North
South
North” and “South” by Square Eight are two new dining concepts presented by MGM Macau under the same roof.
The new dining spaces were born after the re-conceptualization of the Square Eight restaurant, and bring two different experiences for casual dining. The dining spaces offer a range of foods from both the Northern and Southern regions of China.
A complete renovation worth USD7 million (about MOP56 million) transformed the former Square Eight restaurant into a new space, in which two restaurants with different concepts and menus share the same dining space.
Anthony Darroman, MGM’s executive director of Food and Beverage, explained during a recent guided tour to the new space that there are many new things to experience. Among these are the ambience and décor that resulted from a collaboration between two renowned artists: Victor Marreiros and calligrapher Mok Wa-Kei.
A series of 24 paintings from Marreiros are featured in both spaces, most prominently in the Southern-themed dining area (South), where local styles and faces were portrayed. The paintings give what Darroman describes as “a recreation of an ‘al fresco’ dining, resembling a terrace seating area and a Chinese street food market,” an ambience also recreated by pillars resembling stacked boxes and a ceiling crossed by bamboo sticks.
Décor in the Northern-themed dining area (North) is more refined, featuring art pieces on a larger scale and traditional Chinese vases to recreate the atmosphere of Beijing’s courtyard houses (siheyuans).
A team of chefs from different regions of China work to prepare delicacies from both North and South in order to bring what Chef Louie Vong, executive chef of Chinese culinary at MGM, says are the authentic flavors of each region.
With a total of three open kitchens, North and South by Square Eight dedicates one kitchen, located at the southern-themed dining area solely to roasted items where the roast goose and the barbecue pork with honey sauce (char siu) are kings.
This kitchen also features one of the restaurant’s highlights – a specially designed, Macau-only vertical roasting oven where food items are kept at a controlled temperature and constantly rotated 360 degrees in both directions to achieve a perfect roast.
In the center of the restaurant, a shared kitchen prepares food items for both areas. At North, a specially designed noodle kitchen is the main attraction, with fresh noodles being prepared before guests’ eyes.
While South features typical dishes from Macau, Hong Kong and Guangdong, North mostly features delicacies from Sichuan, Beijing, Shandong, Shanghai, and other regions, including the Shaanxi flat noodle tossed with garlic, chili and soya sauce and the braised sea cucumber with bamboo, minced pork and spicy sauce.
Both restaurants are open seven days a week. South is open round-the-clock, while North operates from 11a.m. to 1a.m.
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