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[title]Over the years, Macau has become one of Asia’s most popular travel destinations due to its abundance of luxury resorts, world-class entertainment, and East-meets-West culture, leading the city to earn the moniker ‘The Las Vegas of Asia’. Within one compact city, visitors can experience glitz and glamour at hotels along the Cotai Strip or marvel at century-old sites such as the Ruins of St. Paul and Senado Square in the historic centre of Macau.
Another key drawing factor for Macau is its diverse range of epicurean experiences, spanning from vibrant street food stalls along Rua do Cunha to award-winning fine-dining venues. One of the city’s standout dining establishments is The 8, a luxurious Cantonese restaurant within Grand Lisboa Macau. Named after the number associated with wealth and prosperity in Chinese culture, the restaurant also heavily features auspicious elements throughout its venue, such as its silk wallpaper covered with goldfish, curved booth seats that form figure eights, and cascading decorative jade light fixtures.
Most importantly, The 8 is known for serving elevated Cantonese cuisine and skillfully made dim sum that appeals to diners from around the world. At the helm of this fine-dining restaurant is executive chef Albert Au Kwok-keung, who has led the team since 2012. With over 30 years of experience in kitchens across Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, as well as Singapore, chef Au’s profound experience has allowed him to drive the team behind The 8 to receive prestigious accolades like Michelin stars, Black Pearl diamonds, and more.
“I enjoy being challenged to produce results,” says chef Au. “If you just give me the job, I might not show any interest. But if you hire me on the basis of challenging me to achieve something, I’ll be intrigued.” He shares that leading the team behind The 8 to receive its Michelin stars was a huge task “Nowadays, earning awards [such as Michelin stars or Black Pearl diamonds] doesn’t come from just offering one good dining experience,” Au explains.
However, he does have a formula that has proven to work, sharing that the most important thing that has granted him accolades over the years was providing the same high-quality experience for all of his guests. “Even if you’re a normal diner, you can expect to enjoy the same quality of service as a VIP guest. Nor does it mean that VIPs get treated particularly better than any other customer – we just keep the same mindset and operate as we always do.”
What makes The 8 worthy of its prestigious ratings isn’t just down to one aspect, but what’s undeniable is that the restaurant’s Cantonese fare is tantalisingly delicious. Signature creations here include dim sum such as goldfish-shaped Cristal blue shrimp dumplings and purse-shaped puff pastry filled with river shrimps, or à la carte dishes like stir-fried Australian lobster with egg, minced pork, and black beans. “A lot of my inspiration comes from my team”, Au highlights. “It’s important I have my own ideas to create dishes for The 8, but I also need the support and input from my team”.
But even for professionals like Au and his brigade, the road to perfecting dishes isn’t easy. “When we were developing our suckling pig with glutinous rice, I remember burning up to 100 suckling pigs! We’ve also experimented by making 48 variations of sweet and sour pork,” he recalls. Nonetheless, his dedication to perfecting each dish never wavers. “Our dishes aren’t made to appeal to only one customer, we always want to refine our dishes and continue improving them once they’re out on the menu – that’s our responsibility as chefs,” Au firmly reinforces.
Recently, chef Au took part in SJM Resorts’ recurring dining event, ‘Chefs’ Table: A Symphony of Senses’, in which he collaborated with Beijing-based gastronomy giant and owner of Gastro Esthetics DaDong, Dong Zhenxiang, also affectionately known as ‘Da Dong’. During the four-hands dinners, customers were able to savour DaDong and chef Au’s joint creations such as braised shark’s fin in rich saffron sauce, noodles tossed in fried black bean and meat sauce, and double-boiled bird’s nest with crystal sugar and pearls.
“Even though Da Dong and I couldn’t work together due to conflicting schedules, we sent each other our dishes to try and see if they would be suitable for our menu,” Au says. The exclusive menu also showcased dishes from each chef’s respective speciality cuisine, such as Da Dong’s artistically presented cherry foie gras and his signature ‘SuBuNi’ roasted suckling duck, with Au’s elevated Cantonese flavours like stir-fried lobster with crab meat and roe as well as charcoal-grilled chicken roll with abalone.
While The 8’s diners can look forward to seasonal launches such as an assorted wild mushroom menu or hairy crab dishes available later this year, chef Au is determined to set his sights further and continue improving the restaurant’s offerings and experience for future customers. “If [The 8] stayed the same and didn’t change, we would fall behind our competitors,” he states frankly. “Of course, that doesn’t mean we should be copying what works for other establishments, but instead, we will see if it aligns with our restaurant and adjust accordingly”. He concludes confidently, “That means I won’t serve you something that’s not up to scratch. We insist on only offering the very best to our customers.”