[Macau] Sichuan Moon 川江月 By Andre Chiang

Rating: ❤❤❤❤1/2 (4.5/5)

Sichuan Moon 川江月 by Chef Andre Chiang at Wynn Palace is probably the most anticipated opening in Macau this year! Although Chef Andre is best known for his modern French cuisine, he has demonstrated his passion for Sichuan cuisine starting with The Bridge in Chengdu and now Sichuan Moon in Macau. His goal is to transform Sichuan food into one of the world’s leading cuisines and go beyond its spicy stereotype to showcase the richness and elegance of the cuisine. Go hungry though because the degustation menu has more than 20 dishes to match the 24 flavor profiles in Sichuan cuisine! Besides food, Chinese tea is also an important element at the restaurant with an exclusive and rare selection to enhance the dining experience.

Before we started the meal, we had a tea demonstration by the tea bar where we were told about the care and attention to details that goes into serving tea at Sichuan Moon including using a specific type of mountain water from China to sourcing aroma-less charcoal to brew the tea.

啟 / Beginning

普洱花 老罈泡菜 川江點

Pu Erh Flower Buds tea, Old Altar Pickles, Signature Snack

A selection of 8 pickles is usually available for choosing to kick off the meal but due to time constraints, three different types of pickles were already chosen for us to try. 

味 / Taste

88 富貴涼菜

88 Fortune Treasures

After the snacks, we officially started the meal with this gorgeous and colorful 8 cold dishes representing the flavors of Sichuan! Meticulous plating aside, all of the dishes were really good and it was hard to stop eating them all (especially the duck tongue, spicy beef tripe and crunchy cordyceps) even though we knew there were many more dishes to come.

湯 / Soup

錦繡酸辣湯

Hot and Sour Soup

You have to admire the attention to details in this “deconstructed” Hot and Sour Soup with the tiny tofu circles wrapped in tiny slices of vegetables. Chef Andre wanted to give this ordinary dish a complete face lift and even though it looked very different, it had all the essential flavors of the classic soup. One of the special ingredient used was the green peppercorn with a citrus aroma to emphasize the spiciness and sourness of the dish.

鮮 / Umami

秘制香辣帝王蟹

Secret Recipe - King Crab Leg

This was one of my favorite dishes as it was irresistible with the delicious sweet crab leg meat being coated with a delicious layer of aromatic spicy herbs!

麻 / Numb

經典麻婆豆腐

Masterpiece - Ma Po Tofu

馥 / Fragrance

玉米粑粑

Sweet Corn on a bed of Sponge Cake

粑 / Texture

四川鍋粑湯菜飯

Crispy Rice Coated with Spring Onion Dust

旬 / Season

椒麻野菌鴨肝凍

Peppercorn Flavored Duck Foie Gras and Mushrooms Royale

Anyone who has been to Restaurant Andre will remember the signature Memory dish and Chef Andre has brought it to Macau with a twist - the foie gras had been blended with eggs and topped with a layer of Sichuan pepper jelly!

鱻 / Seafood

水煮海味佛跳牆

Spicy Buddha Jump Over the Wall

Unfortunately this was one of my least favorite dish as the soup was too oily.

香 / Spices

一條擔擔麵

Longevity Dan-Dan Noodle

The funnest dish of the night goes to this dish which was just comprised of a single strand of noodle (whose length is identical to Chef Andre’s height)! The noodle was actually pretty slippery so it was a bit hard pulling it out from the pot. Care to guess how long it is?

狩 / Hunting

柴燒怪味龍鳳餅

Wood Roasted Meat in Weird Flavor

潮 / Ocean

二荊條椒香扇貝

Burnt Scallop with Green Chili

茄 / Aubergine

臘八豆豉魚香茄

Yu Xiang Eggplant

The Sichuan flavors extended to the desserts with this dark chocolate bar laced with green peppercorn - the subtle spiciness and numbness went surprisingly well with the sweetness of the chocolate. Another surprise was the small bite comprised of all 4 flavors - Sour, Sweet, Bitter, Spicy. I have no idea how but Chef Andre managed to pack those 4 flavors into a small jelly candy and even more impressively, we tasted the flavors in exactly that order (Sour, Sweet, Bitter, Spicy)!

米 / Grain

稻米是金

Rice is Gold

甘 / Flavor

青花椒配枸杞

Green Pepper and Goji Berry

嚐 / Senses

酸甜苦辣

Sour, Sweet, Bitter, Spicy

Although there have been criticisms that the food is not really authentic, Chef Andre has successfully put his own unique spin on Sichuan cuisine, and you will definitely not find Sichuan food like it anywhere else - I think that is reason enough to go and try Sichuan Moon!

*By Invitation

Sichuan Moon 川江月

Av. da Nave Desportiva, Macau

Tel: +853 8889 3663
https://www.wynnpalace.com/en/restaurants-n-bars/fine-dining/sichuan-moon

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