Restaurant in Macau, China
Michelin-starred Nikkei worth booking for occasions.
Aji is Macau's only serious Nikkei tasting menu, holding a Michelin star and a World of Fine Wine 3-Star Accreditation. Chef Sihui Pan builds around premium Japanese sourcing and French technique, with aged pantry ingredients that justify the $$$$ price. Book four to six weeks ahead for counter seats; dinner only, Wednesday through Monday.
If you are deciding between Aji and Robuchon au Dôme for a special occasion dinner in Macau, the choice comes down to what you want the evening to feel like. Robuchon au Dôme gives you the grand room, the chandeliers, and the weight of French classical tradition. Aji, one floor up in MGM Cotai, gives you something more precise and personal: a Nikkei tasting menu built around first-rate Japanese produce, shaped by a young Singaporean chef, in a format where the counter seat is the seat to have. For a special occasion where the food itself is the point, Aji earns its Michelin star and its $$$$ price tag.
Aji sits on the second floor of MGM Cotai, a property that leans heavily on visual drama, and the restaurant continues that instinct at a smaller scale. The room is counter-forward: the chef's table format is where the tasting menu plays out, and if you are booking for a celebration or a serious meal, that is the configuration to request. The plating is where the visual element does most of the work here. A dish like crispy-skinned shima aji, served with sauces built from matcha green tea and 20-year-old dried tangerine peel, is designed to be looked at before it is eaten. That combination also tells you what this kitchen is doing: the sourcing is Japanese in its specificity, the technique draws from French training, and the flavour logic is rooted in Asian pantry depth. The dried tangerine peel alone requires decades of patience to produce, which is not a detail you find on many menus at any price.
Chef Sihui Pan's approach is described as Nikkei, a term that covers Japanese-Peruvian fusion in its most common usage, but here the reference points are more accurately Japanese produce meeting French method and pan-Asian flavour referencing. The tasting menu is structured around the chef's own culinary memories, which gives the progression a narrative quality rather than a conventional course-by-course arc. Whether that framing resonates will depend on how much you engage with context at the table. What is objectively verifiable is that the sourcing decisions are the menu's strongest argument for its price. Ingredients like aged dried tangerine peel and premium-grade shima aji are not interchangeable with cheaper alternatives; their presence in a dish changes what the dish actually is.
The wine programme is one of the more serious in Macau. Wine Director Silven Wong and Sommelier Rick Wang oversee a list of 1,290 selections across 16,000 bottles, with strengths in Bordeaux, Burgundy, California, Italy, and Portugal. Pricing on the list runs to $$$, with many bottles above $100. The corkage fee is $38 if you prefer to bring something specific. For a Nikkei tasting menu, the pairing option that includes sake and hard liquor alongside red, white, and yellow wines is the more interesting route and matches the menu's cross-cultural logic better than a conventional wine pairing would.
Aji holds a Michelin one-star rating (2024), a World of Fine Wine 3-Star Accreditation, and ranked 342nd in Opinionated About Dining's Leading Restaurants in Asia in 2024, improving to 370th in the 2025 edition (the ranking expanded in scope). It carries a Google rating of 4.3 from 41 reviews. The OAD placement puts it in a competitive tier alongside venues like Chef Tam's Seasons and Jade Dragon in Macau, both of which carry more conventional Chinese fine dining credentials. Aji's case is different: it is the only venue in Macau's current fine dining set doing Nikkei at this level, which narrows the comparison set considerably. If that format interests you, there is no local alternative to fall back on. The closest global reference points would be something like Le Bernardin in New York for precision seafood execution or Atomix for the kind of cross-cultural narrative tasting menu format, though neither is a direct analogue.
Aji is open Wednesday through Monday, 6 PM to 11 PM, and is closed on Tuesdays. Dinner only. Given the Michelin star, the MGM Cotai hotel context, and the limited counter seating for the tasting menu format, this is a hard booking. Plan at least four to six weeks ahead for weekend dates, particularly if you want counter seats. Hotel guests at MGM Cotai may have a marginal advantage through concierge channels, but walk-in availability for the tasting menu counter should not be assumed. No dress code is listed in available data, but the price point and hotel-casino fine dining context suggest smart casual at minimum; formal attire is appropriate and common here.
Aji serves dinner only, which removes any lunch-versus-dinner question from the equation. For Macau fine dining context, see our full Macau restaurants guide. If you are building a broader trip, our Macau hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide are useful starting points. For comparable creative fine dining in mainland China, consider 102 House in Shanghai or Ru Yuan in Hangzhou. For Cantonese fine dining in the broader region, Imperial Treasure in Guangzhou and Dai Yuet Heen in Nanjing are worth considering if your itinerary extends beyond Macau.
Quick reference: Dinner only, Wed–Mon, 6–11 PM; closed Tuesday; $$$$ price range; hard to book; counter seats for tasting menu; wine list $$$, corkage $38.
