Peter Verey

6 days in Tokyo has somehow led to 6 sushi omakase bookings , started off last night with what surely will be the most unique of the 6 in terms of style . Sushi sho masa and its owner Masakatsu Oka is devoted on staying true to his mentor Sushi Sho founder Keiji Nakazawa , one of the most influential sushi chefs in the world today . Nakazawa left Japan in 2016 and opened a restaurant in Hawaii , apparently after 7 years he decided he didn’t think much of Island life and just opened his latest venture in New York a few months ago.
Back in Tokyo , there are around a dozen Sushi Sho disciples who carry on his tradition with his blessing .
While I am far from an expert , it appears the sushi sho style leans very traditional Edomae , with a focus on aging as well as a variety of at times strong garnishes .

Generosity is also a Sushi Sho trademark and chef Oka has taken it to the next level here , offering a 54 piece sushi onslaught ( it hovers anywhere between 40 and 60 on a nightly basis ) . It is an astonishing amount of food but I can honestly say that it was only the last few bites where palate fatigue kicked in .

Favourite pieces were Aji with red miso, milky Hokkaido oyster, best Aori Ika I have ever had , Ankimo , Fresh ikura only marinated for 90 seconds and the signature “Mille feuille” of Otoro which was a pale as good prosciutto , sliced very thinly and layered with 4 dabs of wasabi which cut thru the fat incredibly.
Service takes just shy of 3 hours but time does fly , English speakers are well catered for , with the Chef speaking sneaky good English and his assistant is a young chef from Macau who was very excited to see a Macau phone number on his upcoming booking list !

Seems I managed to snag 48 photos out of the 54 and the whole menu or my attempt at it is listed in the comments below, with a couple of ingredients which I clearly misheard . Less

Absence makes the heart grow fonder and that’s also true for the stomach . Having not returned for 5 months , it somehow seemed that everything @ottoemezzobombana_macau tasted especially delicious .
Let me start with the meticulous details that they get right . Starting off with the warmest of welcomes before even entering through the front door. I always rave about the service here so I won’t repeat myself too much but two of their FOH superstars are currently away , and the service team didn’t miss a beat , the roster of excellence runs deep !!
Let’s talk about the bread , the ciabatta is first rate, great for dipping in olive oil or indulging in Scarpetta. If possible the beer sourdough is even better , love the malty notes .
The trademark “caprese “ amuse bouche has had a face lift with mozzarella now being joined by burrata and straciatella, but it’s the tomato water that steals the show , floral and full of flavour, it really showcases tomato season .
Now to the food … @riccardolaperna ability to offer rustic Italian dishes with class and style is never in question.

Foie gras is served in the style of Mont Blanc dessert , with a spiced jelly , nuts and brioche . It’s light and moorish .
Cacio e Pepe veers away from tradition with the addition of Porcini mushrooms and parsley emulsion . The tagliatelle had great flavour and texture and the parsley gave the dish a burst of freshness .
A “simple” serve of Sicilian prawn pasta followed, the prawn was lightly cooked , the light tomato sauce coated the pasta perfectly .
Really enjoyed the Milanese risotto which despite being fortified with veal jus and bone marrow remained very light on the palate .
Maruya beef strip loin is perfect for those looking for a rich savoury finale , paired with a deep celeriac purée and beets .
Desserts started with a new to the menu dish which had its debut last night , raspberry and pistachio with a yoghurt sorbet is a terrific combo .
And for the grand finale , a rustic Rhubarb tart , the rhubarb is cooked slowly in strawberry juice and takes on a lot of the sweetness and floral notes which beautifully restrains the astringency .

Returning ASAP ! Less

Absolutely blown away by the savoury crescendo of an excellent September menu @yimorpheusmacau by @wong_angelo

Wagyu beef on tasting menus can be a bit tiresome but this was on a sky high level . The beef is treated in the char Siu fashion and the glaze matches beautifully with the fattiness of the protein , red rock rice (braised and crispy) along with preserved radish brings great texture . This dish was all pleasure .

The menu started a little slowly but delightfully continued to build .
Up first was generous Hokkaido snow crab buried beneath a quarter of eggs ( Filipino crab roe , caviar , egg white spheres , egg yolk dressing ) . Dispersing the caviar through the dish made this very satisfying but would have loved a drop or two of acid .

Double boiled soup always gets a guernsey on the Yi menus , this time fish maw and velvet mushrooms are the star and I kept my 💯 record of burning my mouth on this soup intact .

Red grouper was steamed on fig leaf alongside lily bulbs and chanterelles. The fig flavour was noticeable but I did miss the excellent sauces and oils that grouper is usually paired with here .

