“Mott 32” was named after the very first Chinese grocery store to open in New York on, where else, Mott Street in 1851. Mott 32 opened in Hong Kong back in 2014, serving fine dining dim sum and modern Cantonese cuisine with influences from regional Beijing and Sichuan cuisines. Mott 32 serves dishes made from high-end organic and sustainable ingredients, such as Pluma Iberico Pork, South African abalone, Japanese sea cucumber, and 42 days Peking duck.
The Las Vegas location of Mott 32 (inside the Palazzo) opened at the end of December 2018, and their menu features many of the dishes that are on the Hong Kong location’s menu. This location was designed by interior designer Joyce Wang, where it encompasses aspects of industrialism on Mott Street in the 1800s, along with Chinese elements.
Since I was going to Vegas to attend an international figure skating competition in Mid-October 2019, I just had to try this place (especially since Facebook’s algorithm kept showing ads for Mott 32 on my news feed). The service at the Las Vegas location is excellent, from the host, to the servers, to the runners. The food is prepared well and plated beautifully. While it’s nice that they use luxurious ingredients, the flavors were rather more subtle than I would have expected. While everything was good, I wasn’t wow’ed by any of it.
My dinner companion
Minced Duck with Lettuce Cup (鴨松生菜包)
Minced Duck with Lettuce Cup (鴨松生菜包)
Soft Quail Egg, Iberico Pork, Black Truffle Siu Mai (黑豚肉松露鵪鶉蛋燒賣) – The preparation is spot on as the quail egg inside of the siu mai had a runny yolk. And yes, there are only two to an order
Soft Quail Egg, Iberico Pork, Black Truffle Siu Mai (黑豚肉松露鵪鶉蛋燒賣)
Soft Quail Egg, Iberico Pork, Black Truffle Siu Mai (黑豚肉松露鵪鶉蛋燒賣)
Crispy Free Range Yellow Chicken (炸子雞), 半隻 (half)
Crispy Free Range Yellow Chicken (炸子雞), 半隻 (half)
Hot & Sour Iberico Pork Shanghainese Soup Dumplings (酸辣小籠包) – These were prepared well with the soup dumplings are filled with ample broth. The broth inside was sour with a hint of spiciness, not quite what I expected (which was different interpretation of hot & sour soup).
Hot & Sour Iberico Pork Shanghainese Soup Dumplings (酸辣小籠包)
Hot & Sour Iberico Pork Shanghainese Soup Dumplings (酸辣小籠包)
Wild Mushrooms, Water Chestnut Dumplings (野菌馬蹄餃) – Another well prepared dish filled with a good amount of mushrooms and water chestnuts.
Wild Mushrooms, Water Chestnut Dumplings (野菌馬蹄餃)
Crispy Sugar Coated BBQ Iberico Pork Bun (脆皮西班牙黑毛豬叉燒包) – These were delicious and filled with ample Cantonese style BBQ pork. The outside sugar coating added sweetness to counter the saltiness of the BBQ pork.
Crispy Sugar Coated BBQ Iberico Pork Bun (脆皮西班牙黑毛豬叉燒包)
Crispy Sugar Coated BBQ Iberico Pork Bun (脆皮西班牙黑毛豬叉燒包)
Shredded Peking Duck, Mushroom Spring Roll (北京鴨絲春卷) – Fried to a golden brown, it was crispy and savory without being greasy.
Shredded Peking Duck, Mushroom Spring Roll (北京鴨絲春卷)
Sesame Prawn Toast, Autumn Sauce (炸蝦多士)
Sesame Prawn Toast, Autumn Sauce (炸蝦多士)
Peking Style Spicy Crispy Duck Rack (京式香脆爆鴨件) – This was one dish that I did not like at all. Resembling a version of the Dongbei Cumin Chicken Bones, where you enjoy gnawing on the leftovers of bones and bits of meat attached to the bones. Perhaps with fine dining, I didn’t expect to gnaw on the duck bones for the flavor and the bits of meat.
Peking Style Spicy Crispy Duck Rack (京式香脆爆鴨件)
If you factor in the entree my dinner companion had (and which I missed snapping a picture) with the dishes I had above, you end up with a $200+ dinner. I do want to come back to try their Peking Duck ($108), served table-side, as most of the tables that night ordered the duck.
