Good Eating Edit: Zuicho lands at Grand Lisboa Palace, Macau – the Michelin-starred Japanese fine dining restaurant presents laid-back yet elevated kappo cuisine with jet-fresh ingredients

Japanese cuisine gourmands, take note: the Hong Kong-based establishment is opening a new branch at the Grand Lisboa Palace in Macau, offering refined kappo meals, similar to omakase

Led by Osakan head chef Yoshinori Kinomoto, Zuicho sits between formal kaiseki multi-course dinner and the laid-back atmosphere of an izakaya – with an emphasis on seasonality

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Crab and soy milk pot at Zuicho, a new Japanese restaurant in Macau that serves omakase kappo meals. Photos: Zuicho

Published: 10:00am, 4 Apr 2023Updated: 4:28pm, 4 Apr 2023

When it comes to high end sushi in Hong Kong, diners are spoiled for choice. But among the myriad of quality options, one name stands out in particular: Zuicho. The restaurant earned a Michelin star in 2021 and has maintained those high standards ever since, wowing guests with outstanding dishes and exemplary service.

Now, Zuicho is coming to Macau, opening at the Grand Lisboa Palace with the promise of elevating the standard of Japanese cuisine in the city.

What sets Zuicho apart from other upscale restaurants of the same kind is its focus on a very particular kind of Japanese dining – kappo cuisine. Like kaiseki, kappo has a venerable history, one dating back centuries to Japan’s Edo period. And similar to omakase meals, kappo meals are multi-course affairs where each dish is decided by the chef.

So far, so similar. But the appeal of kappo is that it offers the same high quality cooking as a kaiseki experience, but in a less rigid setting. This style of cuisine sits in the sweet spot between formal kaiseki meals and the laid back atmosphere of an izakaya.

Zuicho’s head chef Yoshinori Kinomoto has 28 years of experience whipping up Japanese cuisine.

Heading up the kitchen is head chef Yoshinori Kinomoto, an Osakan native whose culinary philosophy centres on its commitment to authenticity and seasonality. His buyers in Japan select only the freshest premium ingredients available and have them flown directly to Macau to ensure guests experience only the most refined omakase kappo meal.

Visitors can expect a menu that draws on all of the chef Kinomoto’s culinary expertise. As well as working in top restaurants in Tokyo and Osaka, Kinomoto has long been based in Ishikawa, a prefecture home to abundant seafood, where he has polished his keen sense for the seasonality of seafood. His deep knowledge and experience in preparing fish promises a wide variety of creative, fresh maritime flavours at Zuicho.

Yet while Kinomoto’s seasonal menus will feature expected Japanese seafood delicacies such as sushi and sashimi, there is much more to look forward to and savour. Steamed and grilled dishes, hotpot, rice dishes and more will be served – evidence of the diversity of cooking guests can expect when visiting a kappo establishment, which provides something for everyone.

Signature dishes not to be missed include cutlet fillet and sukiyaki made with famous Kagoshima Satsuma Wagyu beef, sea urchin and taro seaweed roll, and takikomi rice with seasonal seafood.