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

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

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

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

After 2 weeks barely leaving the house and binging on the beauty of the 2024 Paris Olympics , it’s nice to return to normal routine and hop across the border for a chilled lunch .

Man Wah @mo_hkg has held a Michelin star for 16 years now , recently refurbished it’s a beautiful room with a great view of HK harbour .

A large Hokkaido scallop cooked medium well rather than the en vogue mi-cuit , held up very well to a punchy porcini mushroom sauce . It’s Yunnan mushroom season now and I think they are outstanding so I would have been happy with mushrooms playing a larger role here but it was an excellent dish .

M9 Australian Wagyu was served with a fresh and floral black pepper sauce , with lily bulbs the main garnish .

Prior to this , a duo of excellent dim sum , Har Gao was fashioned into the shape of an edamame pod and the shrimp was paired with edamame and green chilli . Very satisfying .

Mushroom and crab dumpling was also very moorish .

The small sample of the dim sum skills was excellent and I would return just to make a solid dent in the 14 varietal dim sum menu . Less

A very memorable lunch and once again sometimes it only takes 1 dish , or in this case one food/ wine match to leave a long lasting impression.

Abalone liver sauce and chateau d’yquem is an absolutely astonishing pairing . The viscosity of both is similar , the clean linear abalone flavour absolutely swoons when in contact with the wine . This was truly one of the best matches I have ever had .

The aforementioned is the signature dish at the newly Michelin ⭐️ @sushikinetsu . Korean - Canadian chef Jay Myung is at the helm , he and his team previously ran Shinji by Kanesaka at the same venue pre-Covid .

Rumour is that a regular guest missed them so much that he took over ownership and brought back the old crew to resurrect the restaurant.

Sashimi and Otsumami dishes were excellent , a super sweet spot prawn , uni and caviar starter was a refreshing opening . This was followed by an excellent plump Hokkaido oyster .

Steamed Octopus and eggplant delivered in tenderness and flavour . Crab chawanmushi was perhaps a little pedestrian but the progression roared back with Ankimo stuffed into monaka wafer , equally cute and delicious . This was followed by excellent grilled Ayu and the aforementioned abalone .

Nigiri hit on all the seasonal fish of the moment .
The otoro was less fatty then I have had recently which was an interesting contrast .
Favourite pieces were the big reef squid with a little citrus and salt , and that tender yet sticky mouthfeel .
The Torigai and Uni were also excellent .

Didn’t realise until now that Suahi Kinetsu is open for lunch 5 days a week ( 11 services in all ) this is very welcome and dangerous news . Less

I will probably never have the privilege of dining at Sushi Saito in Tokyo but I have to say the HK outpost is very good . Maybe expectations are raised as it’s the sister shop to the legendary Tokyo institution but on face value the quality in HK is very high .

The lunch menu which seemingly caters to the finance bros who work in the area is a speedy affair , gone in less than 60 minutes .

A quartet of otsunami start the meal , the ankimo was of high quality and the grilled belt fish unctuous.

9 nigiri follow , loved the punch of the horse mackerel , the smoothness of the akami tuna and the uni was spectacular.

It’s a welcome development that Sushi Saito seems to be much easier to book these days with their reservation phone line now open every day rather than 1 day a month .

Menu below

Uni , ikura , yam and ice plant
Kegani and Karasumi
Ankimo
Tachiuo

Hirame
Shima Aji
Aji
Maguro trio
Uni
Anago
Maguro hand roll Less