Rolling the Dice: Macao Trading Co.

The Line: Tomorrow, Frank Bruni reviews Macao Trading Co., the new Sino–Portuguese cocktail bazaar in West TriBeCa. The Eater odds are not yet posted as of 5:23 p.m., but we’re going to go ahead and bet anyway.

ETA: The Eater oddsmakers have set the action as follows (√√ denotes the Eater bet):

 Zero Stars: 4 - 1
One Star: 3 - 1 √√
Two Stars: 15 - 1
Three Stars: 10,000
Four Stars: 250,000 - 1

The Skinny: Bruni waited a while to review this place, which has been open since late November. If his reaction was anything like ours, when we visited in mid-December, then Macao Trading Co. is a mortal lock for one star. There were too many things wrong with it to justify two stars, but a David Waltuck menu and a strong cocktail program will keep it out of goose-egg territory.

We don’t entirely rule out a repeat of the Double Crown Affair—a similar restaurant that inexplicably got the deuce—but one star seems like a safer bet.

The Bet: We are betting that Frank Bruni will award one star to Macao Trading Co.