Finally got to drink the MGM milk tea!

Maybe because of the typhoon day, I actually got to try the West Bund MGM’s internet-famous milk tea, limited to 100 cups daily! Took a photo and checked in right away! I really love this hotel. I previously did a staycation episode here, and it’s the kind of warm feeling that makes you want to come back again. Plus, you’ll see casual art pieces everywhere you walk—so comfortable. Today, I was fortunate to taste the six-hand collaboration dinner created by the hotel’s Executive Chef Peter Lin, Chinese Executive Chef Andy Lai, and Pastry Chef Luke Pei. Overall, it’s not just piling up flavors but a fusion, and a very clever one at that. The appetizer is a yuzu tuna sandwich on a thin pancake base. The yuzu is slightly sour and juicy, perfectly matching the soft thin pancake and tuna. The three-part starter includes their signature solid char siu, Italian shrimp rolls with clam sauce, and kimchi. The soup is served in a melon bowl, presenting a fresh crab and winter melon soup. It’s far from simple—it's said to include nearly ten kinds of delicacies like sea conch, Jinhua ham, frog, Japanese scallops, and more, blended with snow crab meat... Tonight’s seafood is Antarctic dogtooth fish with lobster balls stewed in broth, a blend of Chinese and Western techniques. The dogtooth fish is marinated and pan-seared, then drizzled with a rich sauce made from chicken oil mushrooms and lobster balls. The cleverest touch is the small granules on top. Guess dried tangerine peel? Preserved radish? Neither. It’s crushed preserved plum meat, used to cut the grease and add fragrance. There are two main courses. Australian Wagyu beef ribs slow-cooked at low temperature—jokingly, the knife is basically useless; just a light press with the fork and it melts away. Chaoshan beef flank is infused with Martell to enhance aroma, then blanched on the spot, filling our noses with the scent of wine even without drinking. It’s full of smoky flavor. A seasonal grape is served to cleanse the palate. The palate cleanser, “Lychee Coconut Rice Wine Sorbet,” is the perfect finishing touch. Lychee juice mixed with vanilla seeds forms the base, with the sweetness of fermented rice wine and the freshness of young coconut combined using Western sorbet techniques—truly a “cooling agent on the tongue”! The dessert is the highlight of the night—both beautiful and delicious! A cake without a cake base. Sprayed with rose “perfume,” and when cracked open, inside is raspberry mango chocolate cake and black sesame roll, full of ceremony. P.S.: MGM milk tea is limited to 100 cups daily and only available at the 57th-floor tea lounge! Shanghai West Bund MGM Hotel · Imperial Garden Chinese Restaurant