Wineshark Macau Restaurant Review - Portofino

This is the Italian restaurant located in Venetian, Cotai Macau, and when first arriving I am sure you would find the four scooters parked in front interesting. No wonder my brother-in-law quickly jumped onto one and took a photo. We were then led to the upper floor where the environment gave me a good first impression, with warm lighting, good space between tables, and also overlooking the open kitchen where the chefs are busy preparing for the dinner.

With four of us this time we were able to sample more dishes. For starters we had the Vongole al Cartoccio, which are clams with white wine and garlic baked in parchment paper. With the juice of the clams retained by this cooking process, it added extra flavors and sweetness to the clams, paired perfectly with the sauce. The clams were all of good size, fresh and tender.

Another appetizer we got was Vongole stile Portughese, which is Portuguese style clams sauteed with chorizo, garlic and white wine. Though similar in ingredients, the flavors are comparable not as good as the other clam dish. The chorizo gave its signature taste to the dish but we all rated the baked clams were far superior.

We each ordered our own soup, with me going for the Minestrone alla Genovese. I cooked this soup many times at home and so I wanted to see whether this one can surpass mine. A good soup certainly, with plenty of vegetables, though I have to say it did not have sufficient pesto, which in my opinion is the essence for the soup.

My sister-in-law had the Cioppino, a thick soup made from shrimps, clams, mussels, fish fillet, white wine and fresh tomato. She regarded the soup as too salty and despite the waiter diligently asked the chef to add more stock to dilute, overall it was still too overpowering for her liking. My brother-in-law had the Zuppa di Cavolfiore, the cream of cauliflower, with broccolini coulis and crispy pancetta.

From the grill we ordered the Bistecca di Wagyu M7, the grilled Australian Wagyu M7 sirloin, and even though I did not sample, from the feedback of the others it seemed it was very well-prepared, with the beef juicy and nice, cooked to perfection.

For pasta we had the Tagliarini con Ricci di Mare e Bottarga, a tagliarini with sea urchin, mullet bottarga and sun dried tomato. A decent pasta which I did not have much comment.

On the main I had the Dentice Rosso alla Ligure, baked whole snapper with taggiasca olives, capers, tomatoes, potatoes and white wine. Unfortunately this was the worst dish on the night, with the snapper having a bit of muddy taste and the flavors from the other ingredients not particularly well-harmonized. Quite a disappointment if you ask me.

To fill our stomach we also had a Capricciosa pizza, with mozzarella, cooked ham, mushrooms, artichokes, black olives, spicy sausages and tomatoes. The crust was crispy and the ingredients were a perfect combination to make the pizza both enjoyable and filling.

On the night we also ordered two bottles of wine, a Ceretto Blange and a Il Poggione Rosso di Montalcino, With a 10% discount coming from the VIP card from the casino, the total bill was $3022, which was surprisingly inexpensive considering the setting and the amount of food we ordered. Though it would not be a top-notch Italian restaurant as it claimed to be.

My overall rating is 60/100.