No dress code is officially listed, but the MGM Cotai setting and $$$$ price point make smart casual the practical floor. Most diners at this tier dress formally or in business casual. If you are arriving directly from the casino floor, it is worth changing first.
No specific dietary accommodation policy is available in current data. Given the tasting menu format and the sourcing-led approach (premium Japanese fish, aged pantry ingredients), significant substitutions may be difficult. Contact MGM Cotai directly via the hotel concierge before booking if you have restrictions that would affect multiple courses.
There is no lunch service at Aji. Dinner only, Wednesday through Monday, 6 PM to 11 PM. If you are specifically looking for a Macau fine dining lunch, Jade Dragon and Alain Ducasse at Morpheus are worth checking for midday availability.
The tasting menu is the intended format here and the one the kitchen is built around. The counter seats are specifically reserved for tasting menu diners. If you sit at the counter and let the menu run its course, you are getting the experience as designed. The crispy-skinned shima aji with matcha and aged tangerine peel sauces is the most documented signature, and it illustrates the kitchen's sourcing logic well: premium Japanese fish, French-influenced technique, Asian pantry depth.
At $$$$, Aji is priced in line with Macau's top tier. The Michelin star, the World of Fine Wine 3-Star Accreditation, and the OAD Asia ranking all confirm it is operating at that level. The value argument rests on the sourcing: ingredients like 20-year-old dried tangerine peel and grade-selected shima aji are genuinely expensive to source and rare to find in combination. If the Nikkei tasting menu format is what you want, you are not overpaying. If you want Cantonese or French classical at this price, The Eight or Robuchon au Dôme are the more direct choices.
Yes, with a caveat on group size. The counter tasting menu format works well for two people and reasonably well for small groups of four. For larger celebrations, the counter configuration may not suit the dynamic; check directly with MGM Cotai about table availability. The narrative tasting menu structure, wine list depth, and the visual quality of the plating all support a special occasion booking. It is a better fit for an anniversary or serious dining date than for a birthday dinner with a larger group.
The tasting menu is the primary reason to book. The counter is reserved for it, the kitchen is structured around it, and the chef's memory-led progression gives it a coherence that a la carte ordering would not replicate. The wine pairing option that includes sake and spirits alongside conventional wines is worth considering: it matches the cross-cultural logic of the food better than a standard wine pairing. At $$$$ for food and $$$ for wine, the combined spend is significant, but for a Michelin-starred Nikkei tasting menu with this sourcing depth, the price is consistent with the category.
Book four to six weeks ahead minimum for weekend dates. Aji holds a Michelin star in a city where fine dining seats are finite and demand is high year-round from both hotel guests and visitors. Counter seats for the tasting menu are limited by design. If you are flexible on midweek dates (Wednesday through Friday), you may find shorter lead times, but do not count on it. Use the MGM Cotai concierge if you are staying at the property.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Aji | $$$$ | — |
| Five Foot Road | $$ | — |
| Lai Heen | $$$ | — |
| Robuchon au Dôme | $$$$ | — |
| Feng Wei Ju | $$ | — |
| The Eight | $$$$ | — |
Comparing your options in Macau for this tier.
Aji is a Michelin-starred restaurant inside MGM Cotai, so dress accordingly — smart evening wear is appropriate. Avoid casual resort attire. The counter seating and tasting menu format give the evening a considered, intimate feel, and guests are generally dressed to match that.
There is no publicly documented allergy or dietary policy in the available venue data. Given the tasting menu format and Japanese produce focus, flag any restrictions when booking rather than at the table — counter-style omakase-adjacent menus have limited flexibility once service begins.
Dinner only. Aji does not serve lunch, so the question does not apply. Hours are 6 PM to 11 PM, Wednesday through Monday, closed Tuesdays.
The tasting menu is the main event here — it is designed around chef Sihui Pan's personal narrative, drawing on Japanese produce and French technique. One documented dish pairs crispy-skinned shima aji with matcha and 20-year-old dried tangerine peel, which signals the tone of the menu. The wine pairing extends to sake and spirits alongside conventional pours from a 1,290-selection list.
At $$$$ pricing, Aji is priced at the upper end of Macau dining, but it holds a Michelin star (2024) and ranked #342 in Opinionated About Dining Asia (2024). For a tasting menu with genuine culinary ambition — Nikkei with French technique — the price is defensible. If you want à la carte flexibility at lower spend, Lai Heen or Feng Wei Ju offer different value propositions.
Yes, with the caveat that the format matters. The tasting menu counter is designed for two diners who want an immersive, narrative-driven meal. It is a strong choice for a birthday or anniversary dinner for two. Larger groups should confirm whether the full counter can be reserved together, as the format does not naturally suit six or more guests.
The tasting menu is the only serious way to experience Aji — it is structured around the chef's personal memory and technique, not a set of interchangeable dishes. With wine pairing options that include sake and hard liquor alongside a 1,290-bottle list, it has more range than most comparable Macau menus. If you are committed to the format, yes. If you want to order freely, this is not the right room.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
