Macau’s Drunken Fish And South Korea’s Soul Take Seafood To New Heights Together
A flavour-packed night with entertainment on the side.
At Wynn Macau’s Drunken Fish restaurant, don’t expect to hear the tinkling of cutlery from the next table or whispers over dim lighting. This is the kind of spot that knows how to put on a show and turns an ordinary dinner into a mini celebration.
On any given night, dishes such as the Moutai Flambé Crispy Chicken are carved tableside as guests marvel at the spectacular 180-degree views of graceful plumes of water, which ‘dance’ as they ascend from the resort’s Performance Lake. In conjunction with the recent 2026 Wynn Signature Chinese Wine Awards, the restaurant upped the ante on the revelry with an exclusive six-hands dinner.
Chef-owners Yoon Dae-hyun and Kim Hee-eun of the one-Michelin-starred Soul flew in from Seoul for a one-night-only collaboration with Drunken Fish’s executive chef Henry Zhang.
Guests started off the evening exploring an extensive collection of rare moutai liquor by imbibing cocktails at Macau’s only moutai-themed bar within the establishment. The spotlight was then placed on the rarest delicacies of the ocean, which the Michelin Selected and Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Restaurant is known for, with a live auction by maître d’ Romeo. After multiple guests raised their paddles to bid and much ado, the Alaskan King Crab was sold for a whopping HK$3,300, and prepared according to the winner’s cooking preference by Zhang. The seven-course gastronomic experience then began, with each dish thoughtfully paired by the Wynn sommelier team with award-winning labels from the Wynn Signature Chinese Wine Awards.
Reconceiving Chinese Cuisine
Beijing native Zhang started his career at a restaurant in his hometown, where he worked alongside many Cantonese and Sichuan master chefs who helped him perfect his skills, and went on to impressively lead a team of chefs at the young age of 19. Now at Drunken Fish, he has received multiple awards and is regarded as one of the most promising culinary talents in the region.
Zhang presented his signature dish, Braised Sea Cucumber With Scallions—which still lingers in my mind—that is renowned for its rich scallion aroma and tenderness of the nutrient-rich delicacy. His secret lies in extracting fragrant scallion oil from a generous amount of scallions, then sealing it with a thick sauce that infuses the seafood with depth and character (but good luck replicating his technique). Paired with golden, crisp scallions on a bed of amazingly fluffy white rice, the dish creates a harmonious contrast with the sea cucumber’s soft, gelatinous texture. This was matched with the Tiange Kubuqi Desert Viognier 2023, with delicate aromas of apricot and peach stone fruit, mixed with dried floral notes.
Another noteworthy creation by Zhang was the Braised Dried Abalone With Steamed Rice Dumpling, the latter substituting the conventional shrimp and pork fillings, which served to soak up every last drop of the earthy aroma of black truffle and intense abalone sauce.
Seafood For The Soul
Kim and Yoon then took to the stage with their refined interpretations of traditional Korean cuisine using modern techniques, with a focus on seafood delicacies for the night. Fun fact: Kim is part of a small circle of South Korean female Michelin-starred restaurant chef-owners and was a top eight finalist on the popular Korean variety show, Culinary Class Wars: Season 2.
My personal favourite dish of the night from Soul was the U-eong (Burdock) Pithivier, Yoon and Kim’s reinterpretation of the classic French pithivier. Instead of using the puff pastry it is typically prepared with, braised burdock root is enveloped in layers of enoki mushrooms, gamtae (premium Korean seaweed), grouper, scallop mousse, cabbage, and shepherd’s purse. This was accompanied by the Xiaoling White Wine 2023, with concentrated aromas of salted lemon and crisp green apple, and seamlessly layered with nuances reminiscent of sesame oil and sunflower seeds.
Next, the husband-and-wife duo from Soul presented their interpretation of Pohang Mul-hoe (spicy raw fish soup), with a special sauce made from tomato water, flowers grown in Soul’s own garden, and Korean mint, offering a light and refreshing combination of flavours.
As we finished the spectacular night with a bowl of Zhang’s homemade traditional yoghurt, a staple treat in his hometown of Beijing, it felt like living at its best.
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