Macau - Quest for Macanese Cuisine

Since I love Portuguese cuisine, my main goal in visiting Macau is to try some top-noch Macanese food.     Our  challenge is that we didn't know where to go, and we only have time for a few meals on each visit.

"Macanese cuisine is unique to Macau, and consists of a blend of southern Chinese and Portuguese cuisines, with significant influences from Southeast Asia and the Lusophone world. Many unique dishes resulted from the spice blends that the wives of Portuguese sailors used in an attempt to replicate European dishes. Its ingredients and seasonings include those from Europe, Latin America, Africa, India, and Southeast Asia, as well as local Chinese ingredients."  (wiki link)

The most famous machines food is egg tart.  And we found some very good examples in the street just in front of St Pauls.  But more than cakes and street food, I wanted to try some real Maccanese meals.

For Saturday night I booked Restaurant Litoral, one of Macau's most well-known Macanese restaurants  (website).  It is in a beautiful old building down neat the A-Ma temple, and the dining room has a lovely colonial ambience.   Its not cheap, but still pretty reasonable by Hong Kong standards.  

Unfortunately I didn't order well, and perhaps should have taken more guidance from the waiter.   We had some lovely clams.  The tripe stew and salt-cod were interesting but not quite delicious, and the 'Portuguese Stew' was rather plain.  So overall, given Litortal's reputation, I was a little disappointed.   But I'd be keen to go back to try some of the rest of the menu and double-check!

For Sunday lunch I booked 'Auberge 1601' (link), which was everything I'd been hoping for.    The restaurant is in a beautiful and historic square in the St Lazarus quarter just below the Monte Forte.   The dining room was classically stylish and the staff were charming.   We ordered african chicken, duck rice, creamed salted cod, sardines washed down with nice wine and followed by desert and cheese.  

Every dish was perfectly cooked and consistently delicious.   In fact, after I took my first bite,  the heavens opened and a shining choir of angels descended and sang the opening bars of the hallelujah chorus in the dining room.    

But we ignored them and focused on eating.   I particularly loved the african chicken (link) with their complex and slightly spicy flavors, and duck rice with spicy sausage, and the divine creamy cod....

Its almost worth having a day-trip to Macau just for another lunch like that one!    Even better would be to return for another gastronomic weekend so we can explore some other restaurants.   Having done some more research I have a couple in mind...