How To Eat Like A Poker Pro In Macau: Where High Rollers Get Seafood Towers And Wagyu Beef In A Pinch
by Epicurious Editors
on 07/21/14 at 03:00 PM
Source
Michael Kaplan reports from Macau.
Photo: Shutterstock
Having spent a lot of time hanging out with big-time poker pros, I've come to appreciate their general good taste in food and nonchalance toward lofty restaurant tabs. Chasing games from Las Vegas to Monte Carlo to Sydney, many players have developed palates that go beyond the medium-well sirloins that once passed for posh dining in casino steakhouses. That's good for them and good for the truffle slinging Joel Robuchons of the world.
At the moment, a major stopping point for top players is the former Portuguese colony of Macau (a 60-minute ferry ride from Hong Kong). Recently, just prior to visiting China's gambling Mecca, I consulted with high-stakes pro Alec Torelli on where to find tasty sustenance. Torelli, a frequent presence at the Macau tables (dining as well as poker) won his first million before turning 21, blogs about good meals, married an Italian foodie, and is sponsored by PokerStars. Considering the man s bonafides, it was easy to take his advice to heart.
Here's where we both like to eat in Macau.
Resorante II Teatro Wynn Macau Typical for Wynn-related restaurants, this spot spares no expense in making the best food possible. Flavor-bomb tomatoes arrive from Italy, via DHL, and fresh vegetables get hand-selected in Mainland China. Décor is sleek and modern (a bit reminiscent of Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare in Wynn Las Vegas), select window seats provide unfettered views of Wynn's dancing water show, and the romance factor here looms high. Il Teatro's food definitely gets dressed to impress. The fried mozzarella comes with a 25-year-old balsamic and the tagliatelle with Main lobster will cure your home-sickness for America (or Italy for that matter). While I enjoyed the meltingly tender ossobuco, Torelli favors artichoke risotto. "Best thing ever," he insists. "It's right up there with what my father-in-law makes."
Vida Rica Mandarin Oriental If you're a serious poker player in Macau, you've probably whiled away days hanging out in the Mandarin lobby, playing cards with your friends or Texas hold'em online, and nipping into the shiny, expansive, marble/wood/stone dining room of Vida Rica. It's a convenient spot for seafood towers, Wagyu steak, and house specials like roasted Challans duck breast. "They have a ton of Western and Chinese choices, the ambience is incredible, and you feel so upscale when you eat there," says Torelli, who recommends the brunch buffet on weekends, when things get juiced up with a fountain of melted chocolate. Whenever you go, though, Vida Rica is the kind of place that takes customer service seriously. After I expressed disappointment at the weekday buffet's lack of smoked salmon, a waiter quietly slipped off and brought me a plate of shimmering smoked fish.
Saffron Galaxy Hotel An excellent place for a break from poker, Saffron serves up high-end Thai food. Torelli and his wife like the harp player; others get drawn in by the rice: green and deemed lucky. Inside the bamboo-intensive dining room, good choices include khao soi gai (a northern style dish, made with braised meat and curry) and the pleasantly spicy phad kaprao nua (wok fried beef with hot basil and chili). Torelli loads up on the various curries before taking advantage of another Saffron attribute: "There's a movie theater nearby and it's the only one in Macau that shows films in English."
Sensations StarWorld Macau Macau's highest stakes poker game takes place on the third floor of StarWorld. Millions of dollars can be won or lost during a single session of play. But the rollercoastering fortunes do not dampen appetites. A convenient, 24/7 spot for sustenance or comfort -- a gastric-bypassed player in Las Vegas once told me, "If I lose a few hands in a row, I take it out on the Bellagio buffet." -- Sensations offers an amalgam of Asian foods. Player favorites include dan dan noodles, a load of dim sum options, and wok-fried rice-noodles topped with beef/pork/shrimp. I opted for brisket in a curry sauce with just the right amount of fattiness for 3:00 in the morning. It may not be fine dining, but I left here feeling like a winner.
MGM Patisserie MGM Macau On most days at around 2:00 p.m., Western poker players filter into this casual, loungey lunch spot to munch on sandwiches, curries, barbecued pork buns, and, for those who've just risen, breakfasts of egg tarts. "It's convenient, close to the poker rooms, and there's everything a Westerner can want," says Torelli. "Everybody's eating, talking about the previous night's game, analyzing hands." An hour later, they're back at the tables.
One other thing: If you really want to eat like a poker player, you ought to pay like one. Typically, when high-stakes pros dine together, they settle the bill by playing a game called Credit Card Roulette. Everybody puts in a credit card. The waiter takes them, mixes them up, and puts the stack of plastic behind his back. He blindly pulls out one at a time and lays it on the table. At the end, the waiter is left holding one person's card and that person pays for the entire meal.
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