Macau - Restaurante Espaco Lisboa 里斯本地帶餐廳

This was easily our best meal in Macau on this trip.  It was a trudge, and if you know the taxi situation in Macau, you know the exponential factor that adds.  But thankfully, we were in the Cotai area, and the taxi line at the Venetian moved very quickly.  It is about 15 minutes to Coloane from Cotai, where Espaco is located, and the drive would have been scenic if it hadn't been sundown already.  I think we passed a penitentiary facility.  It's fascinating that such facilities are in some of the best spots in the world.  Guess it makes it difficult for escapes, although the rest of us are always trying to escape to such spots all the time for vacation!  The irony of life.

The restaurant is set in a short row of what looked to be 2-storey residences inside a quaint little lane.  It's not far from the water although I don't think you can see it from the restaurant.  We didn't opt for the balcony seating and chose the ground floor area, which is a cosy and homey little area with a cute bar area that also houses the dessert fridge and the cashier.  The picture is deceptively deserted since shortly after, even the ground floor area filled up and the noise levels went up many decibels when the large table got filled up with a loud and noisy group.

Olives

We sat down and started demolishing the little pot of olives at the table.  Well preserved to be tasty but still crunchy, this had little salt but retained the full flavor of the olives.  So good it needed no alcoholic accompaniment.  My ginger ale was good enough.

Clams in a white wine sauce

This one took us unawares.  We like our clams and in a white wine sauce, we like them even more.  But this white wine sauce was so good we used whatever bread we had to soak up every drop after we were said and done with the fresh bouncy clams.  The use of butter in the sauce made it that much more robust, but not reaching the point of greasy creaminess so that less would have been more.  The juice from the lemon wedge cut through the richness to make it easily addictive.  So, we were craving for more and would have tipped the pot into our mouths if the restaurant were indeed deserted.  Too bad Ms Manners was looking.

Duck Rice

According to the friendly owner, this is their piece de resistance.  A casserole of shredded duck covered with rice and baked in the oven topped with bacon and Chorizo sausage.  So simple yet so good.

Duck rice - deconstructed

We mixed it up to reveal the shredded duck buried in the rice.  Morsels of duck, rice, and bits of bacon/Chorizo made for mouthfuls of tasty decadence.  Forget that this was not healthy dish, with the different fats from the different meats, but that was precisely why there is so much flavor in its simplicity.  And the bits of rice which came into direct contact from the oven's heat had become crisp and added the lovely snap, crackle, and pop we all look forward to in any baked rice dish.

Grilled Sardines

To up our Omega 3 count after the duck rice, we thought grilled sardines would do the trick.  The owner warned us that since sardines are not readily available in Macau, they ship theirs in from Portugal frozen.  But they were still good.  Tasty with a touch more bittersweet as you approach the belly, the type of flavors you would enjoy if you enjoy Mackeral.  However, this is not for those who don't enjoy their fish since there are a lot of bones to maneuver through.  The trick is to debone before you start to eat.  If you can take out the centre bone slowly and leave the attaching "rib cage" area intact, you save yourself a lot of headache later.  Simple dish served with grilled green peppers and a boiled potato and a wedge of lemon for a twist of tang.  Provincially good.

Sawdust Pudding

This one got us "good".  I've had many disappointments with this one, but since the food had been so wonderful, I thought how bad can dessert be.  But it's just me.  I just don't get this one.  I don't get the attraction of layering sawdust over cream.  I dislike each and even if happily married, I still dislike them as a unit.  So there.  My only regret is not having gone for the egg pudding.  And I would regret it till my next visit.

I would visit again.  It was worth the trudge.  Coloane does seem like a lovely area and perhaps a lunch visit next time, with a walkabout would do the trick.  Apparently Lord Stow's Bakery (the original) is right on that same row.

G/F & 1/F, 8 R. das Gaivotas
Coloane Downtown

路環市區水鴨街8號地下及1樓 Tel: +853-2888 2226

Macau - Restaurante Vinha 葡萄園餐廳

It was a little deserted when we got there although all 4 window tables were taken but the restaurant quickly got its buzz (read noisy) when 2 large groups arrived.  Cosy joint set in decor that was easily from the early 80s.  Even the captain and his friendly wait staff in their tablecloth pink outfits could have been from the 80s.

Sangria by the glass

Settling down to a Sangria and shaking off the rain that was beating hard outside, we quickly got down to ordering and chewing on the warm buns that Macau is famous for.  Baked to a raw crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside.  Good with a dollop of butter.

Potato and Vegetable Soup

This soup is quintessentially Portuguese.  It's not fancy by any means, but there is something about a potato based soup that's sturdy, protective and just downright homey.  The greens provide the much needed fibre.

Stir fried cabbage with Bacalhau

This is probably more Macanese than Portuguese with the use of Chinese cabbage.  The use of the dried salted cod pieces give this all the flavor since there is little else.

Crispy Suckling Pig on Fried Rice

This was the only reason we came.  I saw a picture of this and said I definitely want to try this.  Nothing complicated about this dish.  Simply well grilled suckling pig, sealed by a crispy crackling (although some bits were slightly chewy) but the meat was tender, and fell off the bone easily.  The bed of fried rice was tasty although it wasn't as good as some of the ones that you get around Macau, my most memorable having been from Litoral during my last visit in 2008.

This isn't the best restaurant in Macau.  But it was a good fix for a quick dinner the first night we got there.  Especially since this was about 5th on my list - the first 4 including Litoral was fully booked.  Shouldn't have been a surprise since it was the start of the Easter weekend.

Decent, competent and wholesome food that was reasonably priced.  Not a combination you find too often these days.

G/F, 1/F, 393 Edf. Dynasty Plaza R/C
Alameda Dutor Carlos d'Assumpção
宋玉生廣場(皇朝)393號地下和一樓
Tel: +853-2875 2599

Macau - Restaurante Litoral

Macau is not one of those places you head to unless you're a fan of the vices, and of course, gaming is a great revenue generator, surpassing even Las Vegas at last count. To attract non-gamers, the Macau government has spared no effort in bringing music stars for concerts, Cirque de Soleil, and of course, I am there again this year to watch Mr. Roger Federer, this time accompanied by James Blake, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.

Another highlight of Macau is of course, Macanese food, which is heavily influenced by Portuguese cuisine, having been a Portuguese settlement up until 1999, when it became a special administrative region of China.

Restaurante Litoral aptly describes Macanese food as the original "fusion" food, a blend of East and West with many recipes handed down through the generations. Sitting in a cosily decorated restaurant with wooden beam ceilings, old-fashioned blue-and-white tiles, you would not be blamed for thinking you were in a restaurant in Portugal.

Having lived in Hong Kong for a while, I have grown to like Baked Pork Chops with Rice, a cha chan teng staple. Its origins are Macanese and the best I've had is at Restaurante Litoral. I like my rice and the rice at Litoral is immaculately coated through stir frying, the tomato paste and therefore fragrant. The pork chops are also perfectly crumb-coated before being deep fried. All this topped with a layer of tomato based sauce, is baked in the oven, prior to serving. YUMS!

Other goodies on offer were the: prawn bisque served in a bread bowl..

.. and grilled sardines, which retain its freshness, through a quick grilling process, and served simply drizzled wtih olive oil.

To round off, the coconut egg custard, with its topped, slightly charred from a blowtorch was perfect - fragrant, and surprisingly, light.

One of those "go back in time" meals always worth going to if you are going to be in Macau looking for good food.