food

Top eats in Macau

BY LOOI SUE-CHERN
September 20, 2015

You'll be spoilt for choice when it comes to lip-smacking, hearty and utterly delicious food in Macau. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Looi Sue-Chern, September 20, 2015.Macau may be a haven for high-rollers and visitors looking to try their luck at baccarat tables and slot machines. But it turns out that the little Chinese region is also a foodies' paradise.

Once colonised by the Portuguese, Macau is home to a unique fusion food called Macanese cuisine – a mash of Chinese, Portuguese, Brazilian and influences from Portugal's other colonies.

Here are five places – from the very upscale to the local neighbourhood eatery – where foodies and the hungry should go for a tasty experience of Macau.

Not just beautiful to look at, each pastry is so good, diners will wish they had an extra stomach just for dessert.Mezza9 Macau

This restaurant at the Grand Hyatt Macau is one of Macau's top restaurants. Those who don't mind spending a little more for a great meal, should really check out the food there.

Mezza9 Macau has a multi faceted food selection all packed into a menu that incorporates nine different dining experiences in one place – bar and wine cellar, deli, pâtisserie, Japanese, wok, Macanese, Thai, grill, and dessert.

Some of its noteworthy dishes include the duck rice, a signature Macanese dish where the rice is baked in duck blood, the African chicken,and “gai hor bai toey” (deep fried chicken wrapped in pandan leaves) and “tord mun goong” (prawn cakes with sweet and sour sauce) from the Thai selection.

A traditional Macanese dish, this is a variation of the Chinese-style glutinous rice we all love, except the rice is baked with duck blood, giving it a deeply-aromatic and hearty, creamy flavour.Mezza9 also has a very capable chef de cuisine, Neo Ng. The Macau native with 14 years of experience is a wizard in the kitchen, and his sweet creations can make anyone with a sweet tooth weep with joy.

Mezza9 Macau is located at 3/F, City of Dreams, Estrada do Istmo, Cotai, Coloane-Taipa (22°8'57.9141"N,113°33'58.4375"E). The restaurant's number is +853 8868 1234. It opens for dinner only from 5.30pm to 11pm.

Wong Kun Sio Kun

This is a place for locals and visitors alike to enjoy authentic Cantonese food in Macau. Since it opened in 2000, it has made the Michelin Guide repeatedly and earned some celebrity customers.

Wong Kun Sio Kun is known for its fantastic shrimp roe noodles, curry sea crab and sea crab congee.

There are many reasons to have the shrimp roe noodles (MOP73, or RM40).

One: they are made using the bamboo noodle-pressing technique, which is rare today.

Two: the noodles are made of duck eggs. Three: they are served with sauteed roe from big-head prawns. That means, yummy.

Who would have thought porridge was capable of making us feel like singing in ecstasy? Well, with porridge this good and decadent, you would too.The sea crab congee, which costs MOP250 (about RM135) for two people, is a must-have too. The congee is smooth and sweet, made using scallops, yuba and the meat of brackish seawater crabs.

The deep fried lancelets priced at MOP138 (about RM74) is another item to die for. The crispy lancelets are fried to perfection with salt and pepper and were extremely addictive.

Other dishes on the menu to try are the homemade curry fishballs (MOP78 / about RM42), pan-fried oyster pancake (MOP88 / about RM47), shrimp dumplings (MOP78) and sauteed beef shin with spicy paste (MOP138 / about RM74).

Wong Kun Sio Kun is located at 308-310A Rua do Campo (22°11'43.0781"N,113°32'40.3125"E).

It is open from 10am to 2pm daily. Only on weekends, it opens from 9.30am to 2pm. It is contactable on +853 28372248. The restaurant closes five days on the Lunar New Year.

The restaurant also has two other outlets in Macau. The one at Unit J, 1/F Ginza Plaza at No 1-15 Rua de Pedro Nolasco da Silva near the famous St Paul's Ruins (22°11'40.6797"N,113°32'32.2188"E) opens from 11am to 10pm. The phone number to call is +853 2837 1367.

The newest branch is located at A-G 017 at the Broadway Macau's hawker-style street market. The Broadway is located on Avenida Marginal Flor de Lotus, Cotai (directly opposite the Galaxy Macau). It opens from 11am to 3am. For details, call +853 8883 3338.

The 'Amêijoas À Casa' (plate of clams) is one of the many shellfish dishes in Restaurante Litoral's menu which were lip-smackingly good.Restaurante Litoral

For Macanese food, Litoral – owned by local Macanese Manuela Ferreira – is said to be the best.

Litoral offers great seafood dishes like the 'Camarões com Alho (garlic shrimps) at MOP88 (about RM48), 'Amêijoas À Casa' (plate of clams) at MOP140 (about RM76), and 'Caril de Caranguejo' (curry crab) at MOP350 (about RM190) per head.

One item not to be missed is the “Serradura” (“sawdust” pudding), a Macau specialty sold at MOP35 (about RM19) a cup.

Tour guide Danny Ieong said the origins of Serradura came from a chef who was cracking his head to create a new dessert for his boss, the governor of Macau who enjoyed good food and wanted to be served something new everyday.