The menu sprung into life on the following dish , an absolutely perfectly fried langoustine with zucchini flower and a shrimp/ red pepper sauce . The technique here really paid dividends .

Australian abalone was baked with Macanese curry sauce which was a terrific nod to the local cuisine . This is rarely done by the high end restaurants here and this was a great tribute .

The signature Zhongshan 23 day old pigeon was a delicious mess as usual , love the lemongrass flavour on this dish .

Prior to the standout Wagyu dish was an excellent creative creation. Tomato was stuffed with corn and quinoa and served with a chicken and beetroot glaze . The dish was gorgeous to look at and very comforting to eat .

Dessert was also a hit with a gigantic peach Mochi complimented by an aloe Vera and oolong tea sauce .

After three visits in 2023, this was a long overdue visit to Yi in 2024, definitely one of my favourite restaurants in Macau . Less

I was very curious when @mora_hongkong launched during the pandemic . A fine dining restaurant dedicated to Soy ..? I assumed it would be vegetarian, I was wrong . I assumed the range of flavours might be limited , I was wrong .
The multi course menu traverses across layers of textures and despite soy being featured in every dish there was no issue with any monotony. Rather it was a terrific and delicious education .

My favourite dish was a perfect scallop accompanied by a fermented tofu clam jus which had a nice restrained funk to it , beneath the scallop was a layer of fresh tofu skin and garlic and Shiso oils brought the aromatics .

A bean curd tartlet started the meal , the tart shell also made of tofu skin could easily fool anyone that they weren’t having pastry , the filling contrasted soy with pumpkin and chestnut along with a pumpkin seed pesto .

Deep fried tofu wasn’t at all oily , matched with a powerful sesame sauce and tender local baby squid .

Abalone noodle was also a standout , the broth here stood tall , a combination of soy milk and chicken bouillon it was beautifully thick and creamy . This was very reminiscent to the mouthfeel of a good carbonara .

A choice of Roasted Duck or Crispy Threadfin for main course , both proteins were perfectly cooked , the soy components were hard tofu and smoked soy beans respectively.

Lap Cheong Sausage rice was a homely savoury finale , soy bean paste gave it excellent length on the palate .

Cannot go wrong with Tofu pudding as dessert , alongside Black rice ice cream and persimmon compote , this rounded out a truly enjoyable meal . Less

Chef @chefvickycheng had been the hottest name in HK F&B for a while now , even when I visited Paris earlier this year Bruno Verjus was absolutely raving about him .

So I was well overdue for a first taste of his food , rather than kick things off at Wing , I thought starting at Vea would be a good introduction.

A very impressive meal it was , the dance of Chinese and French ingredients and techniques interplayed beautifully , every dish was thoughtful and delicious . Love the restaurant long counter set up as well .

The first dish of the night may have been my favourite.
Shima Aji and cucumber were both served as carpaccio and tartare , and dressed with longan juice and chive oil . Savoury and sweet , this reminded me of childhood cold cucumber soup , absolutely visually striking as well .

Brittany blue lobster was touched with only a whisper of heat , and combined with local squid , snap peas and snow cabbage , terrific again .

Sea cucumber is stuffed with a Tiger prawn farce but thankfully the farce keeps a lot of texture , served with a light crustacean broth and then augmented with sprays of aged yellow wine . This one hits all the senses .

A surprisingly thick cross section of Rough Scale Flounder was topped with a stuffed zucchini flower ( miss seeing this on menus ) , and served with tiny Bo-Kak mussels , these little seasonal gems are barely the size of a pinky nail but they make their presence felt !

Before the main course , a little comfort food . Yunnan matsutake mushrooms are prepared in a variety of textures and well matched to congee .

French pigeon is perfectly grilled and paired with carrot, apricot and five spice , all these flavour profiles are firm friends . Bulletproof dish .

We ease into dessert with a simply stunning piece of fruit , end of season Nagano peach is the floral sweet flavour that you wish all peaches would be , simply served with a dollop of jasmine infused cream , the dual floral notes soothe and inspire.

Final course is a petit bateau of Tarte Tatin camouflaged by fresh slices of Granny Smith apples .
Accompanied with burrata ice cream as well as apple and Chinese celery ice cream.

Terrific meal !! Less

There’s a lot of change in the F&B offerings @wynn.macau this year but it’s great to have Wing Lei celebrating 15 straight years at the Michelin 2 star level . It’s a blessing to have such a quality venue where you can pop in for a 40 minute lunch and be completely satisfied .

The Ha Gao looked pristine and tasted just as good .
The carp fish balls in fish broth are probably not everyone’s favourite as the dish is unapologetically fish forward but i very much enjoy it .
Layered bean curd skin with fish paste in soy soup was new to me and i will certainly order again .
While bean curd skin was also the carrier for a nice traditional melange of crab meat and matsutake , can’t fault .

