skip to main |
skip to sidebar
After a day filled with unique and interesting local eats in Macau, we resigned ourselves to generic boring eats in and around our casino resort (The Parisian). In fact, with some credits, we were faced with dining at Le Buffet once again for lunch. However, one look at the voucher and there were some better options including the resident high-end Chinese restaurant, the opulent-looking Lotus Palace hidden deep within the overwhelming amount of uber-expensive company shops. We weren't expecting much, but hey, the place looked nice.
We decided to take advantage of their set lunches which included a selection of eats. We ended up getting 3 of them and then added a bunch of a la carte Dim Sum items as well. The first to arrive were the requisite Ha Gau (Shrimp Dumplings) and Siu Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumplings). Okay, any ideas of this place being only a facade was erased by these 2 dishes. Sporting a thin elastic skin, the large chunks of sweet shrimp were buttery and crunchy. I loved how the bamboo shoots were rinsed properly so that they were no longer pungent. As for the siu mai, there was a good amount of shrimp and shiitake. They were packed with flavour while the texture was meaty with a rebound.
My son was really happy to see the next 2 dishes arrive. The first was the Shrimp Spring Rolls presented in an interesting, yet not particularly easy to photograph plating. They were thin and crispy with the ends coated in 2 types of sesame seeds. We found them to be easy on the grease inside and out. The shrimp filling was sweet an buttery with an appealing snap. Neatly prepared, the Roast Pork with hoisin and scallions already hidden inside was on point. The thin layer of skin was lightly crispy and almost airy. Underneath, the pork was tender and succulent.
Normally, a BBQ Pork Bun is nothing to get excited about, but these ones were on point. Featuring a thin layer of fluffy bun, the whole thing was actually filling which was full of lean pork in a balanced sweet and savoury sauce. As a result, the bun was full of flavour and meaty texture rather than the usual dense version with too much bun. Sporting the same lean filling, the BBQ Pork Pastries were also very good. Somehow, the filling was sweeter and there seemed to be hits of caramelized onion, The pastry itself was buttery and flaky with an appealingly crisp exterior.
Still on the BBQ pork theme, we had the BBQ Pork Rice Noodle Roll as well. I really enjoyed the rice noodle as it was thin and almost translucent. It was soft with an elastic rebound texture. Inside, there was no shortage of lean pork mixed with a balanced amount of cilantro. Hence, it wasn't overwhelming. I also loved how they served the side of sweeten soy hot, so that it didn't cool down the rice noodle roll. Included with the set meals was the choice of carb, so we chose the Seafood Fried Noodle. As evidenced in the picture, there was much more seafood than noodle. Everything was on point including the chewy noodles that were subjected to proper wok heat.
One look at the Phoenix Talons, it was pretty obvious that it wasn't going to be scrawny nor underdone. They appeared to be plump and buttery and with one bite, it was confirmed. It isn't often that we find chicken feet this plump, but somehow, it seemed like I was eating a substantial amount of food despite the bones. I found the seasoning to be just right bordering on being salty. Prepared with unique flavours, the Basil Beef Short Ribs also teemed of rosemary. Hence, the dish was aromatic and definitely different than the usual black pepper sauce. Texturally, the ribs were appealingly chewy while being tender.
With a light egg coating, the XO Daikon Pudding Cake were on point taste and texture-wise. The soft cubes still retained a bite while the daikon flavour came through. Although there was plenty of XO sauce used in the wok toss, the dish was only mildly spicy where the brininess from the dried shrimp and scallops being at the forefront. Most important of all, the dish was easy on the grease. We also got the Braised Pork Belly as part of the set meal and despite being a bit difficult to cut up, it was ultimately super tender and moist. The fat portion of was buttery and delicious. Silky, sweet and only lightly salty, the sauce was a nice match to the mild-tasting pork.
Also part of the set meal, we had the Steamed Pork Patty which was meaty and soft. It wasn't salty nor was it fatty either. It was sweet with a natural pork flavour. Each set meal included a soup, so we chose 3 different ones for variety. The first, Spinach and Crab, was visually stunning in rich deep green hue. It was very mild-tasting with the brightness of spinach. The Chicken & Mushroom Soup featured bits of Virginia ham that added rich saltiness that wasn't overwhleming. The natural sweetness of the chicken was at the forefront as well as the Earthiness of the shiitake. Similarly, the Lo Foh Tong which consisted of chicken, pork and fuzzy melon was also lightly sweet with natural flavours. I liked how they didn't overseasoned the soup and allowed it to stand on its own. From all the dishes we tried, it is pretty clear that Lotus Palace is a legit place to have high-class Dim Sum. Don't hesitate to try it if you are at the Parisian.
The Good:
- High quality food
- Outstanding service
- Nice dining space
The Bad:
- On the pricier side, but worth it
- Unfortunately the mall is dead, so there isn't much atmosphere
The benefits of having a local take us around Macao yielded Miramar, Lord Stow's, Chiu Heong and Koi Kei so far, but we still had dinner lined up. We ended up at Lei Ka Choi which wouldn't even be on my radar if it was up to me. However, this place sports a Michelin star and a loyal customer base. As we walked up and into the place, it really didn't scream out "please eat here", but hey, that's why it was a good thing we were taken to this place by people in the know.
We started off with a whole Big Hen Fish with fermented yellow beans on the side. The fish itself was rather plain-looking and in fact, it was only lightly sweet on its own. However, the real star of the show was the yellow bean condiment. It was richly salty with depth. On a personal level, I found the fish rather firm and dense, but that is the way it is. Next up was one of their signature dishes in the Garlic & Chili Salt Fried Corn. This was my favourite thing we ate all meal due to the intense flavours from the spicy and umaminess of the seasoning. The corn itself was sweet and aromatic providing balance to the saltiness.