"After a while, the chef began to struggle with new ideas. The governor then said he was already happy with the main dishes so the chef should give him a new dessert.

"The chef had a young son who left crumbs after eating biscuits. He then became inspired to top a pudding with biscuits smashed into fine powder, which looks like sawdust... the governor loved his new dessert," he said.

The restaurant is located at 261, Rua do Almirante Sergio, Macau (22°11'16.8672"N,113°31'54.625"E). It opens daily from noon to 3pm and 5.30pm to 10.30pm, and can be contacted on +853 2896 7878.

In Taipa, there is also the Cafe Litoral at No. 53-57, Block 4 Wai Chin Kok, Rua do Regedor. The cafe can be contacted on +853 28825255 or via email at [email protected]. For more details on both outlets, visit www.restaurante-litoral.com.

Long Wa Tea House first opened in 1962 by boss Ho Meng Tak's parents. The decor of the dimsum restaurant has changed very little since then.Long Wa Tea House (Casa de Cha Long Wa)

This is a family-run traditional Cantonese dim sum outlet on the busy Avenida Almirante Lacerda in northern Macau. It first opened in 1962 by the parents of the present proprietor Ho Meng Tak.

What is special at Long Wa is its many varieties of Chinese teas. The teahouse serves tea brewed from quality leaves from China.

There is nothing fancy about Long Wa, having changed very little since it opened over 50 years ago. But being on the first floor, it does offer diners a lovely view of the street below and the hustle and bustle of the local market across the street.

Many also find the old fashioned set-up rather charming. Long Wa has also seen many famous customers over the years, like the Hong Kong actor Chow Yun Fatt. The boss has the photo to prove it too.

Finding Long Wa is not difficult as it is just next to the Red Market, the busiest market in Macau where locals shop for their daily produce and sundry. The three-storey red brick market is highlighted in tourist maps.

Long Wa is located at 3, Rua Norte do Mercado Almirante, Lacerda Santos Antonio, Macau (22°12'20.7422"N,113°32'41.5938"E). It opens daily from 7am to 2pm daily. The phone number is +853 28574456.

For Macau visitors, Lord Stow's Portuguese egg tarts are a must-have. Many take them home by the dozens too.Lord Stow's Bakery

The Portuguese egg tart (Pastel de Nata) is like Macau's national snack, and it is available almost everywhere, even at posh hotels like the Grand Hyatt's Mezza9.

For the best-loved Portuguese egg tarts in Macau, though, visitors will flock to Lord Stow's Bakery in Coloane by the waterfront.

Some locals go so far as to say one taste of the Portuguese egg tart from Lord Stow's Bakery makes all other egg tarts "a lie".

Each tart – made from a rich mixture of eggs, cream and sugar filling topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon in a light pastry case – is MOP9 (about RM4.85).

The little shop, which was established in 1989, is normally packed with both tarts and customers. It is not a surprise to walk into the shop and have to elbow one's way to get to the counter to make orders.

Apart from the egg tarts, the bakery also offers good cheese cakes and rich fruit cakes with brandy.

The bakery is at 1, Rua do Tassara, Coloane Village, Macau (22°7'5.4141"N,113°33'5.2813"E). It opens daily from 7am to 10pm. The shop can be contacted on (+853) 2888 2534 or (+853) 2888 1066. They take reservations and provide delivery service.

The business also has five other outlets in Macau at The Venetian Macao (Cotai), Coloane Village (Coloane) and the University of Macau Town Centre (Taipa).

Visit www.lordstow.com to learn more of the world-famous egg tart, its outlets and also the man behind it, the late Andrew Stow, an Englishman who was nicknamed Lord Stow.

Bonus spots: At the San Hou Lei restaurant, visitors can also try another tart – the mildly sweet bird's nest tart with a filling that is white, soft and runny.

The tart, which cost about MOP7 (RM3.77) each, is a specialty at the shop in Taipa, which also serves rice and noodle dishes for lunch between 11.30am to 2.30pm. The little restaurant is also known for its “chu pah pao” (pork chop buns).

San Hou Lei is at 13 and 14, Rua do Regedor in Taipa ( 22°9'11.5859"N,113°33'20.125"E). It opens daily from 7.30am to 6pm. It can be contacted on +853-28827313. They take cash only.

If you have space in your belly for more food, check out the many little stores at Rua do Cunha and Rua de Regedor where you'll easily find food for breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea time, dinner and snacks.While at Rua do Regedor, one should check out the street lined with little local restaurants and cafes, offering a variety of food.

Off this street is also street food paradise Rua do Cunha (22°9'12.7188"N,113°33'25.1875"E), where visitors can find more local food shops, bakeries selling local biscuits and pastries, as well as outlets selling souvenirs. There are just too many to name. – September 20, 2015.

* The writer's recent trip to Macau and stay at the Sheraton Macau Hotel – the world's largest Sheraton and Macau's largest hotel – were sponsored by the Macau Government Tourism Office. Air Asia is the only airline that flies direct daily to Macau from Kuala Lumpur. There are 17 flights to Macau each week out of KLIA2.