Suckling pig and toast was sandwiched with mango and cucumber , this traditional suckling pig preparation almost tasted western and gave nostalgic Porchetta sandwich vibes which brought me back to many a farmers market .

Chilled abalone marinated in sake lees rounded out the lunch , the abalone was super tender and almost creamy . Less

A quiet dim sum lunch is one of Macau’s great pleasures .

Zi Yat Heen is a perfect spot for ordering all the classics .

Hairy crab Xiao long bao
Abalone puff with mixed mushrooms
Chaozhou style pork dumpling ( love these )
Har Gao

And for something clean to finish , tiger prawns with Gai lan and olive .

Some pu’er tea , an oaky Chardonnay and it’s a recipe for serene enjoyment . Less

Anan Saigon was the first and only restaurant in Vietnam to be bestowed with a Michelin Star last year ( has been joined by a handful more this year ) .

Chef Peter Cuong Franklin has a varied CV which includes Caprice in HK, Nahm in Bangkok and Alinea (Chicago ) . His tasting menu seeks to reinterpret classic Vietnamese dishes in a fine dining context which is a tall task . I find these type of concept menus are very difficult to pull off and they pigeon hole chefs into a corner rather than really allowing their creativity to shine and just cook !
However this was a fun interpretation with a mix of traditional and molecular techniques , which resulted in a largely successful meal even if the soul of these dishes were sometimes missing .

Best courses were the Caviar Banh Nhung - street waffle filled with smoked salmon mousse , salmon roe , caviar and crème fraiche . Haven’t had salmon dip for years and honestly this was just delicious .

Canh Chua river prawn had delicious sweet and sour soup alongside well grilled prawn , clam, prawn mousse and okra . Fresh and lively this dish really sang .

The Bun Cha Bourdain was an homage to both Bourdain and Obama who had the OG dish in Hanoi , this was a terrific one bite dish but would have preferred a larger format version .

Grilled Saigon pigeon was served with betel leaf , sticky turmeric rice and excellent sticky pigeon jus . This was a great French Vietnamese riff of a dish . Less

Pleasure to return to @alainducasseatmorpheusmacau and catch up on what @cedricsatabin and his team are working toward . A slight rejig of the direction of the menu has them currently focusing on both Signature dishes from Mr.Ducasse portfolio and also slight twists on traditional French favourites.

The first adjustment occurred in the opening dish , the famous Gamberoni dish with crustacean gelee had been slightly altered . Scottish langoustine is now the hero ingredient , it is lightly marinated in olive oil and the heads are used to create a creamy emulsion , a light fish broth compliments along with the caviar . The dish looks the same at first glance but is noticeably lighter on the palate .

Foie Gras is steamed ( a new preparation for me , although apparently it is a little old school ) and paired with a terrific fig and duck ham tart , more fig garnish and duck jus round out the plate .

Hokkaido scallops are gently seared and armed with a scallop skirt beurre Blanc , elements of seaweed and watercress punctuate a dish full of classic flavours .

A superbly cooked Guinea fowl is the final savoury salvo , along with two chicken jus of different weight and taste which amalgamate beautifully .

The cheese course is unchanged and the Comte is always a sure bet .

An extra dessert from the team of @jonathanduranm and @dongniixu was gleefully accepted , especially as i am very fond of Apple desserts . This was a precise take on Tarte Tatin alongside an excellent buckwheat ice cream .

The final dessert was a myriad of Chocolate and coffee textures , the coffee using Ethiopian beans were fruity rather than overpowering .

Wine service was as usual outstanding with much joy found in a Single Vineyard Jaquesson Champagne of which only 2500 bottles are produced and my first Tango with Chateau Ausone was even more memorable. Less

Was in the mood to go hit up the wine list at @grandlisboahotel and landed on a lovely Chassagne-Montrachet at around 40% below current retail price .

The food hit the mark as well , Chicken with pomelo is a dish I first had here when visiting Macau 9 years ago and i still love it . The chicken skin is fried until it’s bronzed and crisp, the flesh is marinated in pomelo juice and quickly braised . It is jumbled together with in season Thai pomelo and is a lovely savoury, sour , refreshing dish .

Winter melon is hollowed out and filled with chicken broth and seafood , you scrape at the melon with every bite , nourishing and tasty .

Spotted garoupa is stir fried with a punchy XO sauce , the show is almost stolen by the accompanying snap peas , perfectly cooked and bursting with flavour.

The classic white and black sesame pudding rounded out a successful visit . Less