White diamonds of ALBA at 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana

As the weather is cooling down, I took this opportunity to go Macau to experience the Grand Resort Deck at Galaxy.

8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana has launched a white truffle menu as it is the season for white truffle so how could I not try it.

The white truffle menu has five courses which is available now until the end of January so I suppose you could book Christmas dinner there and spoil yourself with a White truffle Christmas dinner.

8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana couldn't be a better place to go for white truffle Italian dishes because chef-owner Umberto BOMBANA is hailed as "Best Italian Chef in Asia" and "Worldwide Ambassador of White Truffle".

With a talented chef, it is not surprising that the newly opened Macau branch rapidly gained one Michelin star while Hong Kong holds Three Michelin stars.

I definitely agree with Umberto BOMBANA that less is more with white truffle and the five courses on the white truffle menu are just that.

On the white truffle menu, there is a scrambled egg with white truffle, risotto, homemade Tagliolini, poularde de Bresse and truffle icecream.

This was such an amazing dinner I had three choices from the White truffle menu.

Started with a good selection of bread with olive oil and sweet balsamic vinegar.

+++++++++

Amuse bouche was a colourful mix of Heirloom tomatoes.
The yellows are the best because they have a fragrant sweet taste.

+++++++++

Scampi carpaccio was a match made in heaven because it had my two favourite elements scampi and sea urchin and the green apple and celery made every mouthful refreshing.

++++++++++++++

Now to the star of the evening, the first of the truffle dish was Homemade Tagliolini.
The White truffles were shaved in front of you and it was evidently generous.
The sauce made of butter and aged Parmesan (36 months) was full of flavour but not too over powering to go with the delicate aromatic white truffles which had a strong earthy musky aroma that worked in harmony.

The Tagliolini was soft yet springy and hung the sauce well, so each mouthful was joyful.

++++++++++++++

Following the pasta it was poularde de Bresse.
Bresse chicken is known as the best table chicken in the world.
The bird has a white coat of feathers and there are pockets of fat underneath the skin which keeps it succulent during cooking.
Simply the best paired with the best because Bresse chicken has a sweet creamy taste which works wonders with the truffle.
There were two pieces of chicken, thigh and breast but both were surprisingly tender that you would get confused but you can tell by the colour.

Before dessert came, we had grape sorbet on top of yoghurt foam.
I don't know why but I could taste lemon grass in the yoghurt.

To finish off, it was Truffle icecream and a warm hazelnut cake covered in white truffle slices.
The icecream was over whelming because the truffle taste was so strong.

The hazelnut cake which I thought was cake all the way through actually had a runny hazelnut centre.

Lastly we had tea and petit fours which ended the meal nicely.

8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana (MACAU)

https://www.galaxymacau.com/en/macau-restaurant/restaurant-directory/international/otto-e-mezzo-bombana

Hardcore crispy black tofu at Huo Gong Dian, Macau

There is a famous crispy tofu which is smelly and at Huo Gong Dian they serve a black version of this tofu.
I don't quite know why it is black but it tasted nice anyway, there isn't any unpleasant taste even though it smells.
It just tastes like normal crispy tofu!!

We also had the braised pork belly which has even layers of fat, a popular dish in the East.

https://www.broadwaymacau.com.mo/en/macau-restaurant/restaurant-directory/chinese/huo-gong-dian

Staying at the 5 Star Galaxy hotel in Macau

I have always wanted to stay at the 5 Star Galaxy hotel in Macau because I just love this resort especially the floating diamond at the entrance and the Grand Resort Deck which guests of Galaxy Hotel can access.
My hotel room access card was really pretty because it was in my favourite silver colour.

The room was impressive and big with a view of the Skytop Wave Pool.

There is a bath tub which is a must for me.

By the bath, there is a tray of accessories which is beautifully presented like a jigsaw containing a sewing kit, razor and shaving cream, toothbrush and toothpaste x 2, shower cap, cotton buds, cotton pads, emery board and a comb.

In the cupboard are slippers and bathrobes.

The hairdryer is a decent powerful one by Vidal Sassoon.

There is shoe polish but they also have a complimentary shoe polishing service as well which takes an hour.

By the bed, there was an alarm clock which was really useful for people like me!

The complimentary refreshments was quite good because they had cup noodles, Pringles, teas and coffees.

Here are pictures of the Grand resort deck which I am definitely coming back again for because it was too hot that day.

https://www.galaxymacau.com/en/

Dinner at Lai Heen, the highest restaurant in Macau

Went to Lai Heen for dinner which is on the 51st floor of The Ritz Carlton, Macau and the highest restaurant in town.

Headed by Chef Bill Fu who previously served at The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong’s Tin Lung Heen which achieved two-star Michelin.
Lai Heen is also recommended in The Michelin Guide HK Macau 2016.

For starters, we had conchiglie pasta served in a beautiful white splash bowl.
A great way to get our appetites ready for dinner.

Then we had Chilled bean curd with okra in sesame sauce, barbequed Iberico pork in honey sauce, marinated turnip with passionfruit juice.

It was a good balance from light tofu to a strong tasting juicy Iberico pork and the tangy turnip picked in an exotic passionfruit juice helped to refresh your palate.

It was then followed by a nourishing Double boiled piths soup with matake mushroom.

Next was the shrimp flambe which was live shrimps immersed in Chinese rose wine before it was set alight resulting in fragrant springy shrimps infused with a strong wine taste.

It was followed by Simmered garoupa filet with zucchini topped with minced carrot.
A colourful and light dish which is great on a hot day.

Before we were served the rice, we had the Simmered winter melon rolls stuffed with konjac in tomato consommé.
I absolutely adored this because the Konjac was soaked in tomato consomme which was really moreish and it had this prized Bird's nest texture which was amazing.

Finished with the Fried rice with shredded silky fowl, birch seed in Chinese yellow wine.
Each grain of rice was distinct and evenly flavoured with Chinese yellow wine with fine pieces of silky fowl and vegetables.

Dinner ended with a delectable dessert platter with my favourite crispy creamy taro roll that does not contain colourings and this cutest glutinous rice roll that I have ever had.

It was then followed by hot freshly brewed Chinese tea which helps digestion.

https://www.galaxymacau.com/en/macau-restaurant/restaurant-directory/chinese/lai-heen