Three Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant Jade Dragon showcases exquisite culinary masterpieces created with the freshest seasonal ingredients and delectable delicacies. With spectacular designer décor and superlative personalized service, Jade Dragon sets the benchmark for fine dining in Macau.

The meal was made better when one do not need to pay for it! I was a guest invited along by a very generous friend.

Omakase

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The dinner was arranged by the manager. The arranged menu was then given to the in-house calligrapher to write the dinner courses in flowing Chinese calligraphy.

The whole jade theme was obvious throughout. The menu cover was a luminous green, the menu was held together with a piece of faux jade band.

Amuse bouche

I find the plating rather strange, the middle was left conspicuously empty. They would have made the whole course more balanced with a simple jellyfish salad or something, just to fill the void.

Appetizer 前菜

花雕醉富貴蝦 Chilled drunken mantis shrimp in spices aged “Huadiao” wine

The Chinese yellow wine brought out the sweetness of the lightly poach prawns. The flesh remained crunchy and firm despite soaking the liquid. Served on a plate of ice, the temperature was perfect for the appetizer.

Soup 湯

紅燒大包翅 Braised shark’s fin in superior broth

One cannot go against the host, but I wasn’t ready for shark’s fin after shunning it as much as I can. The soup was really rich with the broth made with boiled pork bone, chicken, dried scallops, and other deliciousness. So it would be equally tasty (and same texture) with fish cartilage.

Main 主食

The rest of the mains were served as communal plates, but then left for us to partake as much or as little as we wanted. As this was a business lunch, I did not really tucked into it with finesse so I could not really comment. Luckily the crab with steamed egg was portioned and I could slowly enjoy the course.

蒸毛蟹 Steamed Hokkaido Kagani crab with egg white and “huadiao” wine

The hairy crab (kagani in Japanese) or horsehair crab is found in the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan. It gets its name from the spiky hairs that cover its entire body. This little critter is smaller than the snow crab and the red king crab, making many people say it is more difficult to eat, but it has a dense , sweet flavor, making the effort of cracking open that shell well worth it. People who call themselves true crab lovers will often choose the horsehair crab.

A whole Kagani crab was steamed on a bed of egg white seasoned with huadiao. The egg has the consistency of the best chawanmushi you ever tasted and sweetness of crab made the dish fantastic.

For the bigger eater like me, a bowl of steamed rice was provided in a traditional pickle jar. Yes, the chopstick holder was made of jade. Just try not to be tempted to snitch it home.

和牛松茸蘆筍 Wagyu beef with matsutake mushroom and asparagus

蒸紅瓜子斑 Steamed red grouper

清炒時蔬 Stirfry vegetables

法國生蠔泡飯 French oyster with popped rice and stock

I loved the crunch of the popped rice and the umami from the oyster. It’s like a very decadent version 蠔仔粥.

甜品 Desserts

時令鮮果 Seasonal Fruits

Japanese melons, muscat grapes, golden dragon fruits and blackberries.

Jade Dragon Petit Fours

Everyone was treated to their signature 焦糖核桃雪糕 homemade caramel walnut ice-cream. Very strong caramel, not much walnut. The petit fours looked more promising with candied mandarin orange, walnut macaroons, sesame glutinous rice balls with red bean filling, and peanut nougat. However, there were 5 of us, but they only served three of each. Kind of weird, but who am I to raise the objection when I am just a guest.

The Decor

A restaurant in the casino city of Macau is usually over the top in terms of decor and theme. Jade Dragon was no different. The main theme was jade and crystals, you can see them a plenty around the room.

There was plenty of space between tables and you can engage in tete-a-tate with your guests without being eavesdropped by other diners. That’s a key requirement of fine dining.

The Accolades

Jade Dragon has steadily moved from 1 Star to 2 to 3 over the years. The quality of the food has been consistent over the years, from the reviews I read online, but the innovation has improved tremendously in the last two. Executive Chef Yeung was more adventurous in dealing with techniques that that departed from the traditional Cantonese methods, but still sticking to the winning formula of the Cantonese flavours.

The only thing that I think could be improved in the future is the service. I feel like it could be better, especially toward the end of our dinner. I didn’t think we received full attention from our servers and it got pretty slow at the end.

Jade Dragon 譽瓏軒
Level 2, The Shops at The Boulevard, City of Dreams, Estrada do Istmo, Cotai, Coloane-Taipa
Tel : +853-88682822

https://www.cityofdreamsmacau.com/en/dine/chinese/jade-dragon

Date Visited : Sep 2019

Michelin Hong Kong and Macau 3 Stars 2019, 2020, 2 Stars 2016-2018, 1 Star 2014, 2015