Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Robuchon a Galera, Macau


This restaurant was the first one we went to during our Hong Kong-Macau trip. I have to thank a friend, T, who told me about this restaurant during his last trip to Macau. I had planned my one day trip toMacau from Hong Kong tohave lunch in this restaurant. We took the morning ferry from HK to Macau. We got therre at around 11:30 and we took the free shuttle to Hotel Lisboa, where Robuchon is Located.



As soon as we were seated, I knew that I was going to have a great lunch. The interior was very elegant and classy. We were seatwed in a nice table by the window so I was happy that we had natural light, although the place was vey well lit. They brought us the menu which was set lunch menu. I had checked the website before going and saw that for the meat choices, they had steak Tartare, but looking at the menu they had given me, it was not here...horror.... I called the restaurant manager and asked him if it was possible for me to have the steak tarare and after checking with the Chef, he said that it was possible. At that point, I was in heaven...


They brought to our table the bread trolley with more than 30 kinds of diferent breads to choose form. We were so overwhelmed that we just askled them to prepare a basket for us. Then ordered our appetizers and our main course. I had the Lightly smoked foie gras and top of marinated mushroom with virgin olive oil and my wife had the White mushroom veloute on top of light bacon royale and parsley julienne. For the meats I had the Steak tartare specially made for me by the chef and my wife had the Hanger steak in french style with sauteed shallots and sauteed young potatoes.

All dishes were absolutely wonderful. The soup was so tasty I think it had some truffle oil. My dish was the mushroom which was very thinly cut and topped with foe. The crunchiness of the mushroom went very well with the taste of the foie gras. For our second dish, what can I say? The tartare was probably the best I've tried (I've only eaten a few but for me this was the best so far that I have tried). It was served with french fries and bread. It was not spicy at all and it had very small bits of crunchy bacon. Unlike other steak tartares I've tried, you could hardly taste the tabasco or mustard on this one, and it seemed to have some sort of cream. My wifes steak was also good and very tasty but at that point, all I could think about was the tartare...






After our main course, came the desserts (and more trolleys...) a total of 3 more trolleys were wheeled to our table. First they came with the dessert trolley. Then they came with the cheese trolley and to top it all off they came with the confectionaries trolley. At that point we did not even know what to choose so we had some few desserts and candies. They were forcing us to get more but we politely declined.




This was the first and probably the best meal we had during the trip. We had 2 other dinners (Nobu and Mortons) which I will post in a separate blog but value for money and quality, Robuchon was by far the best.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, Miguel.

I missed out on this place last year, such a pity as your account of it sounds so good. A friend of mine also recommended the Table du Robuchon in Landmark in HK side - he said go for lunch as it's almost half the price of dinner there.

I've been to the Ateliers de Joël Robuchon in Paris twice (Santi took Maite there after I told him about it). It's bar seating and you can watch the cooks prepare your food. Very nice, excellent food (my favorites were the langoustine-truffle "ravioli", lamb chops - served in the style of the Spanish chuletillas, and the cochinillo) - and more than adequate wine list (excellent 2002 village Chassagne Montrachet by M. Niellon and 2002 Pommard "les Saucilles" by JM Boillot available by the glass at around 20Euros each), and you spend materially less than at the "finer dining" Table du Robuchon (Paris).

Check it out next your there!

Miguel said...

Hi Noel,

Ill have to check the Other Robuchon in HK nest time...

I was in Paris last year (flew in from Barcelona so was there only for one day) and i missed out on Ateliers de Joël Robuchon. Santi had mentioned it to me but I didnt have time to go. I do plan to go there again my next trip to Paris maybe mid next year..

But Im hoping I can go to the one in HK sooner...some time early next year.

Anonymous said...

I'll be in France maybe in June or July next year and will be in Paris for a few days before coming home. Hopefully, we'll be there the same time. In any event, let me know before you go and I'll give you a list of good restaurants I've been to there.

Miguel said...

great - If ever I plan to go will be around May so Ill definite let you know.

Thanks

Rich said...

Miguel,
I've always heard that lunch at Robuchon a Galera was one of the best food values in this area of the world, but I haven't had the chance to visit yet. It sure looks worth seeking out from your writeup. The fact that the chef accomodated your request for the tartare was great. It sounds like they really try to take care of their customers!

Miguel said...

Rich - definitely well worth it. If you are in Macau or Hong Kong then you should go. Im not sure how the one in HK is but Im sure the food and service are superb.

I too was surprised that they accomodated my request of steak tartare (since we had a set lunch).

For the price we paid, it was very affordable and worht it.