private room with a round table gave us great privacy to chat and relax for 4 hours during the Saturday brunch! How nice!

I hadn't visited the restaurant since the new (well, not so new now) chef Sebastien Lepinoy from L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon joined the Cépage's team. This was a great opportunity for me to try the revamped menus. We were not too interested with the dishes offered in the brunch set menu, so instead all of us picked something from the a la carte menu for substitutions. Some of the dishes below were from my friends, so I wouldn't provide detailed comments on those.

Beginning with bacon bread stick and brioche for my bread service which were pretty tasty, though I liked the bacon bits more than the bread itself. Butter was served properly at room temperature (you will be surprised how many restaurants don't manage to get this right)

Starter: Cinco Jotas jamon iberico
"Bruschetta" with sourdough toast The ham wasn't particularly fatty yet qiote flavorful. Would have been nicer if the toast was crispy

Amuse bouche 1: Almond Panna Cotta, Orange Juice, Fried Capellini
Amuse bouche 2: Sweet corn bouillon, Caviar I wasn't very fond of the almond flavor in the panna cotta, but the citrusy orange juice was quite refreshing. I did enjoy the natural sweetness of the corn soup which was complemented nicely by the savory caviar.

L’ARTICHAUT
Cream of artichoke soup, freckles of black truffle, chervil I wanted something warm and soothing and went for the soup. The artichoke flavor, however, wasn't as profound as I would have liked. I wish there were more roasted artichoke pieces at the bottom. The black truffle bits did help to add more complexity to the soup.

LA SAINT-JACQUES de Tasmanie, cuit dans un beurre «Bordier» aux algues
Tasmanian seared scallops with Bordier seaweed butter My friend's scallops swam in delicious Bordier seaweed butter which was heavenly , despite the the scallops being slightly overcooked for his liking.

LES CALAMARS
Stuffed squids with melody of olives, Iberian chorizo and Japanese mustard A Spanish oriented dish, the tender baby squids were stuffed with veggies and squid tentacles and matched briliantly with the the pungent olives. Further fueled with spicy chorizo and the mild kick of the mustard, this dish was packed with full flavors!

LA CAILLE
Caramel roasted quail with green salad Those who had been to Robuchon should be familiar with this dish which is a Robuchon's signature that is served in all L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon. This was executed skillfully like it was at Robuchon. Crispy skin and tender meat with luscious foie gras fillings. What's not to love here?

LE BLACK COD
Marinated black cod cooked in hooba leaf, young pickled Japanese ginger, miso sauce Couldn't help but to think of Nobu's signature miso black cod, and this version was not too shabby. My friend had always loved this dish which was very moist and flavorful.

LE CANARD et le foie gras en duo
Duo of steamed duck breast and foie gras I was intrigued by the name as the foie gras was steamed instead of the normal pan-fried or terrine version in French cooking. An interesting idea and presentation to have the breast and foie gras adhered together to form a whole slice. My duck breast was a bit tough and chewy which surprised me a little, but the foie gras was extremely silky like a piece of butter that just melt in my mouth. There was more foie gras "sandwiched" in between the daikon discs. The microgreen was very aromatic! I think Cépage has a strenght in dealing with foie gras.

LA POIRE
Poached Conference pear, pink guava sorbet, plum powder medallion
LA FRAISE
Fresh strawberries, almond “Pain de Gênes” biscuit, lychee-raspberry sorbet My pear dessert was beautifully presented and the flavors were as dreamy as it looked. I loved the refreshing guava sorbet and the pear was not cloying sweet. A great light dessert particularly during the hot weather.

My friend seemed to be more fond of the lychee-raspberry sorbet than the rest of his strawberry dessert. But it was at least an eye-candy.

LA POMME
Apple tarte tatin, served warm with Bourbon vanilla ice-cream
LE CHOCOLAT
Michel Cluizel 63% dark chocolate tart, “café viennois” shooterMy other friend raved about the apple tarte tatin which delivered a nice contrast of warm and cold temperatures and in textures. The chocolate tart also received great compliments with its chocolatey flavor that wasn't too sweet or bitter.

