Claudia クラウディア (Ah Cow)

Finally got a chance to walk around this new mall/hotel/casino complex in the Cotai area. How could we miss the chance to check out their food the easiest way???  We looked at the map and found where the Food Colosseum 饕食天堂 (foodcourt) was.  Hmmm...  to our disappointment, there were just 7 stores in total!! Oh well, regardless of the number still gotta try things out...

 

Zest Premium Burger (internet search explains this is a famous Japanese burger chain established in the 1970s):

- The info board said they used Angus Beef "grilled to perfection upon ordering" (ahem... meaning u need to wait for your order while they grill it loh! )

- They also mentioned something about their specialty homemade Zest sauce and their fresh-sliced in-house fries (woo... sounds very professional woh! )

- After I ordered my Black Peppercorn Burger with Coke & fries combo, we payed a whopping MOP$57!! Yikes!!  I know it won't be cheap but almost $60 for a burger combo ... this better be good!!

 

While we were waiting for the burger to be "grilled to perfection", we saw the kitchen staff (through their open kitchen) how they used a big potato-cutter to "fresh-sliced in-house fries"... woo  ... we also saw how they made the raw beef patty by using a circular mold and spooning it packed with raw beef (staff wearing full white apron + cap + plastic gloves!!).

 

The burger was good... thick juicy beef, not dry ... their sauce was just so-so for me, maybe I find it a bit on the sweet side la  ... overall I liked the thickness of the burger (thicker than McD... they better be!! I payed doubled the price than McD woh!!! ) hahaha... As for the fries, I found it too oily la... even though I liked the fact they had the potato skin on but why on earth did they use a bowl to hold the fries?! Not enough paper basket for the fries?? Aside from oily, I also thought they weren't crispy enough.

 

Was it because they're still too new on the day we went? I'd give it a bit more time for them to train themselves better before going for a 2nd time. But at least I won't mind going for a 2nd time. Give it a try next time when you're there la!

Location: Zest Premium Burger, Food Colosseum, 2nd level, The Boulevard, City of Dreams, COTAI

饕食天堂, 新濠大道二樓, 路氹城新濠天地

When I think of red & white, I think of the Canadian flag

 

I also think of my favourite Coca-Cola

 

 

 

A colleague knew I like trying new drinks and she bought me this to try...

 

Cute packaging with a yellow-big-eye-bee right in the centre of the cup!    The sticker on the back reads: ginger extracts, honey, prebiotics (wikipedia explains: non-digestible food ingredients that stimulate the growth or activity of bacteria in the digestive system which are beneficial to the health of the body... meaning the same function as my childhood drink Yakult 益力多 (yik lik doh) la!! ) and fructose. Hmmm... sounds healthy... give it a try la!

 

The ingredients are all inside the silver package... it feels mushy meaning the ingredients are wet... once you pour the whole thing out, it looks as if you're pouring thick honey into the cup!!  Hahaha... but definitely a strong ginger smelling honey la!!  Add hot water and voila... ready to drink!!  Sniff sniff...  wow!!  really very ginger smell ah!!  honey not too sweet, my acceptable level!!  Overall very good ah!!!

 

This is definitely a good winter drink choice also!!!

My colleague told me she bought it in 800 ½... try it la!

 

Finally is time to head up to our rooms to settle down. Wa~~~~  quite nice room woh!!!!  Window looking out onto the golf course woh!!!  Wooo~~~ even have a cleopatra-style sofa in front of the window boh!!  Eeee.... they're not using carpets woh, no wonder the whole room looks so bright & sleek la!!  The small machine on the floor is either an air-purifier or a bug-repellent machine (but it definitely looks too big & too nice to be the 2nd option loh! ) Anyways, the washroom was bright orange colour!  At least I won't bump into things when I go in!! Hahaha... Yes, even the wardrobe door near the main door was orange colour!!!  

 

                                                               ↑ In case of smoke, wear this!

