There are two sister Mizumi Japanese restaurants - one in the original Wynn Macau which we visited and has been awarded 2 Michelin Stars in the 2017 Guide, and also another outlet located within the newer Wynn Palace complex on the Taipa island side. Japanese food aficionados will explain to you that it is the original 2* Mizumi which we ought to visit, since over here the Sushi is well looked after by equally Hokkaido Michelin 2* awarded Sushi Zen's Chef Tsutomu Shimamiya as their head consultant. The Tempura & also Teppanyaki counters meanwhile are also looked after by the teams from 1* Ishigaki Yoshida's Chef Junichi Yoshida, and also 1* Chef Kazuhito Motoyoshi respectively, both also Michelin Star recipients in Tokyo, making this a total of 4 Michelin Stars collaboration project in Macau. We came here for some Sushi Omakase on the recommendation of one of my foodie friends who is a sushi expert himself, and he made the claim that this is probably the best Sushi house in Hong Kong & Macau region. I trust his taste..
Sushi Counter at original Michelin 2* Mizumi, Wynn Macau -
The Chefs are trained at Hokkaido's 2 star Sushi Zen. On paper, Mizumi serves Tokyo Edomae style sushi, although the Hokkaido native Chefs will explain to you that whilst many sushi pieces are the Tokyo Edomae style representatives, some of the sushi creations are also uniquely Hokkaido
Madai - Sea Bream
They use white Komezu rice vinegar here for the shari. The seafood are mostly imported from Hokkaido directly since that is where Sushi Zen can help with sourcing the best ingredients from throughout Japan.
Sayori - Half Beak
This is a hikarimono shiny silver skin fish, but with white flesh, with a crunchy firmness in the flesh.
Sanma - Pacific Saury
In Autumn, people expect to eat either Katsuo or fatty Sanma, although in Hong Kong region most people only concentrate on the latter. This year with the long hot weather, I noticed the sanma is in general thin like it's 'sword' namesake. Having said that, this piece of sanma was of enviable quality with some fatty belly meat, it also represents the neta selection from the Hokkaido region.
2 Pieces of Tuna Chutoro & then Otoro Nigiri -
We went straight to the fatty spectrum of the Tuna, I suspect because my dining companion is a regular and he prefers it this way. The Bluefin Tuna blocks were shipped fresh to here and unfrozen, and not really aged - yet they had a really good maguro flavour to them, and in this respect it really stood out from the competitors in Hong Kong and Macau.
A double-layered Slicing of Marinated Chutoro-zuke -
This was presented neatly and due to me being quick on the photo taking, before the temperature of the sushi changes too much, the photo doesn't do it's presentation justice. The sharp spike of the soy sauce marination on the outside of the tuna was interesting, as it was quite salty at first, but luckily as mentioned above the Tuna carried enough tuna flavors to balance this out. A lovely piece of Bluefin Tuna, but without sounding like a hypocrite I think we should eat less of, unless it is guaranteed to be Sustainably Farmed - in 2017 thus far only the Kindai tuna is achieving this right globally.
Kuruma Ebi -
Cooked right before serving, this had the coral and tomalley diced up and then stuffed into the prawn. Perfect texture and served slightly warm. A classic Edomae sushi preparation in the modern Era.
Shima Aji - Striped Horsemackerel
This looked almost like buri for a shima aji, but the buri wasn't perfect enough to be released yet for another 2-3 weeks from the date of this dinner apparently. This had both oiliness and a crunch.
Aburi Kinmedai - Grilled Spledid Alfonsino
Usually people group the Kinmedai, Nodoguro & Kinki together. For me the Kinme is usually the most consistent performer, and here it is grilled at the back rather than blow torched, with the oil from the flesh and skin sipping into the rice. It's a decent piece, although not the best Kinmedai we have had, but the other pieces were excellent.
Grilled Hokkigai Clam -
This is again a Hokkaido style sushi, which is not always served in traditional Edomae omakase. Obviously the Hokkaido suppliers and Chefs think this is performing well, and it was deshelled alive in front of the customers. Thick and bounciful.
Kegani Hairy Crab -
Another Hokkaido representative, this was also deshelled in front of us, and then the carefully removed sweet crab meat placed on the shari rice, before topped with kani miso crab tomalley. An excellent take on this crab, with the meat intact and not overly loose or shredded, perfectly steamed.
Ezo Bafun Uni Sushi -
I was debating inside my head whether this piece is classifiable as a Gunkan sushi, since the ingredients are the same, just the proportion is geared towards piling on more Salt Water stored Ezo Bafun urchin from Hokkaido. A super sweet and fresh piece, and I personally found this proportion smart, since you have copious amounts of urchin bite vs the little bit of rice now almost acting like a boat.
Akami Zuke -
We had most of the Toro pieces above already, and since that came as a trio I did not expect an Akami at this stage, but it did arrived! Good tuna taste and the tsuke marínation wasn't too overpowering salty, just right.
Anago 2 Ways - with a Tsume sauce and also Salt & Yuzu
Usually you only receive one treatment or another, but the Chef made them both for us to try in smaller sizes this time. These were grilled to be the more crispier type, and sometimes I also love them being all steamed softish too to the bite - a texture which is more found in Sushi ya in Japan itself.
Castella Egg Tamago -
This was quite full of fish & shrimps taste, with a silky smooth texture from the nagaimo. This time it was more on the savory than sweet side, and apparently the Sushi Chef team preparing this, which takes at least 4 hours to bake, have adjusted the recipe to incorporate more seafood essence and less sugariness these days. Perfect for a guy like me.
Minced Tuna Sushi to Finish -
Usually, whether it is in Hokkaido or Tokyo, you finish the Omakase with some Maki-mono. This time we opted for a Negi-Toro style nigiri, which uses both scraped fatty meat as well as diced ones by hand. Absolutely gorgeous and despite the melty fat, still carried loads of tuna taste as was the norm this night. I won't carry on about the technical skills to pull off this last piece of sushi for the night, but overall the meal was entirely satisfactory because almost all of the seafood tasted right ! In both HK and Macau region, a lot of Sushi ya seem to carry some seafood which lose their intrinsic natural flavors compared to eating in Japan or Taipei - and although recently there is some apportioning the blame for the fish not being prepared or conditioned properly, including pickling or aging, at the end of the day customers only care about the final taste result and not the processing if it doesn't work. Here, it was impressive indeed and no wonder it has achieved a Michelin 2 Star status.
Price: Around MOP $1,600 to $2,000 + Tax & Service Charge
Food: ♕♕♕♕ 1/2 to ♕♕♕♕♕
Address: 新口岸仙德麗街永利澳門酒店地面層
G/F, Wynn Macau, Rua Cidade de Sintra, NAPE,, Porto Exterior
Phone: +853 89863668
