Aux Beaux Arts inside MGM Hotel in Macau is currently hosting a 'Homard Bleu' French Blue Lobster dishes promotion until the end of February, and some of us were invited over to Macau for a review. Although I am posting this slightly latter as my laptop was in Warranty fix, they normally also carry the similar Homard Americanus Maine Lobsters. So don't fret if you might miss out, I am sure they are equally impressive!
Come to think about it, this is my 3rd Time to here..
Aux Beaux Arts is basically about a French Bistro concept. However the recipes are far from simple, applying some Ferran Adria style molecular science based formulas to enhance each Classic dish..
Pain de Campagne 'Country Loaf' -
This is baked in-house and has a great sourdough aroma. Its crispy outside and soft inside, slightly less heavy dense than the traditional recipes but I think most of us in Asia prefer this lighter style.. So good!
Sea Urchin Cream with Fried Fish Skin & Sea Samphire -
Amuse bouche done very thoughtful, this had an intense urchin umami and the fish skin initially I thought was a Fried Chicken Skin! Interesting starter and even the Samphire or Sea Asparagus was very representational of the overall seafood theme. ~ 10/10
A Sample Portion of 3 Different Appetizer Courses:
Blue Lobster & Quinoa Citrus Salad, Mandarin Gel & Celery Sorbet (Left)
This seemed everyone's favorite for the quinoa and refreshing balance..
Rosemary Poached Lobster with Red Berry Jelly, Chioggia Beetroot Salad, Creme Fraiche (Right)
Another even lighter healthier dish. This could be my daily meal.
Warm Lobster on Fennel Confit, Lemon Sable, Yellow Curry sauce & Tempura Lobster Claw (Top)
Personally I liked this the best. French recipes actually use a lot of curry too to pair with lobsters, pumpkins, even fruits or Moroccan inspired French dishes. The taste of this particular curry sauce however was quite local Macanese-Portuguese instead!
Blue Lobster Consomme with Lobster Carpaccio, 3 Types of Japanese Seaweed, Julienned Cucumber and Furikake with Sesame -
This was interesting as a concept to me, because Brittany also eats seaweed too and that is where the blue lobster itself is from... yet the French Chef here decided to do a Japanese ingredients take on it! Very intense aromatic dish. However I think the furikake sprinkle could be slightly less, as it can be quite powerful tasting! ~ 7.5/10
Baked Blue Lobster Thermidor with Cheese, Mustard and Cognac -
Presented on a bed of seaweed. This was actually my favorite dish and even this surprised myself! The gratinated top was slightly crispy, the lobster and cheesy sauce was perfectly sweet tasting yet smooth. The Cognac aroma was also quite present. I also was surprised the serving plate itself has printed a Blue Lobster on it just for this month! ~ 10/10
Butter Poached Blue Lobster, Pan Seared Duck Foie Gras, Bisque Reduction,
Celeriac and Culantro -
This was interesting because when this arrived, my eyes were wide open because there is a well trimmed saw tooth Culantro leave on top, which is usually more Vietnamese or Mexican. However as one PR said since France had so much connections with Indochine area, this is sort of expected! The bisque sauce reduction was quite intense. ~ 8/10
Cocotte of Lobster & Chicken Oysters "sot-l'y-laiss", with Dry Morel Mushrooms, Rigatoni Pasta in Lobster Cream Sauce -This was outright the most versatile dish. I loved all the ingredients inside it and I was so surprised there's so much strong lobster bisque inside the cocotte when it arrived. After eating the Rigatoni we dipped the bread into it. We even mentioned we can now make a kaedama lobster ramen after. In the end we didn't finished all the soupy-sauce as we were ready for our desserts. But in hindsight, we should have definitely!! ~ 10/10
Our French Maitre d' litting up the room with a Fiery Warmth with a 'Flambeed' -
It was the same week as celebrating La Chandeleur Crepe Day, so you probably already can guess what is coming next and exciting...
Crepe Suzette with Caramelized Orange Juice, Butter & Grand Marnier, Vanilla Ice Cream -
A French Classic dessert and surprisingly the sauce was quite viscous reduced and coated the soft supple crepes so well. I think within Hong Kong and Macau context, this one really will be hard to beat. ~ 10/10
Chocolate Fondant with Pop Corn Ice Cream, Toffeed Pop Corns, Chocolate Fudge, Kumquat Raviolo, Sponge - You can tell the Chef is well trained and playful, this dessert alone used many different methods to make and some are even molecular. The whole concept and plating was so thoughtful. Thumbs Up! ~ 9/10
Some Chocolate Truffles, Matcha Chocolate, Rice Crisps and Lemon Tarts to finish as Petits Fours -
The Coconut shell dish is familar, as this was introduced when they did a Peruvian x Japanese Nikkei cuisine here as 'AJI', before they open later this year. Interesting as these are quite heartful for a Bistro setting. Me thinks over the whole meal course, this is definitely treading into Fine Dining Category already as the recipes used above are European Michelin star grade in attention to each small details..
Seafood Bar -
They even carry French Sea Almonds, plenty of in season French Oysters, Spanish Red Prawns and Langoustines, Lobsters, Japanese Hokkaido Urchins, etc. All upper end seafood.. Actually come to think about it, this concept is quite unique to the HK & Macau context! Hope to be back soon if I am in town again... which will be next week : )
Price: Around $600 to 1200 + 10% Per Person (This meal was by Invitation by MGM Hotel)
Food: ♕♕♕♕♕ to ♕♕♕♕♕ 1/2
Address: 宋玉生廣場外港填海區, 孫逸仙大馬路, 美高梅金殿天幕廣場
Grande Praca, MGM Grand, Avenida Marginal da Baia Nove, Alameda Dutor Carlos d'Assumpção, Macau
Ph: +853 88022319
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