Following the previous post on 5 snacks and cheap eats at Macau, it is only fitting that I cover some of the places that offers proper meals which we tried over the course of our trip to this former Portuguese colony. There are no shortage of restaurants in Macau, with a decent selection of different cuisines, but mostly variation of Chinese food, which suits us just fine.
obligatory Macau photo at St. Paul’s church
Before we talk about food, first, here’s a picture of us at St. Paul’s church, an obligation for anyone traveling to Macau I believe. The facade of the church is located just a stone’s throw away from Senado Square, which is the best place to shop for souvenirs and everything touristy in town.
Wong Chi Kei at Senado Square
And if you found yourself at Senado Square, like most people would, one of the places to dine would be Wong Chi Kei. The place is almost always pretty packed, but service is relatively quick, and like many places in Macau, sharing table with strangers is a norm.
The shop offers a wide variety of single serving noodle and rice dishes, with prices starting from around 32 MOP onwards.
We tried pork ribs rice, shrimp wantan noodle, fried noodle with pork innards and squid, as well as shrimp roe noodle. I like the thin noodles and it’s texture, shrimp wantan was delicious, as with the innards. The shrimp roe has a pretty special taste to it that isn’t very different from ebiko but much, much dryer, the bowl of soup served on the side isn’t really enough to counter the fact.
Overall it’s a pretty decent place to dine that won’t break your wallet.
the shrimp roe noodle & our traveling partner in crime, Tian Chad & Bobo with their SOs
Address: Wong Chi Kei, 17 Largo do Senado, Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro, Macau GPS: 22.194078, 113.540164
“Xiang Zhi Wei” near our hotel, fantastic Hunan cuisine
For the second night, we ventured around the surrounding of our hotel and ended up at this tiny little shop by the name of “Xiang Zhi Wei“, a Hunan restaurant at Edificio Royal Center.
The selection of dishes are quite extensive here as well, with about three quarter of them being spicy, typical of Hunan cuisine. For the two of us, we ordered the brinjal with long bean and steamed tofu with egg and minced meat.
simple, spicy, and absolutely delicious
Both dishes were excellent, with the only minor downside being that the egg yolks in the tofu dish were slightly more cooked than we would have liked. The hint of spiciness in the brinjal and long bean dish was superb, and something that I would try to order in other Hunan restaurants now.
Total bill came to slightly less than 200 MOP for the dinner, which wasn’t cheap, but considering the taste it was well worth it.
Address: Xiang Zhi Wei, Edificio Royal Center, Rua de Pequim, Macau GPS: 22.191680, 113.547411
Chan Kong Kei, famous roast goose/duck/pork/chicken etc
On the last day, we went over to another pretty famous restaurant, Chan Kong Kei, for lunch. The place is perpetually packed and again, sharing table is a norm. We also discovered that the locals usually dine about 3x as fast as typical Malaysian (probably not having to snap pictures speed up dining time quite a bit, haha).
The restaurant offers roast goose, roast duck, roast pork, bbq pork, soya chicken, and more.
roast goose with roast pork, and a side of duck blood with vegetable
We tried the roast goose with roast pork and a side of duck blood with vegetable soup on the side. The roast pork and goose drumstick were top notch (80 MOP), the meat very flavorful and even the fat has a soft and smooth texture.
The duck blood (33 MOP) though, was entirely something else, why wouldn’t we have this here in Malaysia? Pork blood is nice, but duck blood is even smoother and in every sense, more delicious (the only places that serves duck blood in Malaysia are probably a few kuih teowsoup places, such as the one at Anson Road in Penang)
Address: Chan Kong Kei, 19 Rua Do Dr. Pedro Jose Lobo, Macau GPS: 22.192082, 113.541577
We traveled to Macau in late July 2014 for a three day two night of sightseeing and food spotting trip, and I’m happy to report that when it comes to food, this former Portuguese colony surely did not disappoint.
Should you find yourself at Macau, here are some of the places you may want to check out. This is the entry where I cover snacks and cheap eats, there will be another talking about the few restaurants that we tried during the trip.
we arrived at Macau on the evening, beautiful cityscape
As for weather, Macau isn’t different from Malaysia at this time of the year (July), temperature and humidity are pretty much the same, so light clothing and perhaps an umbrella if you’re afraid of the heat is advised.
