Macau Sushi Trip

Did take a bit of convincing for me to go to Macau for a quick trip just for one meal but it's a quick trip that I didn't regret making - I'm talking about the sushi dinner I had at the new Sushi Kissho at Raffles just a month ago. Sushi Kissho is the latest outpost by Chef Masaaki Miyakawa, who has a few sushi-ya under his name including the 3-star namesake restaurant in Sapporo. Handling the day-to-day cooking at Sushi Kissho were chefs Norihisa Maeda, Hironori Satake and Mitsutero Sasaki while he would make occasional trips over. 

The ferry ride and chauffeured car took the three of us to this beautiful new hotel (as part of the Galaxy complex) in less than two hours. And after a drink at the crystal studded lounge (with the chandelier made with half a million crystals no less), we were led into the restaurant at one corner on the lobby floor, next door to the Teppanyaki restaurant which was also new (and just as great, I was told) 

I just came back from a trip to Tokyo when I went so the bar was set pretty high. First thing that impressed me was how spacious the place is with a long counter and huge kitchen right behind that truly like a show-stage for chefs - so unlike similar places in Hong Kong or even Tokyo where space came as high premium. We were served omakase style - that goes without saying - with a series of otsumami and sushi courses served in traditional order. 

With the restaurant's root in Hokkaido, there's no surprise that Hokkaido ingredients featured prominently during the course of our meal, especially uni (sea urchin) which were served first in one of the appetizer courses with Kumamoto eggplant (with both aka-uni and bafun uni), then served in a small bowl with shari and uni sauce towards the end. Both were top notch with such clean and sweet flavor of mafun uni from the top purveyor from Hokkaido that Chef Miyakawa developed a personal relationship with. 

The kuro-awabi was another remarkable one and one of the signature dishes. The piece from Shimane Prefecture was slow steamed, carved into thick slices and served with the liver sauce with a milder (and creamier) flavor than the usual one for better balance. I also enjoyed the sake served this evening, with the special edition Junmai Daiginjo by Sumikawa Brewery especially done for the restaurant owner using Aiyama rice.

As for the rest, I thought they were all outstanding, especially the akamutsu done "shabu-shabu" style and the classic Kohada prepared as nigiri sushi. With the spacious kitchen and 3 chefs working the floor, they managed the pace perfectly well - like just when Chef Satake was preparing our uni sushi, Chef Sasaki already started up the fire on the charcoal grill for the anago course that was served right after. Dessert was also prepared a la minute, with the monaka ice cream sandwiches "inscribed" with the restaurant's name, which also means prosperity. Chef also told us they have an alternative version with the word "勝", which means Win, which I am sure are more welcomed for those who would like to try their luck on the casino floor after.

The return journey seems a bit longer with the boundary crossing via land and bridges, but that only meant we had more time reminiscing all the great dishes we had.

When? July 23 2024
Where? Sushi Kissho by Miyakawa, Raffles at Galaxy Macau, Cotai, Macau
Menu Highlights? Shimane Kuro Awabi with Liver Sauce
Drinks? Toyobijin x Wa Creations Aiyama Junmai Daiginjo - Sumikawa Shuzo, Yamaguchi Prefecture
東洋美人 x Wa Creations 愛山純米大吟醸 - 山口県澄川酒造