Choices Abound at Grand Hyatt's Mezza9
- brittanypanter
- 2015年8月24日
- 讀畢需時 3 分鐘
Photo: One of six cooking stations at Mezza9 in the Grand Hyatt Macau
Some people take significantly longer than others to get ready for an evening out: pondering on what matches with what, puzzling over which colors clash and with each other (and whether or not you can pull the combination off anyway) and deciding just what to do with your hair. Somewhat spoilt for choice in Macau, we often find ourselves spending a similar amount of time deciding what to eat as what to eat in.
For the indecisive among you, we heartily recommend Mezza9, one of two restaurants inside the Grand Hyatt. Offering nearly half a dozen different cuisines from different stations, Mezza9 might sound like a buffet restaurant, but it is more like a high-quality cafeteria with several a la carte menus that will satisfy every palate in your party. Dishes on the menu include Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Macanese, Thai, a grill section (which also includes pastas and seafood along with grilled meats) and a deli that has cured meats, iced seafood, soup and salad.
Our tasting menu included a little bit of everything, with a distinctly Thai theme running throughout. We started out some freshly baked bread (the style of which varies nightly) which was followed by a Thai appetizer platter (MOP299+) which included khao tang na thang (a rice cracker topped with minced pork and peanut sauce); gai or bai toey (deep fried chicken wrapped in a pandan leaf); tord mun goong (prawn cake); and chor muang (Thai royal dumplings with minced chicken). A favorite of the table were the prawn cakes which were lightly battered and made up of just prawn with no pork added as filler.
Tom kha gai, a prawn and galangal coconut milk soup (MOP118+) followed. Tangy and spicy, the soup had a flavor that belied its seemingly simple nature.
The deep-fried soon hock (marble goby) with soy sauce (MOP438+) was crispy on the outside and delicate and flaky on the inside. These lazy fish spend the vast majority of their lives lounging on the floor of the tanks at the entrance.
One of our favorite Portuguese dishes was up next - shrimp sautéed in garlic, white wine sauce and topped with fresh coriander (MOP278+). Rich but not overpowering, this is our go-to dish whenever we visit any Portuguese restaurant. Be sure to keep some bread from the start of the meal to dip in the sauce.
Sliced wagyu beef in Panaeng curry (from Thailand, not to be confused with Penang in Malaysia) with coriander paste and kaffir lime leaves was incredibly rich, in a large part due to the fatty and delicious wagyu. The dish is great served with plain rice to soak up the sauce.
By recommendation of the Portuguese chef on board we opted for Portuguese style steak topped with egg in a wine reduction. The cut of the meat was slightly fattier, but that lent the dish a rich flavor that you just can’t achieve with leaner cuts. The fried egg is a classic steak topping in Portugal, and we were assured that it is a dish than can be found in households all over Portugal. Served with thick-cut French fries, this was a hearty and homey dish.
To round off the meal was the Mezza9 dessert platter (MOP298+ for two). It is a decadent way to finish your dinner. It includes vanilla crème brulée, tiramisu, dark chocolate tart, raspberry and mango sherbet with ice cream, and fresh fruit. While all desserts were outstanding, it was hard to leave any of the crème brulée with its perfectly burnt top.
Photo: A private dining room with a wine cellar attached makes for a great place to celebrate special occasions
On top of the various dining choices at Mezza9, the private dining room that is attached to the wine cellar is one of our favorites in Macau.
Photo: The lights of Cotai strip offer a picturesque backdrop on the outdoor patio
And once the summer heat tapers off, we recommend dining on the patio, which affords great views of the surrounding hotels and the beautifully lit pool.
View the menu here
Open from 5:30pm to 11pm
For reservations call (853) 8868 1920
