Bday in Macau: no more Bordier

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After a reasonable night's sleep for once, we got up and went out for our morning rounds.  Knowing what was to come once we sat down for lunch, we wanted just enough nourishment to keep the hunger pangs at bay.  Margaret's Café e Nata is just a stone's throw away from the Grand Lisboa Macau, and seemed like the perfect place for us.

A post shared by Diary of a Growing Boy (@growing_boy) on Mar 9, 2018 at 8:04am PST

It had started to rain this morning, and we were pretty lucky to get ourselves seats at one of the tables under the awning.  We were pretty disciplined and decided to take just one pasteis each, washed down with coffee.

Having gotten our caffeine fix, we moved on to our primary target this morning.  On our first trip this year, we discovered that Loja das Conservas Macau has gotten themselves a shop cat named Kwuntau (罐頭, literally "can" in Cantonese).  Unfortunately, I never got around to petting this cute little thing, and on subsequent visits to the shop, she never even bothered to come downstairs.

So it was nothing short of ecstatic to find her in the shop today, and in such a friendly mood that she willingly came around and let us pet her and play with her.

It's pretty obvious that she is one well-fed cat...

Lunchtime rolled around, and the four of us went up to the top of the hotel.  Robuchon au Dôme is one of my favorite restaurants, and it seems nigh impossible to have a bad meal there.  We left the decision up to My Favorite Cousin as to which menu to take, and true to form, she went for the full tasting menu.

Before we arrived, I had chosen a bottle of Champagne from the extensive wine list.  I was happy that my friend approved of my choice. The local importer had run out of stock on this particular vintage, and the price on the wine list made it look like a steal...

2002 B de Boërl et Kroff, dégorgée en Novembre 2011 - decanted as per my friend's instructions.  Love and fragrant nose.  Soft on the palate. 

As usual, the butter trolley came around with a mound of salted and unsalted butter each.  I noticed that the color of the butter seemed different today, and sure enough, I was informed that the restaurant no longer uses Beurre Bordier (GASP! QUELLE HORREUR!!!), and has switched to Pamplie from Charentes-Poitou instead.  Both Hello Kitty and I noted that this butter was more salty than the one from Bordier.

When the staff offered to choose a selection of bread from the bread trolley, I asked that they don't give us too much.  Unfortunately, they never seem to listen to this particular request... and ended up with way too much for the four of us.  We don't like to waste bread, so we asked them to pack the leftovers for us... which we did not get at the end of the meal.

Le king crabe: Alaskan king crab, elegant vegetable and ginger jelly with cream "vichyssoise" - YASSSS!!!  Vichyssoise!  The king crab was, naturally, sweet and delicious... served with carrots and cucumbers brunoise, as well as julienned breakfast radishes.  The vichyssoise-style cream on top was cool and refreshing, with herb oil and a quenelle of Imperial caviar from Sologne by La Maison Nordique.  I didn't quite pick up the ginger from gelée, as the flavors kinda just melded into everything else.

The carta da musica on the side was a nice touch as a delivery vessel.

L'Asperge blanche: French white asparagus, mimosa salad with caviar and wild sorrel - the presentation looked beautiful.  I've had other versions of French white asparagus and egg mimosa here, and this one somehow seemed a little less inspired - in spite of the caviar on top.  Still pretty nice, though...

Le macaroni "candele": macaroni "candele" pasta stuffing with celeriac and black truffle - the candele pasta was stuffed with a totally sinful combination of jamón ibérico, small cubes of foie gras, diced celeriac, and black truffles.  As it that wasn't mouthwatering enough, there were also crispy artichoke chips, shavings of black truffle and Parmesan, along with watercress emulsion and poultry jus on the side.  Rich and delicious.  Certainly a winter dish.

Le homard cardinalisé: roasted lobster with salted butter, green pea and bok choy follow with spice bisque - ah... I've had this dish thrice this year, and I'm still not tired of it.  The texture of the lobster was so springy that the others suspected overcooking, but when I looked at what I had in my bowl, I thought the execution was perfectly mi-cuit.  In any case, I love the sweet pois princesse, and the rich, spicy bisque.

I was tasked with choosing a bottle of Burgundy, as My Favorite Cousin instructed: "Surprise me!" I went for a bottle I suspected to be a little on the young side, but the pricing was still relatively reasonable...

2009 Méo-Camuzet Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Boudots - decanted for 50 minutes prior to serving.  Still too young and the tannins were still prominent, but showing lots of animal and leather notes, along with sweet fruit, in the beautiful rose and floral nose.  Probably still needs a few more years.

Le pintade: roasted guinea fowl and foie gras rolls with snow peas and spelt in risotto style - the guinea fowl roulade came, predictably, with foie gras at the center.  This was very, very tender... and came with delicious skin.  Served on a bed of spelt risotto with Parmesan and guinea fowl jus... which was OK.  The roast garlic on the side, though, was powerfully delicious.

Of course, we couldn't do without the famous mash potatoes...

We've also got some broth, which was perfect.

La symphonie des douceurs - time for desserts, but we all decided to be relatively restrained.

In addition to a whole millefeuille, which My Favorite Cousin got as her birthday cake - her third in 2 days - I also took a strawberry and vanilla cream cake.  Very delish.  But that was all I had from the dessert trolley.

The good people at the Grand Lisboa decided that we shouldn't have dessert without dessert wine, so they poured us one of the best Sauternes around.

2005 Rieussec - lots of orange blossom and honey.  Nice and rich on the palate, but still got nice acidity for balance.

We got some mini madeleines à la minute.

The mignardises trolley came, and I picked out a few nibbles...

Raspberry

Strawberry and pistachio tart - with gold foil on top, of course!

Lychee chocolate - very, very good.

Always finish with a canelé...

This was, of course, a perfect way for us to end this birthday celebration weekend. Very grateful for the excellent service and pampering from the restaurant staff.  But having had my third meal here this year on the 63rd day of the year, perhaps I could take a little break before my next...