April 7th, 2008 pkuan
For me, dining out is a very joyful and satisfying culinary experience. But it is rare to find good food in an environment which actually makes eating out fun. The Kitchen on Level 3 of the Grand Lisboa hotel manages to combine a fun dining environment with some seriously good food.
In Macau, it’s rare to find good bread, good salad (and I’m not talking about frozen shrimp with mayo or a lettuce leaves with thin slices of tomatoes drowned in Thousands Islands dressing), steak and fresh sashimi. At The Kitchen, you’ll find them all, and it’s designed so that greedy folk like me can have all of it in one sitting.
It’s a really fun concept too, because all the food, from the wagyu, prime rib, veal etc, are all displayed in a glass case. The salads buffet is for customers to help themselves to while waiting for their mains, and the live seafood in tanks await their fate while the sashimi displayed to the customers is simply mouthwatering.
It’s all incredibly fresh, hands-on and appealing. Diners are encouraged to interact with the chefs, who cook in the open kitchen either in the ovens or the grill. Discuss the finer points of grilling a 4-inch thick Porterhouse steak, and which of the 12 home-made sauces it will go best with.
Believe me, it looks delicious, smells delicious, and the taste isn’t a letdown.
One highlight for me was the homemade bread, baked fresh in front of your eyes by a German chef. There are two varieties of breads on offer – a buttery soft mint-chocolate brioche with virtually melts in your mouth and a totally satisfying country loaf – crisp on the outside and chewy in the inside. The bread is baked only after you arrive, and served up in whole loaves so you can see the steam escape when you slice it up.
I was tempted to rip into it with my hands – it has been that long since I’ve had freshly baked bread - but had to remind myself to show some restraint. A sad note is that these breads are not for sale, but are complimentary for diners, so you’ll have to come back here for your fix. If you ask nicely however, they’ll pack away a fresh loaf or two to take away – (FOC) free of charge!
We started with the sashimi, which was beautifully displayed in a crystal bowl.
The two fishbowls containing little Japanese crabs have more than just an aesthetic purpose. Those little critters are actually bar snacks which can be eaten whole (alive!) or deep fried and apparently taste good with sake.
I would like to say no crabs were harmed during the writing of this post, but Chinese writer Trevor - who is braver than me, ate two of these crabs, and proclaimed they were “tasty”.
Our porterhouse, while intimidating in size, actually went down a treat – especially when paired with the home made mushroom sauce recommended by the chef.
Save some room for dessert. The French chef makes the most divine lifght and fluffy creations which are well worth busting that diet for.
Guys and gals, don’t forget to pay a visit to the bathroom. You’ll be in for a surprise - the gent’s has a transparent moneybooth - activated by the wash basin. As for the ladies’ - check it out for yourself.
For more restaurant details, click here.
April 7th, 2008 pkuan
The undisputed King of Mandopop played a sell-out concert at The Venetian Macao-Hotel-Resort on Saturday night. And he broke his image of a cool, private, slightly aloof musician – charming his 15,000-strong audience with his brand of unique humor and his cheeky antics.
Comprised of 15,000 fans mainly in their teens and 20s, many of them waving banners and placards with tributes emblazoned, the rabid enthusiasm visible in the facees of the audience left no question as to why the rather expensive tickets had sold out weeks ago.
The pop star made an appearance just after 8.30pm in an outrageous operatic headdress with what looked like hair extensions and acknowledged fans from Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. After seeing fans enthusiastically waving glow sticks (which had been banned) in the air, he encouraged those that had managed to sneak them past security to throw them on stage, so he could use them as drumsticks.
Throughout the 2-hour concert, he continued to tease and chide the crowd – and they lapped it all up with glee. He chided the audience, accusing them that they probably only came to Macau to gamble, rather than to see his show (we’re guessing he was referring to the portion that were old enough to step into a casino). With members of his family, including his grandmother and mother in the audience, he told the protesting crowd: “My mum told me not to go to casinos because you’ll lose a lot of money. I only came to this casino to see you all.”
He then added cheekily, that he probably would gamble later, so “see you around”. According to an article on batgwa.com, in an interview after the concert, the Jay admitted that he did gamble (we assume with the high rollers) and lost HKD20,000.
He had a lot more luck on stage than on the gaming floor however. He certainly delighted the crowd by throwing his performance props including what must have been a very light pair of nunchuks and a cane into the audience and showed he could multitask, by singing while playing the piano.
Jay once again showed his diverse talents, with street and break-dance moves (which while not boy band material) were proficient enough) and strong clear vocals.
If you couldn’t understand what he was singing, it was through no fault of the sound system – his trademark style of mumbling while singing meant it was difficult to discern the lyrics. Thankfully – forward thinking meant some bright spark had arranged for the lyrics were projected on a huge overhead screen, allowing fans who hadn’t memorized the words to sing along.
