Lai Heen. Credit: Lai Heen
Thanks to its reputation as the Las Vegas of the East, Macau has lured top chefs from around the world to open glamorous dining experiences. From French fare to exquisite Cantonese dishes, the former Portuguese territory has become a regional mecca for all things delicious.
Pair haute cuisine with opulent interiors, panoramic views and superlative service and you’ll feel on top of the world — at times, literally — while dining out in Macau. Here are a few of the city’s top tables.
Lai Heen
For world-class Cantonese cuisine in a modern setting, this chic Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star venue is hard to beat. Macau’s highest Chinese restaurant is on the 51st floor of Five-Star The Ritz-Carlton, Macau.
The beloved address sports a dreamy design featuring deconstructed Portuguese ceramics, intricately carved wooden pavilions, water features, silk-covered pillows and contemporary artwork.
Whether visiting for dim sum or dinner, you can expect consistently excellent cuisine from the hands of chef Bill Fu. Highlights include pear-shaped dumplings, steamed crab claw with egg white lobster bisque, braised pork belly with preserved vegetables, and char-grilled Iberico pork.
Robuchon au Dôme. Credit: Robuchon au Dôme
Robuchon au Dôme
Though acclaimed chef Joël Robuchon passed away earlier this year, his legend lives on in kitchens around the world. In Macau, for example, Four-Star Robuchon au Dôme wows with its top-floor perch beneath the vaulted glass ceiling of Grand Lisboa Hotel.
The space is lavishly glamorous in every respect, with a live pianist at the entrance, a roving champagne cart, a Swarovski crystal chandelier and 16,800-plus wine labels on offer — this is a special occasion restaurant fit for royalty.
When it comes to the menu, you can choose to dine à la carte, but we’d recommend opting for the nine-course tasting to savor a flavorful tour of signatures, such as le caviar (caviar-topped jelly dotted with cauliflower cream and peas) and l’oeuf de poule (soft-boiled egg with baby spinach puree and aged Comté mousse).
In either case, expect to be showered with treats from the bread, cheese and dessert carts from start to finish.
Nikkei Cebiche at Aji. Credit: David Hartung
Aji
With its fiery crimson-and-slate interiors, this Japanese eatery at comes to Macau by way of Peru. Helmed by Peruvian-born Japanese star chef Mitsuharu Tsumura (of acclaimed Lima restaurant Maido), the MGM Cotai concept is the first and only to serve Nikkei cuisine (a mashup of Japanese and Peruvian flavors) in Macau.
An apt moniker, the restaurant’s name means “taste” in Japanese and “chili pepper” in Spanish — and there are plenty of fiery tastes throughout.
Providing a whirlwind tour of Tsumura’s greatest hits, the inventive, nine-course Aji Experience menu serves dishes such as cebiche, octopus anticucho, nigiri, beef tongue, and black cod — which all pair well with Peruvian-inspired cocktails or hard-to-find Japanese wines.
The Eight. Credit: The Eight
The Eight
Hailed as one of the best Cantonese restaurants in the world, this elegant dining room also resides within Grand Lisboa Hotel. Stepping through a discreet corridor, you’re immediately transported far from the baccarat tables outside. The main dining room dazzles with a crystal ball hanging in its center, lucky figure-eight motifs and hand-sewn silk tapestries depicting swimming goldfish.
At the esteemed address, executive chef Joseph Tse has become known for his artful attention to detail and use of premium ingredients. Favorites include the hedgehog-shaped char siu bao (barbecue pork buns), goldfish-shaped har gao (shrimp dumplings), chrysanthemum tofu soup, suckling pig, roasted pork belly and, for the adventurous eater, jellyfish head with vintage black vinegar.
To enhance the experience, ask about the 16,800-plus-label wine menu, which traverses Old and New world vintages.
Alain Ducasse at Morpheus’ Farm Veal Chop. Credit: Alain Ducasse at Morpheus
Alain Ducasse at Morpheus
Just opened at the new Morpheus hotel — one of late star architect Zaha Hadid’s last works — the namesake restaurant of acclaimed chef Alain Ducasse brings his French flair to the third floor of this futuristic, sculptural structure.
Decked out in pendulum-like glass installations, muted natural tones and hand-blown candleholders, the destination dining room offers signatures such as Mediterranean gamberoni (large prawns) topped with gold caviar, steamed duck foie gras with cherry-rhubarb sauce on toasted brioche, and a farm veal chop alongside multi-colored young carrots.
To one side, glass shelves dubbed the “Cabinet of Curiosities” house dozens of Ducasse’s personal possessions, from antique Baccarat crystalware to Christofle glassware, gelatin molds to copper pots, artworks and cutlery.
Just behind the priceless collection, an intimate wine cellar gives a peek at vintage ports from the 1800s and handpicked champagnes while an incredibly exclusive chef’s table lies behind a secret door inside a glass-enclosed room overlooking the kitchen. To sit in this coveted spot, you’ll need to know someone.
