Robuchon Au Dôme Macau

Salade nicoise is my childhood family salad . It’s certainly the salad I have had the most in my life , and in fact I had it at another restaurant earlier in the week . But I absolutely fell in love with the Salade Nicoise fine dining take at Robuchon au Dome .

The egg is perfectly soft boiled , the tuna belly and tomato concasee are a delicious combination, there is a vegetable driven sauce , spikes of acidity and spices . It is a terrific fresh and vibrant cacophony.

Prior to this was the iconic Imperial caviar dish - lobster jelly, cauliflower cream, parsley puree , king crab meat and caviar are a truly harmonious mouthful . The plating is stunning and for nerds like me who wondered there is 62-68 dots ( margin of error ) of the cauliflower and parsley sauces .

I don’t have frog legs often but the quote that they taste like chicken is a little misleading , I think they are closer to a mild white fish flavour . Here they were served with the claaaic garlic and parsley duo along with some girolles mushrooms.

A whole scampi was the filling of a proud raviolo , with some savoy cabbage and black truffle , what’s not to like .

Brittany lobster with a light lobster bisque , saffron rouillle , peas and squid ink tuile is a regular feature on Robuchon menus . It’s not usually my favourite preparation but today it almost made me change my mind . The bisque was nice and light and the interplay with the peas seemed to hit different .

Challans duck breast and foie gras were given the Rossini treatment , cherries were scattered in different forms including a cherry beer reduction , alongside almonds and the signature mashed potato .

Dessert was the usual choose your own adventure affair , whether it’s gorging on the cheese trolley or escaping with the dessert trolley , or both , it’s hard not to be satisfied . Less

Having tried every dish on the current tasting menu , the mission at Robuchon last night was to try the 3 dishes on the A La Carte menu that I had not as yet tried .

Started with a bang , white asparagus with Hokkaido sea urchin , black garlic and turmeric sauces . The fairly straight forward flavour profile of the Asparagus is a terrific canvas for the urchin , really loved this combination .

Next up were French morels , they were stuffed with more morels , and served atop a foie gras mousse and a chicken broth jelly . Thought the mousse/jelly combination was a little bland and the morels didn’t carry a lot flavour themselves , a few chefs have remarked that the Yunnan morels are better than the French and at least for those served in Macau I would agree .

Crisp scale Amadai was served with a melange of peas and bouillabaisse sauce . Crispy scale Amadai is certainly en vogue at the moment but not sure I really love the scales , they have to be shatteringly crisp for the dish to succeed and these weren’t .

The ship was certainly righted with a stellar cheese board which led to all sorts of happiness on my part .

While the food didn’t quite hit the mark this time, I will happily return soon to dig back into the signature dishes , the fact that the 17,000 strong wine list continually has plenty of amazing bottles available at below market price also makes returning here a no brainer . Less

This was the final restaurant to be done on a holiday that saw 17 Michelin stars being done in 5 days which was quite a trip and also superb as a glimpse of what Andy Halyer’s lifestyle must be like sometimes. And what this trip did, was actually expose where there are certainly holes within the reality of some places awarded the highest accolades. After our meal here at Robuchon au Dome however, it was a relief that this certainly was a special place for food. Set at the top of the Lisboa hotel in Macau and with reviews stemming across the web of the highest order, the expectation was naturally high. This is a danger area in itself as it can only serve as a shock if it does not meet this pre-conceived hope, however I can confirm it was highly special.

The amuse bouche and bread were fine and the fun aspect of the butter being scooped at the table was pleasing. The abalone and fish courses however, were in a different league and the sheer decadence of the multiple options were a treat for the eyes and a sumptuous affair for the mouth. There was real freshness from the sea in all of these 6 mini-dishes showing real care and attention and the congealed consommé with caviar and cream was simply luxury on a plate. The egg with cheese sauce and white truffle was sensational, the frogs legs utterly light and the champignon tartlets were beautifully seasoned with truffle oil with a very clever picture of a mushroom made out of mushroom powder. The knock out course however was the breadcrumb coated cheese soufflé with wagyu beef – this was a dish that from the moment I had the first mouthful I did not want it to stop.

The amuse bouche and bread were fine and the fun aspect of the butter being scooped at the table was pleasing. The abalone and fish courses however, were in a different league and the sheer decadence of the multiple options were a treat for the eyes and a sumptuous affair for the mouth. There was real freshness from the sea in all of these 6 mini-dishes showing real care and attention and the congealed consommé with caviar and cream was simply luxury on a plate. The egg with cheese sauce and white truffle was sensational, the frogs legs utterly light and the champignon tartlets were beautifully seasoned with truffle oil with a very clever picture of a mushroom made out of mushroom powder. The knock out course however was the breadcrumb coated cheese soufflé with wagyu beef – this was a dish that from the moment I had the first mouthful I did not want it to stop.

These sorts of moments instantly make you try to prolonge the experience as long as possible – a difficult position for anyone to be in(!). This course really was a sensation. The desserts and the dessert trolley in particular were fabulous and the floor manager who looked after us to an impeccable standard throughout the meal was with us the whole way; by the end he was practically wanting us to have the whole trolley, something we wished we could do if we had the capacity. After everyone had left, and being extremely polite I couldn’t not take the opportunity to have a quick tinkle on their Piano as is the most ludicrously opulent Baby Grand I have ever seen – and thankfully my Georgia on My Mind went down just about well enough to not be kicked out.

This was a fabulous and memorable feast. I suppose the expectation was so high that on the night that was the only self-imposed danger, as I had probably set my hopes up too much and was waiting for more fireworks. However, the quality of this meal was undeniable and it was a lovely experience to now have banked in the life-tick box category. An amazing meal.

https://major-foodie.com/robuchon-au-dome/
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