In what Jay said was a first in all his years in performance, he announced that he would do something “special” - which was bringing a fan up on stage to sing a duet. At this point, the fans right until the back of the Arena started to surge forward, and had to be restrained by security. After saying he was looking for a good singer, a bunch of clear-headed fan club members singled out one female member. Jay asked security to bring up the young and surprisingly calm fan, who then proceeded speak in broken Mandarin to him, even after Jay told her he could understand Cantonese. The lucky girl then got to sing a duet with him, before being ushered back to reality by security.
She wasn’t the only one who got to interact with Jay. In an exercise which probably proved a major headache for Venetian security, Jay came down from his pedestal, right past the barricades, and continued singing while shaking hands with people in the audience. His crowd-pleasing behavior stopped at removing his top – although the hunky male dancers stripped off, much to the delight of the female fans.
Jay had another surprise in store. For his first encore, he disappeared for a while, only to appear on a mini-stage at the back of the Arena, winning brownie points of the fans who could only afford the cheapest tickets, and creating surge to the back.
One put it quite eloquently, saying: “I thought he was ugly, but up close, he looked pretty good. He exuded confidence and was charming, and smiled a lot more than I thought he would.”
Jay left by a side door, and reappeared back on the stage to perform a few more numbers. Over 20 songs, and more than 2 hours, and 15,000 happy customers.
Yay for Jay.
April 1st, 2008 pkuan
Look out Macau! The name’s Mini and I’ll be heading to Sin City from April 17 to 20 with my two sidekicks, Romp and Chomp. Let’s hope they live up to their names.
Stay tuned for strip club adventures, gastronomic discoveries and ahem, the deflowering of an innocent young man.
By the way, Su, I would go to Fiddy with you if you got us free tickets. *Hint hint*
April 1st, 2008 pkuan
This is Yoshimi’s new friend
This is her dinner of Hainanese Chicken Rice
*Disclaimer*
The bird (above) is of no relation to the bird (top)
It is in fact, authentic Hainanese Chicken Rice, made by the original Singapore Meritus Mandarin Hotel’s Chatterbox Chef, who is now based in Rasa Singapura, which is located in The Venetian’s Festivita Foodcourt.
A few of us from the Macau.com team recently went out for dinner at 3-Monkeys restaurant, located in St. Mark’s Square in The Venetian Macao. Owned by a Singapore group, Solutions17, which also manage World Wide Wings - a sports bar offering 40 types of chicken wings and over 30 types of beer (that’s where Yoshimi’s chicken friend lives), Rasa Singapura, which specializes in Singapore dishes, all at The Venetian.
Other than the Hainanese Chicken Rice, which came with lashings of ginger, dark soy sauce and chilli, we also got the Singapore laksa. (above)
I realized I had bitten off a little more than I could chew when my dish of beef spare ribs arrived. (above)
That must be one big cow. And yes, that is genuine chilli padi and sambal to the right. Apparently the beef ribs is shipped over from the U.S. and takes up so much space, it is stored in a warehouse, and pulled out as needed.
After a soup, appetizers and picking at other people’s food, I managed to make a reasonable dent in the ribs.
I was even tempted when the sizzling fajitas were delivered to the table next door.
Apparently, the burgers here are to die for.
I have walked past 3-Monkeys on several occasions and always get distracted by the giant grinning plush toy monkeys that are hanging around the premises. It may be a family-friendly jungle-themed restaurant, but believe me, there is nothing childish about the portions of food - which are gorilla sized.
There are 300 toy monkeys altogether in the restaurant, collected from around the world. The owners say their friends grab whatever monkey they see on their travels bundle them up in glad wrap, chuck them in cargo and fly them over to Macau.
According to Gwen (above, far left), who runs sister cafe - the iconic Monkey’s Cafe in Orchard Towers in Singapore, many of them are so big, that many would require their own seat, if they were brought on board. And yes, we hear that the drycleaning bills are huge.
Despite the fact, they are the delight of many children, who squeal and clutch at the furry critters, grown-ups aren’t immune to the charms of a giant grinning soft toy monkey either.
For restaurant information, click here.
March 31st, 2008 pkuan
Who says Macau has no nightlife?
Last Wednesday, the party at Bellini Lounge started early, and was still pumping, when we left at 3am.
Free drinks, cool chicks, every Wednesday night, it’s Ladies Nitz at The Venetian’s Bellini Lounge from 10pm.
A cool lounge bar located on the casino floor of The Venetian the Bellini Lounge is a laid-back venue during the day and place to dance and party by night.
Free drinks, hot music = happy girls
Vodka and gin were the main drinks of choice. But the lucky ladies were also treated to Cosmopolitans and Kamikaze shooters.
The girls were definitely here to party. Mostly expatriates and tourists aged from their mid 20s to late 30s, it was a sophisticated crowd that knew how to have fun.
And boy, did the girls dress for the occasion.
Male bartenders also put on a show behind the bar, with their flaming flaring skills. Whether it was two bottles or 3, they juggled them with amazing acrobatic ease.
See you next Wednesday at Bellini Lounge!
3 comments »
