(Last updated: May 20, 2026)
Ren Macau sits inside One Grantai, that monstrous apartment complex beside City of Dreams. It’s halfway up a hill and awkward to reach, so taking a taxi is probably your best option.
First impressions were strong. The sushi counter is beautiful, the windows overlook Cotai, and with only a handful of seats, the place feels less like a conventional restaurant than a private dining room for the building’s residents.
Corkage is free, reservations require a deposit, and the 15-course omakase costs $878 per person.
Unfortunately, the best thing about Ren Macau is probably the room.
The opening appetizers immediately set off alarm bells. Only one thing stayed with me: a slice of amberjack topped with fatty fish skin. Everything else had disappeared from memory before the next course arrived.
The Monkfish Liver with Watermelon Juice sounded far better than it tasted. The liver was slippery, mushy and almost flavourless. Strangely enough, the watermelon juice was the best part.
The Steamed Egg Custard with Female Crab was a complete disaster. Watery, bland and strangely canned-tasting, it resembled cheap soup poured over warm beige mush. I’m not sure what happened to the crab and egg, because I couldn’t find them.
The Grilled Golden-eye Snapper with Matsutake Mushroom and Fried Ginkgo Nuts was barely any better. The broth tasted like diluted hospital miso soup, while the fish and supposedly aromatic matsutake contributed almost nothing. Food-court quality at best.
The sushi finally gave us something worth eating.
The Lean Tuna was the first genuinely excellent bite of the afternoon. Fresh, full of flavour and exactly what I’d been waiting for.
The Fatty Tuna was even better: soft, silky and beautifully marbled without becoming greasy. Easily the best piece of sushi we had.
The Saury Nigiri also worked, with plenty of oil in the fish and a light char around the edges.
Most of what followed fell back to earth. Black pepper buried the Golden-eye Snapper, the White Shrimp was dry enough to taste supermarket-grade, and the Sea Urchin lacked the sweetness and creaminess that make good uni worth the money. Even the rice was slightly wrong, often arriving without enough warmth or cohesion.
Then, unexpectedly, dessert nearly stole the show. The Almond Pudding with Matcha and Osmanthus looked like green sludge sitting in a glass bowl, but this weird little monster was excellent. Smooth almond pudding, bitter matcha and a floral finish from the osmanthus. Where had this kitchen been all afternoon?
Ren Macau has a beautiful room, peaceful atmosphere, polite service and some of the best views in Cotai.
Unfortunately, none of those things can rescue an $878 omakase when four opening courses fail and half the sushi tastes second-rate.
Three excellent pieces of sushi and one bizarrely good dessert weren’t enough. Too much of the meal was flat, timid or outright poor.
While the view from the hill was lovely, I won’t be climbing it again.
