My last visit to Feng Wei Ju was definitely before COVID, so I am glad to make it back during one of my recent Macau trips in March. A quick ride in the car get us from our hotel in Cotai to the restaurant in 20 minutes, located in the older part of Macau inside Starworld Hotel. I felt the décor didn’t change much since my last visit, with the casual vibe typical of just about any Chinese restaurant, but this time they set us up in one of their private room at the back so it’s kinda nice.
The restaurant specializes in Sichuan and Hunan cuisines by the team headed by long-time veteran chef Chan Chek Keong and they got their 2 Michelin stars for as long as I remembered.
We started our tasting menu with the cold appetizer platter served in individual plates. I love the abalone with the rich flavor, having marinated with peppercorns and chilis, and the razor clams got this nice numbness kick with the grounded Sichuan peppercorns added.
I was impressed with the soup dumpling which was served next. The dumpling was huge – taking up the whole bowl – with the wrapper skin so delicately thin. We were told to break open the wrapper skin and let the soup and filling spilled into the bowl, and inside it was the silky tender pork and crab roes steamed to perfection with all the flavor infused into the superior broth. It’s more a soup course but with nice texture and lots of rich flavor.
Spicy flavor played a big part in Sichuan cuisine and this time we had a few dishes of those, each made with different level of spiciness and different flavor profile too. The mandarin fish in hot chili oil was my favorite, with the whole fish carefully carved into fillets and served with red hot chili oil and hint of herbs. The carp fish head – also known as reservoir fish head as the carp was raised in reservoirs in nearby Shunde – was poached and served with chopped pickled chilies. Similar in appearance as the mandarin fish dish but with a slightly more complex flavor profile using pickled chilies and served with deep-fried bread dough to take in some of the flavor from the sauce.
The beef was plated like western style, with pieces of beef ribs braised with chili sauce infused with lotus leaf aroma. The beef was cooked super tender and fell right off the bone, and filled with nice flavor from the marinate. The pok choi in fish broth with mashed taro was perhaps the mildest dish of the afternoon and worked just perfect to balance some of the richer dishes we had.
Dan dan noodles were made right in front of us by the specialty chef, carefully pulled from dough to thin threads of noodles which was cooked and served with the spicy meat sauce. And we finished with the cold dessert of classic Sichuan jelly noodles with Glutinous Rice Dumpling, the perfect kind of dish to counter the heat in the food and of the weather. I also enjoyed the sugar-coated purple potato fritters, made a la minute and served hot and crispy.
I also enjoyed the wine pairing, with a flight of Chinese wines to go with the dishes. The Blanc de Noir from Grace Vineyard was the most interesting one, rich enough to go with the rich flavor, but with nice vibrant taste that worked well with the spiciness.
More photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/g4gary/albums/72177720315711427/
When? March 13 2024
Where? Feng Wei Ju, Level 5, Starworld Hotel, Avenida Da Amizade, Macau
Menu Highlights? Boiled Mandarin Fish Fillets in Hot Chili Oil
Drinks?
Grace Vineyard Angelina Cabernet Franc Sparkling Wine NV, Shangxi, China
2022 Legacy Peak Chardonnay, Ningxia, China
2019 Silver Heights Jiayuan Marselan, Ningxia, China
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