We wanted Italian while strolling along shopping in the vast compounds of The Venetian. We spotted this restaurant at the faux St Mark’s Square and we were seated right away – great seating located with full view of the piazza.

Opened in 2007, The Venetian Macau is symbolic of this special administrative region in more ways than one. It was the first property built by Sands China at the Cotai Strip that was once a barren land.

The Lunch

The restaurant is Italian. But the cuisine was a mix-pot of everything.

The bread came quite cold. I would expected the bread to be at least warmed up. This has been a problem with Chinese-operated Western restaurants – cold bread.

1/ Lobster salad

Do not expect a whole lobster for the salad, only the claws contributed to the dish. Where the tail went we have no idea. This reminded me of the prawn salad that came with traditional Chinese wedding 冷盘 appetisers platter. Slices of the crustaceans on top of chopped fruit salad dressed with an obscene amount of Japanese mayonnaise, except that the fruits used were fresh and not from Del Monte.

2/ Freshly shucked oysters

Three of each of five types of oysters on the plate – (rich to left) Irish gigas, French Normandy, French pearl, Australian Blue Point, Australian Coffin Bay. When you put them side by side, the French oysters are still the best.

3/ Lobster bisque

A decent lobster bisque. Again, only a claw made its appearance.

4/ Cream of mushroom with black truffle

Outstanding if you like chunky soup. Even though it was touted as a cream of mushroom, you can taste the chunks, yes, chunks of mushrooms in the soup. And the black truffle pesto that was added was the perfect finishing touch to a rich and hearty soup.

5/ Risotto with veal

OK. Not bad, not good, just OK.

6/ Abalone risotto e tartufo

A mushroom cream risotto made with an upgrade of South Africa abalones. OK. the abalones were chewy.

7/ Surf and turf – Australian sirloin and grilled scallops with black pepper sauce

Every meal has a flop and this is it. The scallops were pathetic small and not juicy, tasted like the frozen variety.  The sirloin, even when we asked for medium rare, came well done. And it is not common to return the steak in Macau, unless you want to get “added ingredients” in the next portion.

8/ Tiramisu

A very generous of portion of tiramisu to end the meal. It was more like a sliced cake than tiramisu.

It’s in a quiet corner of the Venetian main area (St Mark’s Square) with the Venetian setting. The view is good even though it’s indoors and simulated.

Eating in a restaurant in a resort is a hit-or-miss affair. Most of the times they are misses. Vergano was a mixed bag. Many online commented on poor service. They were very nice to the old lady in our group, bring her hot water, getting her a shawl because the air-conditioning was cold. Some hated the Italian food, calling it unauthentic. Granted, it was tweaked for Asian tastes. So if you are seeking true authentic Italiano, look elsewhere.

Vergnano Italian Restaurant
3/F The Venetian Macao, Cotai Strip, Macau, China
Tel : +853 2882 8080

Date Visited : Nov 2016