Local Foodies' Top Pick: Macau's Most Authentic Portuguese Cuisine, Chef is of Portuguese Descent

Almost every tourist who has visited Macau wishes to go again. Macau, with its dining, entertainment, shopping, and leisure offerings, is enough to make visitors spend an unforgettable holiday here.

Every luxury hotel here is a massive entertainment complex. But this is only one side of Macau; I prefer Macau's alleyways and its food. Over four hundred years, the intermingling of Chinese and Western cultures has surged through Macau, creating this uniquely styled city.

Compared to Hong Kong, I like Macau more; it's more suitable for leisurely strolls.

That evening, I stood on the rooftop of the Macau Museum, overlooking the iconic Ruins of St. Paul's from another angle. Under the setting sun, the high-rises of Zhuhai across the way contrasted with Macau's old, colorful residential buildings.

Simplicity amidst grandeur, tranquility amidst bustle—this is Macau.

With temperatures around twenty-plus degrees Celsius, it's perfect for wandering. I discovered that Macau's alleyways are truly hidden gems.

At every turn, you encounter the 55-year-old Hwa Lien Tea Company, the 52-year-old Fen Ji Roast Shop, the over 70-year-old Tai Loong Fung Tea House, the 150-year-old Tong Fong Tong Pharmacy, the 85-year-old Pun Fong Bakery...

In an old alley, I also stumbled upon Lian Ji Noodle House, where Nicholas Tse once ate noodles—a really tiny shop. Across from it, there is a 56-year-old dessert shop, Heong Keeng, where I had a bowl of egg white almond mixed fruit soup in the afternoon.

Macau is a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy. Only eight cities worldwide have been awarded this title by UNESCO, and China has four, one of which is Macau.

It offers a wealth of cuisine, famously including Portuguese egg tarts, Macau dou lao (a type of hot pot), pork chop buns, wife cakes, Portuguese chicken, lard cakes, and more.

One of my favorite places is a distinctive street in Macau called Rua da Felicidade, where the Hua Xin Hotel, used in filming the movie '2046,' is located.

Rua da Felicidade is home to many specialty foods: shredded fish soup, coffee shops, traditional bakeries, and more. This street also has the best-preserved Chinese architectural complex and is one of the birthplaces of Macau's specialized industries.

The narrow alley is lined with two-story houses. Most second floors have red windows, where, in the old days, hostesses would stand by the windows and greet men passing below. Or they would deliberately drop a handkerchief, and those in the know would pick it up and go upstairs.

Today, I want to share a renovated restaurant on Rua da Felicidade named 'Old Place.'

This restaurant has been featured in the documentary 'Once Upon a Bite.' According to a Macau friend, it's the most authentic Portuguese restaurant in Macau, so I went to check it out.

Chef Anna stood at the entrance. Anna is both the chef and the restaurant owner.

She is of Portuguese descent and speaks Portuguese, Cantonese, and some Mandarin. Rumor has it she loves dancing and has a cheerful personality. In Macau, there is a cuisine called 'Macanese cuisine.' Macau was once a small fishing village. In 1553, the Portuguese gained residency rights, and on December 1, 1887, Portugal officially took control of Macau through diplomatic documents. Over time, the two vastly different ethnic groups and cultures permeated each other, giving birth to new flavors.

In the early 16th century, Portuguese navigators arrived in Macau, and their chefs combined local Macau spices and ingredients with cooking methods from Portugal, India, Malaysia, and Guangdong, creating the distinctive Macanese cuisine.

We went up a narrow, steep staircase to dine on the second floor. My local Macau friend joked, 'Where you're sitting now, there used to be a bed,' making us all laugh.

The entire second floor was occupied by a long table that could seat over a dozen people.

Chef Anna personally demonstrated the process of making serradura (sawdust pudding). Crushed biscuits, whipped cream, and condensed milk—very simple ingredients that could be prepared in just over ten minutes. It's a very common Portuguese dessert.

Although the ingredients are simple, after we finished lunch, the chilled serradura cup we were served tasted really good.

The tableware was very homely, as if we were dining at a Portuguese home. First came a bowl of stone soup, thick and rich.

I tried one each of bacalhau balls and samosas and liked them both. Bacalhau is salted cod preserved without drying; it can be grilled, baked, braised, or even eaten raw.

It was a convenient food for preservation and cooking on ships during the Age of Sail. When mixed with potatoes and deep-fried into balls, it becomes bacalhau balls.

Baked local-style meat pie—an enormous portion, with minced meat beneath the bacon.

Cream-baked bacalhau, with thick potato slices underneath. Many Portuguese dishes are as filling as main courses. For a woman, I was almost full by this point.

This is Anna's signature Tacho, also known as Portuguese stew. It's a stew of chicken, trotters, salted duck legs, Chinese sausage, fried pork skin, and cabbage.

'Tacho' means 'big plate' in Portuguese. This dish is a bit like Northeast-style stew, don't you think?

We also ordered a bottle of Portuguese table wine. It's rare to have a little drink at lunchtime. Portuguese chicken is also a representative dish of Macanese cuisine, baked with coconut milk, Chinese sausage, tomatoes, and curry, topped with eggs—a huge portion.

Baked chicken rice with ginger and garlic—the rice is filled with chicken, and the flavor is excellent, though every dish is high in calories. How do you spell 'weight loss'?

Minced pork rice is similar to our 'rice with toppings' or Taiwanese braised pork rice. Mixing the minced meat with rice is very fragrant. My companions all exclaimed, 'This portion is too big; we can't finish it.'

But even though we complained about being full, when the serradura came out, we honestly ate more than half a cup.

Traveling to Macau is worthwhile just for the food. Most people remember Macau fondly because they remember Macau's food.

By the way, now is the best time to visit Macau: airfares are super cheap, hotel prices have hit rock bottom, there are few tourists, and many shopping promotions are ongoing.

Travelers from low-risk areas in Mainland China only need a nucleic acid test, a Macau Health Code, and a valid Macau visa endorsement.

Departure and entry are both without queues, quite convenient. Tempted?

Text and photos original. About the author, Lost in Thought:

A girl from Jiangnan / Global traveler / Has been to the North and South Poles / Well-known travel media personality. Wherever I want to go in my heart, my feet will eventually get there one day. Follow me, and let's explore the world together.