Where To Eat In Macau
Aug 19th, 2008 by admin
[NB All Postcards from my China trip can be found under Restaurant Reviews - China, and the entire set of food photos on Flickr. A summary of my recommendations AFTER the trip can be found at A Short Guide To Eating In Hong Kong, Macau & Beijing. And all food photos have been subsequently added to this post.]
This is the second of three posts on where I plan to eat in Beijing, Hong Kong and Macau during my two week trip in October. Part of the fun of traveleating is the planning stage, and more than anything, I love researching local food shops, markets, cafés and restaurants. As I’ve exhausted myself on Where To Eat In Beijing - the list is still only partially complete - I thought I’d write about where to eat on the day trip to Macau from Hong Kong. Then onto the huge task of trying to finalise the Hong Kong list!
As ex-Portuguese colony Macau is an international destination, famous for its casinos as well as its Portuguese-influenced architecture, there are plenty of restaurants and cuisines to choose from. Vegetarian husband and I only have one lunch and one dinner there, so we’re restricting ourselves to Portuguese-Macanese. Having travelled regularly to Brazil and Portugal (husband used to live in Rio), we’d like to compare it to the dishes we’re familiar with. There aren’t as many online resources for gastronomic options in Macau as there are for Beijing and Hong Kong, but this just means less decision-making and more time for eating!
And rather than writing individual posts for each eaterie that we visit, I’m going to keep a diary for the 16 days, outlining all the food we eat, with condensed reviews, foodie snippets and useful tips.
Macau Peninsula, Taipa & Coloane islands
Four Seasons on the Chowhound China board has written about what kind of food to expect in Macau (click here). Food Street on Taipa sounds like a must. Another Chowhound thread Where to eat in Macau? has further recommendations.
Restaurants:
- A Lorcha - Macau Peninsula - recommended by many. I definitely want to try Galinha a Africana (African chicken) and the serradurra pudding, a classic. kyleoh on Chowhound on what he has eaten there - click here for review
- Restaurante Litoral - Macau Peninsula. Also very popular for Portuguese-Macanese food. Their curry crab is mentioned regularly in reviews. Click on link for contact details
- Restaurante Solmar - 11, Rua da Praia Grande, Macau Peninsula; 574 391- as recommended by fellow food blogger Aapplemint. This is supposedly where Galinha a Africana was created, by Chef Yang
- Old Neptune - ‘high end’ congee and noodles eaterie at the Venetian Macau on Taipa, for things like abalone noodles! OK, it’s not Portuguese-Macanese, so I probably won’t be eating here this time, but I’m a sucker for abalone
Bakeries:
After reading Appetite for China’s post on Eating in Coloane, Macau, I can’t wait to go to Lord Stow’s, which apparently makes the best Portuguese egg tarts. I’d like to compare these to the pastéis de bélem at Pastéis de Bélem, Lisbon. My friend in HK, who travels regularly to Macau, also recommends them. I’ve heard that Lord Stow’s egg tarts should be compared to the ones at Margaret’s Café e Nata (the owners used to be married). Another option for egg tarts is Pastelaria Koi Kei, with various branches all over Macau (see Appetite for China’s review). Finally, Choi Heong Yuen, open since 1935, is also recommended by my HK friend. No egg tarts there though…
More restaurants:
- Roka - as I work five minutes from the original London restaurant, I’m not going to travel all the way to Macau to eat there, but it serves great fusion Japanese (based at the Venetian Macau)
- Robuchon a Galera - part of the Robuchon empire, in the Hotel Lisboa, Macau Peninsula. Apparently a good value lunch deal can be found here. Again, I’m only five minutes away from L’Atelier in London (exciting food though!)
- Fernando’s - on the beach dining and a very popular destination. Doesn’t sound like my cup of tea, but others may like it. Click on link for contact details (on Coloane)
- Time Out HK also lists many more restaurants, but I haven’t had time to go through them all yet…
I hope this is useful to travellers to Macau. I’m only able to go for a day trip this time, so there’s no way I can try all these places. But next time, I plan to spend an entire weekend eating in Macau. Incidentally, if you’re looking for accommodation in Macau, try this site.
Let me know if you have any favourite places to eat in Macau!
Helen, there is also the place that sells a limited 300 ‘pork buns’ everyday from 3pm, although I can’t tell you where it is since it isn’t me who gets us around Macau, I can tell you it is called ‘Cafe Tai Lei Loi Kei’. Apparently the manageress massages the pork chops herself, with the buns being baked in a stone oven - thus being so delicious!
Hi Dana
Thanks for this! I love pork buns. I just hope that I can find it and have room in my stomach for a couple. I’ll Google the place. It’s so exciting!
I’m working on the HK post now. It’s taking me ages, as I don’t have many days there, and it’s hard narrowing down the list…
I would probably recommend against Fernando’s. It is wildly popular, but the food has flagged recently and is not worth the trip out to the beach anymore. Plus - cockroaches! Obviously it should be expected given the beach-front location with barbeque yard but… well, it does take away from the suckling pig experience when you’re stamping furiously on cockroaches!
We used to go to Macau A LOT when I lived in Hong Kong (my mother was a keen gambler…!) and Fernando’s was the best. Huge buckets of hot, buttery garlic prawns… ah, bliss.
DSD and Lizzie - conflicting opinions on Fernando’s! Lizzie, perhaps it’s changed in recent years? I’m actually not planning to go there, but have read so much about it (good and bad) that I thought I should add it in case others looking for Macau eateries wanted to make up their own minds. With just lunch and dinner, and many egg tarts in between, I’m kind of leaning towards the first three restaurants on the list…
The first time I went to Macau was five years ago, and Fernando’s was excellent - the most sublime roasted chicken I had ever had, excellent sangria, just lovely. A LOT can change in 5 years though, and it IS very touristy so maybe it’s best to avoid it.
I wrote a post last summer when I went to Macau and I have to say I wasn’t very impressed with Solmar. Their bacalau was particularly disappointing.
The pork chop bun place is also good but I can’t help but feel now that the place is overrated? Still it’s a good experience but you do have to get there early and run to take your place in the queue!
Definitely go seek out Lai Kei for their sublime red bean ices. If I hadn’t caught them at the cusp of closing hour I would have loved to spend some time inside, too - very retro surroundings.
http://tastytreats.wordpress.com/2007/10/12/mmmmacau-lai-kei-wong-chi-kei-and-tai-lee-loi-kei/
Thanks Charmaine for the info and link, very useful as always! I wonder how much food I can possibly eat in one day?!
Helen Yuet Ling
I agree on avoiding Fernandos… it use to be great, but over the past few years every meal has left me disappointed.
coffeedownunder - thanks for this tip on Fernando’s, it’s really useful to know. Have you tried any of the other places on my list?
Helen Yuet Ling
I’ll have to remember some of these for the next time I’m in Macau. Though I still want to go back to Dragon Mama Cuisine for a snack.