3 platters of Petits Fours We were certainly VERY excited when the 3 big platters of petits fours arrived at our table.
(one plate at the back)

How generous! There were madeleines, cranberry and almond cookies, white chocolate with dried fruits and nuts, salt caramel (YUM!), marshmallows, jellies (red is mulled wine), macarons, etc. Cannelés stood out to be the winner - hard crust outside, soft and moist inside. Delectable flavor!

Overall, another enjoyable meal with my great friends. The service was very attentive. I was most impressed by the beautiful artistic aesthetic of every dish at Cépage- they look so beautiful that you almost don't want to eat the food and ruin the presentation. Flavor-wise, not every dish was sensational or breathtaking, but they are still better than most French restaurants in HK. Some fine-tuning in executions would have perfected most dishes.

I also saw some feedbacks regarding the set menu items. I can't verify if the food in the set menu is compromised in quality or portion, but I would recommend doing the a la carte menu items anyway, as they are a lot more itneresting and seem to better reflect the true ability of the ktichen.

It was a birthday, and we wanted a special dining experience. Cepage certainly provided it.

The menu must change to accomodate seasonal factors -- none of the stuff listed in prior reviews was on the menu on the night we were there!

The decor and service were of the highest calibre......staff were friendly and helpful. (The one little minus was the investment bankers and mandarin-speaking tourists (maybe they were mandarin-speaking investment bankers, who knows?) talking on cell phones, but I suppose one can't blame the restaurant for that.

Specifics:

The wine list is huge, and most of it is wayyyyy overpriced. The staff is helpful with recommendations, if you want. But of course one loses face immensely if one says in a restaurant like that one "don't you have anything under $700?" We navigated the list on our own and chose a very nice Cote de Nuits Burgundy for "only" $880. (And believe me, this was one of the cheaper ones on the list!)

There were three fixed-price menus available....my companion chose the middle-price one (five courses for HK$1,050) and he loved his scallop with caviar on top, his lobster ravioli, and his duck breast with foie gras.

I chose the eggplant "caviar" and the venison with peppercorn sauce. The eggplant dish was more like a mousse than caviar.....eggplant with a layer of lime-flavoured sauce on top. Very nice taste, but the effect of a decent-size bowl of it was too heavy. The venison was SUPERB! An unusual (in HK) dish that was perfectly prepared.

I ended with a cheese course....their cheese selection was pretty good, though there were not enough really smelly ones for my taste. They served the cheese with a fantastic home-made cranberry bread that made the course a huge winner. The staff cheerfully offered me a refill on the cheese, but I was too full to accept.

There were also a couple of little accompaniment dishes that were offered free as part of the meal......the "amuse bouche" in the beginning was a wonderfully tasty gelee of tomato, topped with a coriander-flavoured bit of cream cheese. Sublime! And the Petit Fours at the end were delicious too.

Portions are not large. This is good, because their menus include so many courses.....

All in all, I would recommend this for somebody who has lots of money, or who wants a special splurge. (Countervailing comment from my companion, who says I am being too harsh on the price, and that there are many other places in HK which charge similar prices without offering such a great meal.)

"We do not remember days; we remember moments. Your special moments, are ours too" - Cepage

If you are looking for a special 5 star "tailor-made" experience, Cepage is the way to go!

Last weekend was me and my boyfriend's one year anniversary and I have arranged a special anniversary lunch to suprise my boyfriend. Our experience here was a terrifc one! It was very memorable & unforgettable, thank you Cepage!

08.22.10/13:30

Corner table was where we sat as arranged. It was Ernest who served us and the Restaurant Manager, Bernard was very welcoming. Bernard was too kind and generous, he offered us a glass of champagne, matching with ham & honey drew and foie gras as a starter to enhance our special lunch.

Our tailor made menu was signed and greeted by the Chef . My boyfriend was quite stunned actually, he looked very unexpected and impressed by the arrangement and Cepage's exceptional services! (of course with my effort to plan this out as well haha )

The appetizer on the set lunch was impressive! We both thought the Scallop was fantastic, I especially like the sauce. And the Tuna Carppacio was awesome! The taste of the tuna was not very strong but very fresh and tender.

Main course we had the Black Cod which tasted outstanding, just thought the sauce was a bit too condensed. Where as the Fillet Steak was nicely garnished, my boyfriend thought it was slightly over cooked but the texture of the meat was very tendered and juicy.

