Aurora: we did expect better (Macau)

Shop Info:

Aurora

Altira Macau

15 October 2011, Lunch

$240 per head

The locusts have decided to go for a weekend trip to Macau to (again) sample some of its restaurants, recruiting two other locusts to join us on the trip.  The first stop -- Aurora @ Altira Macau.  We have seen posts by fellow bloggers praising the food to be worthy of its Michelin 1 star rating, expectations were high.  Unfortunate for us, however, our lunch did not go as smooth as we'd hope for.

To begin with, the staff certainly was courteous and friendly but somewhat lacking in ability (missed my primi piatti!  That’s for later.).  The default language is Putonghua but Cantonese or English was fine as well.  

Bread basket was not particularly outstanding, but OK.

Seeing that we were munching away the grissini... the sommelier / manager (?) got us some more...

Locust Tunghok's Appetizer: Buffalo mozzarella and roman tomato mille-feuille, deep-fried mozzarella and vegetables terrine.

The buffalo mozzarella and Roman tomato mille-feuille was quite nice. very refreshing but I do find the buffalo mozzarella a bit weak in flavour. 

Locust Tunghok's Primi Piatti: Cavatelli pasta with Manila clams and lobster, vine ripe Sicilian cherry tomato and parsley -- only tried a mouthful. Impression was good (couldn't remember any details) but not particular impressive.

My Secondi: Red snapper in saffron broth, sous-vide fennel, basil tomato, squid and mussel. Not bad, but in my opinion nowhere near as good as those at Robuchon a Galera or Amber.

Now of course the fish was different, this being a red snapper and that being a cod, so was the method of cooking. However, as a dish I certainly enjoyed the others more than this one.

The problems: 1) texture was almost rubbery but not really"smooth", 2) I didn't realise there is saffron on the broth until looking at the menu again to type this up, 3) the fish itself tasted a bit... "fishy" (not that fresh? that would be unthinkable at such a restaurant), 4) I couldn't recall eating any squid at all, and 5) somehow I find the the dish to be a collection of unrelated bits -- they just didn't work together for me. I couldn't remember a thing about the fennel, or the mussel. All the flavours somehow didn't "work" into the fish itself, and physically, those bits and pieces in the broth isn't that brilliant an idea, since I ended up having to scoop them up after finishing the fish.

To conclude... need improvement.  (see the texture of the fish on the right... I might go as far as to suggest that it's overcooked?)

Mushroom consomme and truffle ravioli, hazelnut emulsion

My primi piatti -- which came AFTER my secondi. Apparently the waitress who took my order missed this and I had to ask about it to get it back. Their follow up was fine though, getting the dish ready within minutes and served after seeing my finishing the fish.

Couldn't quite taste the hazelnut...

The mushroom consomme was good though, very strong in flavour and worked well with the truffle ravioli, the flavour of which bursts into your mouth when you bite through that skin. I think Locust Tunghok liked it too?

Hot chocolate fondant with caramelized banana and Italian pistachio, Sicilian cream and saffron ice cream.

Call me conservative but I didn't like the saffron ice cream -- for me a good scoop of vanilla ice-cream would have worked better.

I think I might not be alone in thinking that "plate" looks strangely similar to those we see on the wall... XD

Summary (Rated 1-5)

Food:  (4) Food was good albeit with minor hiccups (e.g. the fish…).

Service:  (4.5) Courteous & friendly.  Despite missing my primi piatti they made us feel comfortable eating there.

Environment:  (4) Internal décor was decent without being intimidating.  Windows provided sufficient light making the premise feel bright.  The outdoor area, however, was a bit of an eye-sore and could have been better.  Penalised for that.

Big Locust's Recommendation:  (4) Good for the price.  Probably not good enough to warrant a return, but must try.