We went easy on our recent Macau weekend trip with only one serious meal planned along with a couple casual lunches, and one of them was at a small restaurant called Root Macau. I have heard good things about the restaurant and the cooking of their chef Anthony, so we headed straight to the restaurant upon arriving at Macau late Saturday morning.
The restaurant is located in a quiet neighborhood not far away from Sands Macao – we hopped on to the hotel shuttle at Cotai Pier and it took us only 20 minutes to get there including a short walk across a park. I love the façade of the restaurant with the colorful tinted glasses (which looked totally different from outside to inside), and once we stepped in through the hidden door, the dining area was cozy and stylish with just a few wooden tables and chairs. While at night they serve a elaborate multi-course tasting menu, during the day their menu was much simpler with a few choices, and all of which were more than reasonably priced. Along with the choice for main course the set also came with appetizers and sides, with dessert as optional.
First to arrive was the salad followed by a couple canapes served on a wooden tray. Nothing too fancy about the salad – just a mix of local produce with a splash of a light dressing, but the canapes were great. One was a lightly cured salmon served on a tapioca crisp, and the other a sea urchin tartlet. Both were simple yet delicious. I was also impressed with my next course – what was described as “local clams, pomelo, dehydrated cherry tomato and creamy yuzu” was much more elaborate than I expected with stunningly beautiful presentation.
On top of a shallow bowl was baked rice paper topped with colorful condiments – edible flowers, micro-greens and dehydrated tomatoes. I was asked to break open the rice paper with the rest of the dish revealed underneath with giant clams, bits of pomelos, cream and a light broth, and I was told to mix everything together to eat. Again, lovely plating idea with unexpected flavors and I appreciate the creativity shown using common ingredients.
I picked beef as my main course. A thick slab of rib beef was done sous vide and served with demi-glace, spinach, shitake mushrooms and on the side, a bowl of rice topped with seaweed powder. There’s an Asian touch to it and the beef was tender and worked well with the intense sauce. The dessert looked straight forward but tasty – with chef’s rendering of the local mango and tapioca dessert with a mango icecream covered with soft meringue with a hint of salt and coconut, and at the bottom, tapioca and rice puff.
Nothing compared to what we had for dinner later on the same day, but this is definitely the pleasant surprise during this trip. Would love to be back for dinner some time for sure.
When? May 18 2019
Where? Root Macau, 323 Av. Xian Xing Hai, Macau
Menu Highlights? Local clams, pomelo, dehydrated cherry tomato and creamy yuzu
Drinks? 2017 Lima Mayer Subsidio Vinho Regional Alentejano
Web:
rootmacau.com
No comments :
Post a Comment