金貴軒海鮮酒家 Elegant Seafood Restaurant - [ Venetian Hotel, Macau ]

The Chef here used to work in Lei Garden especially in the Singapore branches,  and 金貴軒 is the latest name replacing the previous Cantonese restaurant it took over,  since shareholder ownership did carried a slight change in the background.   This restaurant concentrates a lot on Chinese Medicinal and Healthier recipes,  especially when one of the owners is a Doctor himself.   Four separate groups of friends were simultaneously in Macau and the middle person gathered all us up to try out this relatively new but unknown restaurant,  together with the owner.  The part owner was so generous he paid for the meal in the end and also opened a few XO bottles for the boys,  after the ladies retreated back to their hotels..

 

 

In St Mark’s Square -
This area has undergone dramatic changes in the restaurants set up.
Even the Maxim’s originally from Paris has now sarcastically become a Minim’s!!  
Yet still carrying the 1st commercial Synesso Coffee machine in use in HK/Macau

 

 

花膠燉竹絲雞 -  Double Boiled Fish Maw with Silkie Fowl
The fish maw is gelatinous thick,  but it was the soup depth which had us blown away,  it would have needed a lot of base ingredients to achieve the ‘stickiness’ to the lips. 

 

 

鮑片海鮮湯 – Abalone & Seafood Soup,  with Lime Wedge
The lime apparently elevates the seafood freshness.  This was also excellently done and one of the best soups I have had which wasn’t just all talk but not performing.  This was pure seafood essence.   *Obviously remember that we were dining with one of the Bosses,  it had better be good!  We will just have to visit here separately again to see..








煎鵝肝拼雜苺 – Pan Fried Foie Gras with Mixed Berries and Croutons
I took a small bite out of curiosity but that’s it.  Didn’t really think it had a place in a Cantonese restaurant…

 

 

 

 

燕窩炒蛋白 併 炸鴿子蛋 – Birds Nest Stir Fried Egg White in a Fried Nest,  with Fried Pigeon Eggs
This was a well executed dish.   The egg white was smooth but not sticky like some places using too much flour,  the fried pigeon eggs are used because they have less cholesterol than quail eggs.

 

 

 

玻璃蝦伴西班牙火腿 x 山葵蛋黃醬蝦球 –  MOP 268
Sauteed ‘Crystal’ Prawns paired with Spanish Iberico Ham for the saltiness umami balance,  on the right are Wasabi Mayo coated Fried Prawns.   Both were done expertly and the usage of Spanish ham seems to be a trend but here the pairing was indeed smart!








玻璃蝦球伴中式雲腿 – ‘Crystal’ Transparent Prawn with Fried Yunnan Ham,
Fermented Shrimps Paste Sauce
This is the Chef’s variation to the above crystal prawn and is much larger and crunchier,  requiring a lot of preparation effort.   Again the fried Yunnan Ham which is mostly observed in older Cantonese recipes is smart and its slightly honeyed too.  Shrimps paste is strong and all the elements tied together very well.  Great job.

 

川芎白芷魚頭湯  Ligusticum Chuanxiong Hort, Angelica Dahurica with Fish Head & Tofu Soup – MOP 238
This is a very typical Medicinal fish soup or stew,  especially in Cantonese cuisine and is said to alleviate headaches and period pain,  also to enhance blood flow.  The large pieces of Mountain Yam inside absorbed in the super sweet soup.   I haven’t had a 川芎白芷魚頭湯 of this high quality for a long time  -  again let’s see if this standard can be maintained when we come back anonymously soon.








脆皮燕窩釀雞翼 – Crispy Air Dried Chicken Wings Filled with Birds Nest
A lot of people do a similar recipe these days,  some use Sharkfin,  some use Glutinous or Black rice.  The wing itself was super crispy and also carries chicken meat inside.  Yes!  I am not into those recipes which take out all of its own meat and then stuff something else into it.  Here it kept both and was still fried well and moist inside.

 

 

三色豬仔奶黃包 –  3 Natural Colored Piggy Buns MOP 36 
Filled with Custard.  The dim sum chef’s precision can be seen here,  although it would probably work better with the trendier molten salted egg yolk lava..

 

 

脆皮咕嚕肉 併 酥炸苔條九肚魚 – Fresh Pineapple Sweet & Sour Pork,
Seaweed Strips Battered Bombay Duck Fish
The batter on the pork was the aerated crunchy type I like,  but the pork inside could be less leaner as it was too healthy.   The fish was fried non-oily but this time I preferred a softer batter instead as per normal,  which usually pairs better with duck fish,  a super tender melt in your mouth fish – which some people prefer it steamed for the same reason.

葡式焗響螺 – Portuguese Curry Sauce baked Whelk
Ha!  I can seriously tell you after eating a few versions of this in Macau,  all the Hong Kong versions adopting this Macau curry sauce almost lose hands down without exception.  You see,  the soul of this dish is the Portuguese Curry,  and who can make their curry taste more Portuguese than the Macanese themselves who grew up eating Macanese-Portuguese food?  The ones in HK are always yellow and coconut-ty.   This whelk here and other Macau versions have a properly spiced curry sauce base which makes the dish jump to another level in sophistication.







