COCONUTS CRITIC’S TABLE – Épure is exactly the kind of French restaurant Hollywood comedies like to make fun of. You know the scene: a regular guy takes his girl on a fancy date to impress her and the whole swanky affair ends up more stuffy than enjoyable.
Épure exudes that kind of rigid formality. Everything feels a little too self-important and overly ostentatious. This is a place that proclaims, “We are French fine dining, so please behave, s’il vous plait.”
As you step inside its gold gilded screen door, the blingy decor and elaborate floral motifs by design firm Yabu Pushelberg – best known for creating Lane Crawford, Chanel stores and five star hotels – is as intimidating as it is pleasing. As a guy, I also found it to be extremely feminine.
Daurade Royale
Hidden in the back of the Dalloyau patisserie and café, Épure isn’t directly connected to the over 300-year-old legendary pastry house, but it is operated by the same Hong Kong group and projects the same air of Parisian highfalutin-ness. To be fair, the waiters are not so snooty. Instead, they smother you with a little too much attention to be relaxing.
“Is this your first time here?” our server asks. Considering it only opened a couple of months ago, our answer was, “Yes.” “In that case, I recommend the tasting menu, which has many of our signature dishes.” Well, it does let you try more of their offerings than ordering from the equally pricey a la carte menu, where appetisers alone are in the HKD300 range. The tasting menu comes in a six courses (for HKD1,288) or eight courses (for HKD1,588). We thought six dishes was more than enough, especially since the fresh bread tray was delicious – and we’re suckers for fresh baked carbs.
Amuse Bouche & Mint Pea Soup
Dalloyau can trace its heritage back to the court of Louis the XIV. Épure is what a modern version of Versailles luxe might resemble. The thing is, being on a fourth floor space in Harbour City hardly befits its haute ambitions. Instead of a shopping mall, Épure’s aspirations would be much better housed in a historic hotel with chandeliers and grand staircases.
Executive chef Nicolas Boutin is no stranger to such five-star settings, with a résumé that includes tenure in hotels under names like Raffles, Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental. His amuse bouche were pleasing and appetizing bite-size nibbles of tomato and olive, a little mozzarella mousse and a crusty ball of strong goat cheese. Even more refreshing was a teacup of delicate pea mint gazpacho.
Foie Gras de Canard
No self-respecting French chef will purposely leave goose liver off his menu, so Boutin’s first proper course was Foie Gras de Canard prepared two ways, hot and cold. Both were paired with apricot from Provence and both were literally mouth-watering in their saliva-producing sourness.
Avocado & Crab Tourteau
The seared version had a warm piece of nectarine and a sour reduction underneath, while as a terrine, the foie had a thin apricot strip and a crispy cracker with mint and bergamot jelly. Both were enticing as an opener.
The next dish was a summery semi-set bowl of crab, avocado and lime in a tomato water jelly. These are all ingredients that work together, although the acidic lime tended to dominate the tomato’s umami consommé. So far, everything has been either very sweet or sour, making me think the chef is subliminally influenced by all the sweet Dalloyau confections around him.
Le Vol au Vent
Fortunately, the next dish hit just the right savoury note. Le Vol au Vent was a flaky pastry with a seared langoustine and fish with a light licorice coulis. The puff pastry was light as air – “it’s a secret recipe of the chef,” we were told – and the seafood rich and intense. As for the sauce, I would’ve been happy with a standard bisque instead of introducing another sweet, albeit anise, flavour to the mix.
There were two choices for the main. One was a seared sea bream with baby purple artichoke, aubergine confit and a sauce made from Gatinais honey. Yep, yet one more sweet jus. What saved the dish, however, was the wonderfully flaky, light and fresh piece of fish. I’m sure some would consider the entrée under seasoned but, personally, when seafood is really fresh I enjoy its unadulterated pure flavour. That’s the Cantonese in me, I suppose.
Challandais Duck & Peach
The other main course option was a roasted Challandais duck breast, which my dinner partner ordered. It came with a slice of peach and a carrot mousse. The pinkish fowl meat was fine, but by now my taste buds had reached their fructose quotient with the accompanying fruity sides. I felt like I’d already had a lot of sweets and we still hadn’t had desserts.
Dulcey 32%
The dolce portion of the menu started with a chocolate creation called Dulcey 32%, with two little rolls of ivory chocolate fudge made from the namesake cocoa and two quenelle of black currant sorbet. If I had not had so many tangy and sweet flavours already, I’m sure I would’ve loved this dish more. But the fudge, which had a small soft almond biscuit for texture, felt overly rich and the black currant had me puckering to the extreme.
It was almost a relief that the last course, a Grand Marnier soufflé with mandarin sorbet, was actually quite eggy. It was also a touch overcooked and dry, but the the marmalade-like bitterness of the Grand Marnier countered some of the meal’s truly over luscious elements.
Souffle au Grand Marnier
When the server presented the customary petite fours, not including a Dalloyau macaroon for us to take away after the bill, it just felt like a saccharine overkill. It might have been a gorgeous meal in an immaculate setting, but the thing I most wanted afterward was something savory.
Is Épure an impressive gastro experience? Sure. But the problem is that its refinement and creations feel generic, not unlike an enjoyable but forgettable romantic comedy. If you have a sweet tooth – and an insatiable appetite for cakes and macaroons – go to town with your inner Marie Antoinette here. But I was left hankering for a bite of a kebab.
Épure, Shop 403, 4/F, Ocean Centre, Harbour City, 17 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Tel. (+852) 3185-8338. Opens Lunch 12:30pm – 2.30pm (Mon – Sat), Dinner 6pm – 10.30pm (Mon – Sat).
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