Michelin 3 Stars · Macau
Jade Dragon
誉珑轩 — A long-standing three-star at City of Dreams: wok-fried lobster with noodles in supreme broth, double-boiled soups and Cantonese technique polished…
Why we list it
A long-standing three-star at City of Dreams: wok-fried lobster with noodles in supreme broth, double-boiled soups and Cantonese technique polished to a mirror finish.
Booking note: Book two to three weeks ahead; lunch is easier to secure than dinner and better value for the same kitchen.
What to order
- Wok-fried lobster with supreme noodles
- Double-boiled squid soup
Three stars on the Cotai strip
Jade Dragon is the Cantonese three-star at City of Dreams, on the Cotai side rather than the peninsula, and it is the counter-argument to the assumption that casino dining means compromise. The room is all jade, dark timber and hand-worked screens, and it is quieter than its address suggests.
The kitchen has held three stars since 2014 and cooks with a precision that reads as restrained next to the strip outside: clear soups, whole fish, lobster finished in the wok with a superior stock that has been reduced for days. Service is Cantonese-formal and unusually good at explaining dishes to visitors who have not met the cuisine.
Lobster, soup and the vegetable test
The wok-fried lobster with supreme noodles is the signature and worth the price; the double-boiled squid soup is the dish that shows the kitchen’s patience. Dim sum at lunch is refined rather than plentiful, which suits the room — this is not a trolley service and the pace rewards ordering less than you think you want.
Test the kitchen with a vegetable: seasonal greens blanched in stock and finished with a little oil should taste of themselves and nothing else. If that arrives correct, everything upstream of it will be too. The dessert list runs to the classic Cantonese end rather than the pastry end, and the almond cream is the safe close.
Booking and getting to Cotai
Book two to three weeks ahead and ask for a table off the main corridor when reserving. Lunch is easier to secure than dinner and materially cheaper for the same kitchen. The room takes children but is quiet enough that a restless table is noticed.
Cotai is a taxi or a shuttle ride from the peninsula and from the Taipa ferry terminal; the City of Dreams complex is the landmark to give a driver. If you are staying on the peninsula, pair it with an afternoon on the strip rather than crossing the bridges twice in one evening.
What it costs, and the rest of the day
Dinner runs high for Macau, but lunch is one of the better-value three-star meals in the region — especially if the table shares one lobster rather than ordering one each. The room sits inside the City of Dreams complex, which handles the rest of the evening around it, though the restaurant itself is quiet enough that you would not know it.
Most visitors cross from the peninsula for this meal and cross back. If you are staying on Cotai, take a late lunch instead and spend the afternoon in the old city, fifteen minutes away by taxi and worth more of your day than the casinos are.
Dishes to know in Macau
- Cantonese Dim Sum (广式点心)
- Egg Tarts (葡式蛋挞/酥皮蛋挞)
More tables in Macau
- Robuchon au Dôme — Michelin 3 Stars
- Lord Stow’s Bakery — Local Institution
- The Eight — Michelin 3 Stars