Macau Restaurants|Macau, China

Pin Yue Xuan

Name: Pin Yue Xuan
Telephone: 853-8118-9908

A creative spin on Cantonese tradition

VERIFIED LUXURY

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Pin Yue Xuan, which sits on the first level of the glamorous Venetian Maca o, is not just another Cantonese restaurant. It's a culinary temple that puts a creative spin on the rich culinary tradition while also integrating international touches.

Situated in Guangdong, Macau is home to numerous Cantonese restaurants. But what sets Pin Yue Xuan apart is its pursuit of elevating Cantonese cuisine to the next level in three aspects: wine, tea and delicacies.

Opened in 2021, this mecca is helmed by the Guangdong-born chef Darren Cheung. His culinary concept informs the restaurant’s name: the Chinese character pin, meaning “tasting” in Chinese, is made up of three square radicals, meaning “mouth.” The three mouths represent the idea of tasting tea, wine and delicacies, which are included throughout the menu.

Cheung grew up on a peanut farm, and his life experience taught him the virtues of punctuality, diligence and valuing food. He has also worked in many Cantonese restaurants and studied Guangdong and French cuisine.

Our Inspector's Highlights

The Macau restaurant’s design took inspiration from a siheyuan, a traditional Chinese courtyard dwelling, with natural light filtering in from a skylight and a large window offering views of the resort’s lagoon. Other visual high points include contemporary floral paintings, lanterns hanging from the 16-foot ceiling and semi-transparent silk screens bearing landscape paintings by Li Chang Tian.
One of Cheung’s signature dishes is the visually stunning golden fish dumplings. The grouper-and-crab-roe filled dumplings are fashioned to look like fish swimming in broth. Pin Yue Xuan’s commitment to freshness is evident in the no-waste preparation: the team cuts the grouper on the same day and utilizes the bones for the broth and the flesh for the dumplings. The dish is not only delicious but also a feast for the eyes, like a beautiful Chinese painting.
To add a personal touch to the dining experience, you are asked to select from the 12 handcrafted teapots on display, each associated with a Chinese mythological creature . The restaurant offers a wide range of premium tea options, including Oriental Beauty oolong tea from Taiwan, palace ripe pu’er and supreme da hong pao.
The steamed Brittany lobster is a must-order. The blue lobster is covered in a warm oil, then soaked in broth and served in a rich pool of lobster juices and egg whites (from premium Japanese ran-oh eggs).
The Cantonese restaurant’s appetizer platter exemplifies its culinary concept. For “tasting tea,” the bean curd rolls are filled with vegetables smoked in pu’er and tieguanyin tea. For “tasting wine,” the marinated prawns are cooked in 20-year-old huadiao wine sauce. And the golden caviar with salted egg and deep-fried bean curd delivers the “tasting delicacy.”

The Food

The minced fish soup with rice vermicelli and fish maw is a classic dish from Shunde, a city famed for its Cantonese cuisine in Guangdong. It is prepared uniquely at Pin Yue Xuan. Unlike the traditional method of letting the broth sit overnight, the chefs here make the soup from scratch daily, ensuring fresh flavors in every spoonful.
The Cantonese baby pigeon, a beloved dish known for its crispy skin and tender meat, reaches new heights at Pin Yue Xuan. The chef’s innovative approach includes marinating the bird with more than 18 spices and then deep-frying it, which seals in the juicy meat.
If you’re booking a table for a birthday celebration, be sure to order the birthday peach bun for dessert. This star dish features buns filled with lotus paste and egg yolk, each shaped like peaches, symbolizing longevity in Chinese culture. Buns are traditionally served in a bamboo steamer, but here they elegantly sit on tree branches for an impressive and photogenic presentation.

Amenities