辣子蝦球 – Fried Sichuan Chili Prawns
Interestingly I just had a similar dish in Shanghai which also cooked a ‘dry’ fried version instead of the sauteed ‘wet’ version.   Both did it with flying colours.  Crunchy tasty prawns,  adequate batter thickness,  hot but not disturbing,  and it has that proper sichuan pepper numbness!   When I eat this or similar dish in HK I am always like what happened to the numbness bit?  It even happened recently when I went to San Xi Lou – which to me was majorly toned down.

 

 

豉汁蒸盤鱔 – Black Bean Sauce Steamed Eel
I was not too happy with the presentation,  as ‘盤鱔’ should look exactly like a 盤,  which is like a round container.  Usually either the eel strips are formed around as a circle or somehow it has to be circular.   That aside,  the taste was decent yet the sauce could handle more garlic and even more soy beans flavour.

 

四川水煮龍躉球 – Sichuan Shuizhu Chili Oil Giant Grouper Fillets  MOP 298
You taste the Freshness of the fish first,  before the Hotness and Numbness arrived until much later.  This is the essence of Sichuan/Chongqing cuisine – balance.  I can’t pinpoint it precisely however as the smell of this Sichuan dish was too clean for me,  I suspect it was a bit cut back on the 5 toasted spices?







星洲黑胡椒蟹 – Singaporean Black Pepper Crab MOP 438
The crab meat was good along with the peppery sauce but we commented that the original Singaporean version would be much drier without that starchy sauce.  I personally also like a dab of white pepper in this recipe as the fragrance is enhanced a lot!








腊肉炒芥蘭 – Cured Pork Belly with Stir Fried Gai Lan
This is one of my favourite recipes or sometimes with Roast Pork Belly,  or Salted Pork.  The vegetables were tender and young.   So good with rice.

 

桂花 鳳凰炒長遠 – Fried Vermicelli with Scrambled Eggs and Bean Sprouts,  Dried Conpoy
長遠 refers to the soft but long vermicelli noodles and since this is the Shark Fin-less version its name changed slightly,  albeit this one also had no crab meat.  This dish is said to really test the chef’s wok frying skills,  as he has to toss fry the noodles with the eggs and sprouts but create an Osmanthus look-alike effect.   If you look up what Osmanthus Flowers look like,  I think the Chef did a good job here.

 

 

Osmanthus Flower 
Original Source: ( http://goo.gl/1Jsq33 )

 

 

芝士海鮮蟹蓋焗飯 – Cheese and Seafood Baked Rice
We have been eating for over 5-6 hours for this meal as there was a lot of guy’s chat amongst us after the ladies left,  hence we ate so much as we were drinking XO and then eating non-stop.   Since I was relatively sober I remembered the food details a bit luckily.  I think this was decent and with dry rice grains.  To me however I wanted more eggs inside the rice to pair with the wettish seafood. 








秘製醬美國牛肉乾炒河 –  MOP 98
Supposedly their strong dish here,  the sauce was indeed complex and the beef flavourful without being artificially tenderized.  By the time we received this in the end, apparently the Head Chefs have retired due to tireness and so this was fried by a more junior chef and came out today a little broken up.   But it has potential.  Totally non-greasy at the bottom too… Will come back to re-try and see if that was just an excuse

 

 

龍蝦湯黃金泡飯 –  Golden Lobster Soup with Deep Fried Rice Pops and Chinese Crullers  MOP 228
This is a Signature here and wow this was intense in the flavour.   Sometimes the rice is served as both fried and as normal rice,  but here there were so confident they served it with crispy rice only.   Very creamy and addictive…  best version of this I have ever tried anywhere. 

Chinese Crullers into the Golden Lobster Broth -
I was so full but I inhaled the whole thing as I have never experienced this quality before and won’t know when I will again.  Hope this high standard is repeatable!!  Coz I am coming for you and the soups above.







2 Layered Osmanthus Goji & Coconut Milk Puddings -
I prefer more Osmanthus flavour but the bottom coconut layer was a good contrast.  2 dim sum desserts combined into one smartly.

 

 

Pomelo, Mango & Sago Soup,  with Mango Pudding -
Like the Dessert Soup more,  it has fresh mango and pomelo taste.  Many shops hardly get this bit right,  unless you go to specific dessert shops in HK or Macau.

 

It was Generally Very Impressive,  especially with the Herbal Soupy dishes and the ending Lobster Broth with Fried Rice Pops -
Of course going to an Invitational Nature Tasting event might occasionally make the final taste slightly biased,  but when you are eating together with the Boss the whole night,  I think we definitely would have gotten the best food available!   But if this was indicative of it’s potential,  I will definitely want to be back and re-try it on my own before I pass on the final judgment

 

Price:  Approx.  HKD $400–$500 + 10%
Food:   ♕♕♕♕ to  ♕♕♕♕♕  (Note this was dined with the Boss,  and he Paid the Bill)
Address:  路氹城威尼斯人購物中心聖馬可廣場3006舖
Cotai,  Venetian Shopping Mall & Casino Complex,  St Mark’s Square,  Shop 3006
Ph: 2882 9339