After we have finished the main course, Ernest presented us with a nicely decorated Chocolate Cake with our Anniversary date and hearts around

Ermest offered to take a "instant" picture of us and placed it into a Cepage picture holder. Those words written on the holder was very nice and meaningful. We were very impressed and delighted!

The chocolate cake was cut into half .. tasted SUPER YUMM!! One of the BEST chocolate cake I have ever tasted! My boyfriend rarely finishes a piece of cake but he did!

Then the dessert came from the lunch menu. I have picked the pineapple carpaccio + Chinese Lychee Tea and my boyfriend picked the creme brulee + ice-ed milk tea to end our day at Cepage.

Special big thanks to the restaurant manager - Mr. Bernard Mak. I really appreciate and respect his professionalism and thoughtfulness - words just can't express enough! Also, I would like to thank our server Ernest, very pleasant with high quality of servicing level. He knows very well of how to put an extra smile on your face. And Natalie, the hostress who has helped me coordinated this whole plan - thanks for being patient with my 'fussiness'.

Thank you Cepage once again for making things to HAPPEN! I will definitely come back again

wanted to give it a try after learning about Cepage on TV and here we were... spending a cozy night at Cepage. We were seated at the private dining area with 4 tables in the room.

As lazy people, we decided to have the 7-course Tasting Menu~ We were then served with 2 welcoming appetizers - Croquette with mozarella cheese and Norwegian Salmon with Asparagus Mousse. The croquette tasted with strong mozarella cheese while the mousse was surprisingly good! A very nice approach to have mousse as an appetizer rather than a dessert.

The first appetizer was Tartare of Live Normandy Scallop, green apple gelee, creme fraiche, Oscietre caviar. I LOVED the green apple gelee~! blended really well with the tartare, to give the fresh scallop a tinge of stimulating freshness.

The next dish was Pan seared seabass, mussel-saffron stew, fennel mousseline, dattarino tomato confit. Crispy skin and tender meat for the seabass. A very light and delicate approach to cook seabass.

Main course arrived. We were served with Gratinated Alaskan Crab, chili 'nduja di Spilinga, fragrant pilaf rice. Awesome! Haven't had rice as the main course in french cuisine and the Alaskan Crab and chili were a great combination in adding stimulating flavors to the dish.

Then we had 'Taiyouran' organic egg confit, Perigord truffle, Joselito ham 'Gran Reserva', crouton. The poached egg had to be stirred well with the ham before you ate. It was very nice to have the egg yolk matching with the ham rather than having fruits or cheese.

and ooo! this was GOOD - Grilled Iberican pork chop and apples, Kurobuta pork belly en sousvide, "La Ratte' potato, sauteed seasonal mushrooms and baby spinach. The pork chop was well cooked but not coarse, though it could come without the pork belly, which made the dish quite a heavy one.

It was really good to have marinated mango, pineapple sherbet to freshen up the tastebuds before we had the dessert.

Poached pear, dark chocolate mousse, cinnamon icecream and crispy filo pastry was our dessert! The pear was cut into 3 pieces with the pastry inserted in between, chocolate mousse was inside the pear. A good match with the pear to balance out the sweetness of the chocolate.

As usual, they offered petit fours. There were 3 kinds. Passionfruit macarons were the best, the raspberry candy was nice while the brownish one tasted a bit weird. But apart from the petit fours, the waitress came with a tray of assorted chocolates. I had dark chocolate, hazelnut chocolate while my boyfriend had green-tea chocolate. A tiny lemon cake concluded our night at Cepage.

A tranquil night since we had our dinner in their private dining room. Would love to see the main dining area the next time and I'm very tempted to go to Les Amis

Three of us tried Cepage tonight for the first time after her opening more than a year ago. Why? Perhaps it's because of her location; and average reviews from friends.
I was very impressed by the service and the ambience, and especially stunned by the outstanding selection of fine wines. I must say the wine list is the BEST among all top end restaurants in Hong Kong.
As for the food, there are plenty to choose from both the a-la-carte and tasting menu. The appetizer I chose was Pigeon Salad . . . not impressive at all. My second course, which was Angel Hair with Alaska King Crab was too rich and tasted like Chinese oyster sauce. I choose Kobe Beef, rare, for my main course ($850!!!!) . . . just mediocre and over-priced. Me and my friends agreed that side-dishes were much over emphasised. Cheese selection was again mediocre. My decaff. espresso was just warm. Petit 4 were also not impressive. The spending per head below excludes drinks and wine.