The city is one that never sleeps, and I got the impression that it was very safe to walk around at any time of day. Public transportation by bus is very good, so keep plenty of coins and small change available as change is not provided on the buses.
HK dollars as well as Macanese Pataca or MOP are accepted pretty much everywhere, including the buses. At the time of travel, 1 MOP = 0.40 MYR.
Pro tip: there are many free hotel shuttle buses going to and from the airport, you can utilize them even if you don’t stay at the same hotel.
road side stall with chee cheong fun and dimsum in the city
The first thing we tried at Macau was this little road side stall situated opposite Centro Commercial Central.
We tried the chee cheong fun with siu mai which was priced at $30 MOP. The sauce was lighter than the one usually served in Malaysia, and the chili sauce has a stronger taste of vinegar to it. We found it pretty delicious and fitting as a pre-dinner snack or post-dinner supper.
the famous Portuguese egg tart at Margaret’s Cafe e Nata
When in Macau, one of the snacks that you must not miss is the famous Portuguese egg tart at Margaret’s Cafe e Nata.
The egg tarts are $8 MOP each and was really as good as everyone claimed. The pastry soft yet crunchy, and the filling smooth and super flavorful with the aroma of milk and egg at their best. We only had 2 each but we really should have brought more. It was very delicious!
There’s always a queue at the shop, but you wouldn’t have to wait for more than a few minutes before being served.
Address: Margaret’s Cafe e Nata, Rua do Comandante Mata e Oliveira, Macau GPS: 22.191993, 113.542178
fried fish paste, pork bun, and beef tendon noodle at Sang Lei, next to Margaret’s
Right next door to the egg tart place is Sang Lei, a shop that perhaps thrive thanks to Margaret’s being constantly filled to the brim. We tried fried fish paste ($19 MOP), pork bun ($22 MOP), and beef tendon noodle soup ($22 MOP) there.
The food actually turned out pretty decent. The fish paste is pretty similar to those we get in Malaysia but tasted fresher, the beef tendon noodle was simple but if you’re a fan of tendon, you’d be delighted. The pork bun though, did not impress.
Address: Sang Lei, Rua do Comandante Mata e Oliveira, Macau GPS: 22.191954, 113.542136
cheap roast goose “fan hap” at Sek Kei, Rua Dois do Bairro lao Hon
While trying to go to Taipa island by bus on the second day, we accidentally took the bus heading to the wrong direction and ended up at this little strip of shops at Rua Dois do Bairro lao Hon, which is located near the border between Macau and China up north.
Since I was hungry, we stopped by Sek Kei for a roast goose rice that was served in a styrofoam box commonly for those who wants it to go. Lucky for us Sek Kei actually has ONE table in their shop that I could eat. It turned out to be rather good and only cost us $27 MOP for the meal!
As for dessert in Macau, Yee Shun steamed milk is the one place that shouldn’t be missed.
The steamed milk custard ($28 MOP) has the consistency of our familiar “tau fu fa” but with that creamy aroma of fresh milk that made it so irresistible. We also tried their warm milk ($22 MOP) and papaya milk ($30 MOP) which did not disappoint either. The same place also serves sandwiches, eggs, and even pork bun.
Even as a person who’s slightly lactose intolerant, I now want to know how to make this at home!
Remember the news article on Oriental Daily on the 21/5/2014 on Foodie Blogger programme? Well, it’s going to be aired this coming Thursday 10 pm on the 12/6/2014 on NTV7.
For those who aren’t familiar with the program, this is a food TV show hosted by Ernest Chong. In every episode, he’ll explore a city in Malaysia to find some of the best street foods with a help of a “local” blogger. On this episode that is about Klang Valley, yours truly was lucky enough to be chosen as the guest blogger. So yeap, it’s my time to shine. 😀
NTV 7 foodie blogger – KL 2014
In the program, I introduced three different street foods that I thought represent some of the best Street foods KL has to offer. They are:
Shooting took place some months back and it was a lot of fun. We got to sample too much food in a day but at the end it was all well worth it. I’ll also be watching this for the first time this Thursday, but here’s a promo video to hopefully pique your interest.
Also, do check out those three stalls, they are some of my favorites and I hope you like them too.
While roast duck and chicken are fairly common, roast goose is a dish that is pretty hard to come by. However, within stones throw to each other, you can find three different places offering this dish at around Jalan Pasar in KL.
