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Earlier in the year I received an invitation for a junket to the
City of Dreams in Macau, but I was completely buried in paperwork... working 7 days a week while trying to launch our new hedge fund, so I politely declined while citing the reason. A few months down the road, and I'm actually not that busy at work anymore... so when the invitation came a second time, I happily accepted the offer to spend 2 days in Macau trying out 3 of the restaurants in the hotel complex.
We were picked up at the ferry terminal and whisked to
Hard Rock Hotel Macau so we could check in a drop off our bags. I had the distinct pleasure of spending a few hours here late one evening a few years ago while I conducted a key board meeting for another hedge fund - and elicited strange looks from the staff because I was checking out only a couple hours after checking in. This time I'd actually spend the entire evening here...
Lunch was at
The Tasting Room in the
Crown Towers Macau next door, and I was met by Natalie from the City of Dreams who accompanied Hello Kitty and I. We were quickly introduced to
Chef Guillaume Galliot, whose cuisine I enjoyed very much on
my first visit last year. We took our seats and waited for our 4-course lunch to arrive.
But first, a little bubbly. The house very generously offered us a glass of
Fleury Blanc de Noirs Brut to start, which was a little yeasty at first, medium-bodied with nice acidity, seemingly nicely balanced. After some food, palate changed and acidity became more prominent.
Not wanting to get too drunk from lunch (like I usually do in Macau), I declined the offer of more Champagne... and also nixed the idea of ordering from the wine list.
Our
amuse bouche was a beautiful
beetroot ravioli, stuffed with diced beetroot and obsiblue prawns. When we first heard the words "beetroot", both Hello Kitty and I had speech bubbles popping out of our heads with "........" inside... Well, neither of us enjoy the earthy flavors from beetroot, but we don't hate it enough to list it among our "dietary restrictions". Anyway, we were relieved to find out it wasn't red beetroot but white... which was basically like turnip or kohlrabi. The diced raw obsiblue prawns were sweet and beautiful. Dressed with crab eggs on top and a few dots of mango sauce on the side. Lovely and clean flavors, and a refreshing start to our lunch.