Never been more disappointed. Meal was ~$3500 for two.
2 soups, 1 appetizer, 2 entrees, and a bottle of red.

Only consolation was that the assistant sommelier was cool and absolutely knew his wines well.

2 soups.
First was supposedly chicken consomme (ravioli) -> tasted like wontons in beef broth.
Second was mushroom cappuccino -> tasted like Campbell's mushroom soup.

Foie Gras.
Foie Gras at a fine dining premium price. Okay, will let this slide. As they say, 'Willing to eat the salty fish...willing to endure the thirst'. But still a sick price for average seared foie.

2 entrees. Crazy Expensive.
This was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Grilled fish -> tasted like grilled fish. Asked for more lemon to blockout the dryness of it.
Veal cheek in blah blah blah sauce -> tasted like the local beef stew.

Wine.
This was the only good part so will let it slide. But again, it was at a sick premium.

Go for the wine to impress business clients. But don't take your friends or significant others for the food.

As a foodie, I've ultimately never needed to write a review before, so you could only imagine how far off that this place did not meet expectations.

Overall: Foodwise, this place is the epitome of the Emperor's New Clothes.

Heard about this restaurant and wanted to give it a try today while it's been a dull rainy day. Needed something to spice up my day.

Upon arrival, noted the reception was decorated as hotel reception or check-in counter. This is really cool. The restaurant actually has 3 stories. The ground floor has a bars area for those that arrived ealrier and wanted some drinks before their meal or any party hosted upstairs.

We were served at the 2nd floor. It had about 8 tables and 1 room. High ceiling and very nice decor. It's extremely quiet and it's filled with 6 tables while we visited.

Being the first time visitor, we ordered the tasting menu and the 4-course set dinner (HKD888 excluding service charge). We also ordered the lobster dish.

Before any starter, it came with some canape, the fresh salmon stuffed in a crispy cone.
1) The first course was green apple, lobster and caviar. It came with a very fresh green apple jelly and lobster with great testure.
2) The second course was fish and truffle - the taste and testure of the fish was not impressive as we wanted.
3) The third course was pigeon - the texture was perfect - very tender and juicy.
4) the fourth course was dessert - chocolate cake with few pieces of orange and icecream.

For the lobster we ordered, it came with foie gras. The testure was perfect. The foie gras was a bit cold.

To finish the meal, we were served with lemon cakes, chocolates and coffee. A very fulfilling dinner. The services was great - the waiters were very attentive and informative in introducing their dishes.

Today is our 11th wedding annivery. Have heard a lot of raving reviews on this restaurant so decided to give it a try. Interior decor was decent, as with one would expect. We were greeted warmly by the Maitre' D and we were seated at the main dining area. (Originally we were assigned to one of the 3 small tables next to the elevator but they moved us into the main hall since there was a cancellation. )

I ordered the 4 course tasting menu (salmon confit/alaskan crab with rice pilaf/ Kagoshima steak/cherry dessert) while my husband ordered Alaskan crab wtih angel hair/ roast pigeon. The steak and the alaskan crab with angel hair were both superb while the pigeon is very allright (we were quite full after the free hors d'œuvre (risotto with truflles and tuna tartar) and the nice bread !! Since I mentioned it was our wedding anniversary when I made my booking, the restaurant was thoughtful enough to give us a free chocolate cake with wordings on it and presented to us with a lit candle. It was extremely nice and considerate of them. The cake was awesome too.

Overall the experience is very pleasant. Service was excellent, food was very good. OK this restaurant is not cheap but wiht that kind of service, we will definitley go back again. I would strongly recommend the 4 course tasting menu (HKD 880) since it is pretty much food for value. 7 course tasting menu is at HKD 1380 - but think that would suit men more than ladies. We were soo full that we couldnt finish the petit fours...and they even packed that for us to take home together with the freshly baked madeline!