Not long ago, I checked out one of the stalls at the area by the name of Chen Chen Hong Kong Roast Goose.
Chen Chen roast goose stall off Jalan Pasar
Chen Chen Roast Goose isn’t exactly a restaurant, the stall is located by the side of shops at the intersection of Jalan Seladang and Lorong Yap Hin. There’s tin roof and semi-permanent table and chair set up, but no luxury amenities such as wifi, fan, toilet, or wash basin.
The chef himself though, dressed up as if he’s working in a high class 5-star hotel, which is as professional as hawker operator goes.
roast goose for a single portion
Chen Chen actually offers more than just roast goose, there’s also roast chicken, roast duck, roast turky, roast piglet, roast pork, char siu, vinegar pork leg, and sour + spicy soup. Quite an offering for a road side stall, really.
bottom 1/4 roast goose, with “sour and spicy” vegetable soup
A single serving of roast goose with rice goes for RM 9 and the portion is more than sufficient. The meat tender and the taste is not entirely different from roast duck, but there is a slightly more gamey taste, and overall there’s also more meat and slightly fatter. I like it.
Half a goose would cost RM 65, as compared to RM 50 for whole roast duck, so you can imagine that roast goose is quite a fair bit more expensive (and larger) than duck.
KY & Sheng, over two different visits
I find the sour and spicy soup here is rather average, but that’s perhaps I’m spoiled from the excellent version served up at Peng Heong Hakka Paikut at Klang.
While most other places serve steamed rice to go with roast duck/goose, Chen Chen offers a version of their yellow rice that carries a unique faint flavor that I can only describe as a cross between briyani and chicken rice, but much subtler. I believe it is made with turmeric and butter.
If you’re up for some roast goose, this would be a decent place to try.
Address: Chen Chen Roast Goose Jalan Seladang, Off Lorong Yap Hin, Pudu 55100 Kuala Lumpur GPS: 3.13612, 101.71560 Tel: 012-233 3083 Hours: 10 am to 6 pm daily
I have been a fan of roasted duck for the longest time and usually get my fix at Loong Foong in Taman Paramount whenever temptations got the better of me. While roasted duck is all good, everyone has been telling me that roasted goose is a whole other level altogether when it comes to taste, people like Horng who has been to HK on numerous occasions. As you might have guessed, roasted goose is a rather common dish there.
glorious glistering roasted goose
However, some weird cosmic arrangement has resulted in the relative scarcity of this dish back in Malaysia. They are so rare that so far I am only aware that less than handful of places offer them around KL.
It wasn’t until late last year that I got myself a taste of this Chinese/HK delicacy at a food review session on Canton-i, and I can attest to the claims. Roasted goose is really quite a bit more succulent and juicy compared to duck, not to mention the relative larger portion which makes it easier to eat too.
Soon Fatt Beijing Roasted Goose is a shack by the corner of Jalan Pasar
Since that event, I had been back to Canton-i a couple times only to find out that the roasted goose is sold out every time I get there. Something had to be done, and I vaguely recalled the availability of this dish at Jalan Pasar.
A few clicks on google and a short drive later, a couple colleagues and I arrived at Soon Fatt Beijing Roasted Goose at Jalan Pasar on one fateful Friday afternoon.
For the three of us, we ordered quarter portion of roasted goose (thigh and drumstick portion), another generous portion of char siu (bbq pork) and siu yoke (roasted pork) on the side, three rice and some drinks.
The dishes came with 3 types of condiments: a plum sauce and 2 types of chili sauce. Soup is served with rice as well.
The portion of roasted goose was actually rather big even for 3 of us. The meat juicy and very scrumptious, which leaves me wondering the differences the breast portion would bring since duck breast and duck confit do carry different taste. While the siu yok wasn’t as impressive as Wong Meng Kei, they still tasted pretty good. The char siu though, was actually better than expected, on par with some of the bests in town (such as meng kee at pudu, or Aman Suria’s famous Hakka noodle char siu)
It was a satisfying lunch but also one that came with a pretty steep price. The meal was some RM70 for three of us, still, RM 20+ per person isn’t too exuberant for something you don’t get very often. Now if only this place has air conditioning…
Address: Intersection of Jalan Pasar and Jalan Yap Hin,
Kuala Lumpur GPS: 3.135315, 101.716479 Tel:012-212 9018