 

After a quick settle down, we all headed down to take a look!  As this hotel is called 'mobile hotel' in Chinese, it wasn't a shock to see RV trailers/ mobile homes in front of the hotel for rental. My friends sneaked in one of them & took some  pics! Hmm... fully-equipped.. nice!

 

Our hotel provided transportation to the first theme area Tea Stream Valley茶溪谷. We all hopped onto the golfcarts and headed towards there. What a shiny day!!  Nice view of the Tea Stream Valley on our way there!

                                                ↑ Tea Stream Valley main entrance

 

As we were living in 1 of the hotels inside this theme-park, we had to go through the 5star Interlaken Hotel and get to Tea Stream Valley from there. This way we can omit the looooooooong line up at the Valley's main entrance. Kooooool~~  When we arrived at the 5star Interlaken Hotel, my mouth dropped!!!  Wa~~~~ very nice ah!!!  Exterior design very European feel & very clean ah!! Interior design very nice ah!!  Tall ceilings ah!!!  Nice decorations ah!!  Funny glass-like tree in the centre of the hotel lobby ah!!  The hotel lobby eventually led us to an non-airconditioned area... very nice ah!!!

 

 

 

Once we stepped out of that place we saw this in front of us!  Very nice ah!!!!  Very European-feel ah!!

 

 

Heard a lot of good comments about this Chinese restaurant, so finally gave it a try on a Sunday lunch.

 

As we arrived at 1:45pm, we were expecting to be seated quickly since many people would be done lunching by this time... but to our surprise, we had to wait till 2:15pm!!  Gee... people eat so late here!! Hahaha...

 

While we were waiting, the hostess led us to a "waiting room"... mind I tell you, the whole place was quite dark with just a few spot lights!!  It looked cool & modern for the younger generation  but definitely not a favourite for elderlies!!  While waiting for our table, I started snapping  around as usual! The corridor leading towards the dining hall had computerized-fish swimming around on the floor... if you try to step on the fish, it would swim away; if u walk pass them, they will follow your footsteps behind you! Koooooooool~~~   The entire deco inside the dining hall used a lot of black and dark brown witih deep red... quite sophistacated and elegant but not liken by many elderlies as they thought it was dark.

 

Finally at our table, we quickly made our orders and this was what the 4 of us ate...

First, all the dishes had cute names... then I like most their ceramics holding the food, cute!

1st row (L-R)

Nice placements, everyone got their own "public use chopsticks"

Fried glutonous rice & chicken炸珍珠雞 (as I was expecting to see the regular lotus-leaf wrapped version, this is what we got! Koooooooooool~~~ not too oily!) 

Crispy dough wrapped in rice dough炸兩 with crispy vege (reminded me of the crispy vege back in Toronto!  crispy dough REALLY very crispy woh!!)

2nd row (L-R)

Free appetizer of minced meat on crispy vermicelli (together with the famous XO sauce of this hotel.... perfect!! )

Steamed shrimp dumpling in rabbit shape鮮蝦玉兔蛟 (need I say how cute it looks like??  many tender shrimps inside! )

Fried taro shrimp炸鳳尾蝦 (very crispy outside, a lot of taro wrapping the tender shrimp!)

↓Fried vermicelli with shredded dried scallops瑤柱炒米粉 (somehow the vermicelli looks different from the regular ones we eat outside... thinner in size... I liked it!!)

↓Fried shark-fins dumpling炸魚翅蛟 (wooo... check out the shark-fins sticking out... hahaha... I'd rather think it's just a thicker vermicelli... crispy outside, juicy interior with pork & vege)  

The bill came to approx MOP$350... enough for the 4 of us ga! Give it a try next time la!

 

↓The centre of the dining hall had this crystal ball where you could see from the outside

 

 

Location: The Eight Chinese Restaurant, 2F, Grand Lisboa Macau  ８餐廳, 新葡京酒店2樓