My second favourite dish of the meal also happened to be another signature dish in the Water Crab and Chicken Soup with 2 types of rice (puffed rice and steamed crab protein rice in lotus leaf). The method was to combine all 3 items in bowl. As a result, the chewy and sweet steamed rice combined with the crunchy and nutty toasted rice provided a textural contrast. Furthermore, the sweet briny soup by itself was so full of depth and body, it was great by itself. A fairly simple dish was the Pan-Fried Ox-Tongue served with a sweet and tangy dip. Tender and fatty with a pleasant bite, the ox-tongue was lightly seasoned with caramelized flavours.
Another seemingly simple, but tasty offering was the Squid Meatballs stuffed with cheese and deep fried with a vermicelli coating. This was another study in textures with the chewy bounciness of the squid giving way to a stringy cheesy centre. Outside, the crispy noodles added a lighter crunch to the dense meatball. The whole thing was naturally sweet and was served with a side of Miracle Whip. The Roasted Squab (actually deep-fried) was one average dish we had. Nothing wrong with the meat as it was tender and moist while mildly seasoned. However, the skin was not nearly rendered enough and wasn't crispy despite the beautiful rice hue.
Back to the good, the Curry Brisket served in a toasted bread bowl was delicious. The thick rich curry was creamy and only exhibited a touch of spice. There was enough peppers and onions to add variation to the flavour profile. Although hardly chewy, the brisket couldn't be considered soft. My favourite part was the big chunks of tender potatoes that soaked up all the flavour. Related to that, the hollowed out cubes of bread were perfect vessels to soak up the rich curry. For our veggies, we had the Stir-Fried Pea Shoots with garlic and wolfberries. These were just a bit overdone, but still crunchy and fairly vibrant. Flavours were mild though. Again, this was far too much food for us, but hey, I couldn't complain about the variety. There were some familiar items mixed in with some unique ones - an enjoyable meal with family.
The Good:
- That fried corn!
- That curry!
- Reasonably-priced for what you get
The Bad:
- Seating is not the most comfortable
- Wow, no where to park
Enough with the hotel buffet business with the night before... It was time to venture out into Macau and have some real eats. That would involve driving from place-to-place, but fortunately for us, we had a friend take us around. Seeing how the traffic and crazy driving along the narrow streets, it was a good thing as I would've been super-stressed otherwise. After a delicious lunch at Miramar, we headed out to the beach and then onto Lord Stow's Bakery.
So how good can a Portuguese Tart be anyways? I've already had one at the ferry terminal in Hong Kong and those were pretty solid. Well, one bite into these warm suckers and it was love at first bite. The firmly crispy tart shell shattered and was super flaky and buttery. Inside, the custard was firm yet silky while being super aromatic. It was only lightly sweet with the natural flavour of the coconut milk coming through. Yah, these were worth the drive. However, one could technically get these at a closer location to the casinos as well.
From Lord Stow's, we made our way back into town and meandered our way through the narrow streets to a small little shop famous for their freshly-made almond cookies. Okay, so why were we lining up for some Almond Cookies at a little shop in the middle of bustling Macau? Apparently, these are the best in town and not like the usual ones one would find in a grocery store. Good enough for us, so we queued up at Chiu Heong like the rest of the lemmings. Turns out that these were good! With a firm powdery snap and crunch from the little nuggets of toasted almond, these cookies were addictive without being sweet. They were more aromatic and nutty than just plains sweet.
We finally deviated from our plan and did the touristy thing and visited the ruins of St. Paul's. We took our pictures and then proceeded down the steps over to Koi Kei for some jerky. We decided on Pork Jowl and Spicy Pork. Similar to Singaporean style jerky, the one here was moist, sweet and only lightly chewy. The one difference is that they were not charred and less sweet. We enjoyed the thickness of the jerky as it added an extra meatiness to it. The pork jowl was a bit spongy, but in a good way. Lastly, we had the obligatory Pork Chop Bun, but at the Studio City Casino. It was okay, but please do your self a favour and eat one at a legit place instead. So there you have it, some random eats in Macau.
The Good:
- Those tarts are pretty legit
- Almond cookies are good, not sure if I'd line up for them
- The jerky is also available in HK
The Bad:
- Go get a real pork chop bun, not from the casino food court (LOL)
Posts
After a day filled with unique and interesting local eats in Macau, we resigned ourselves to generic boring eats in and around our casino resort (The Parisian). In fact, with some credits, we were faced with dining at Le Buffet once again for lunch. However, one look at the voucher and there were some better options including the resident high-end Chinese restaurant, the opulent-looking Lotus Palace hidden deep within the overwhelming amount of uber-expensive company shops. We weren't expecting much, but hey, the place looked nice.
We decided to take advantage of their set lunches which included a selection of eats. We ended up getting 3 of them and then added a bunch of a la carte Dim Sum items as well. The first to arrive were the requisite Ha Gau (Shrimp Dumplings) and Siu Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumplings). Okay, any ideas of this place being only a facade was erased by these 2 dishes. Sporting a thin elastic skin, the large chunks of sweet shrimp were buttery and crunchy. I loved how the bamboo shoots were rinsed properly so that they were no longer pungent. As for the siu mai, there was a good amount of shrimp and shiitake. They were packed with flavour while the texture was meaty with a rebound.
Normally, a BBQ Pork Bun is nothing to get excited about, but these ones were on point. Featuring a thin layer of fluffy bun, the whole thing was actually filling which was full of lean pork in a balanced sweet and savoury sauce. As a result, the bun was full of flavour and meaty texture rather than the usual dense version with too much bun. Sporting the same lean filling, the BBQ Pork Pastries were also very good. Somehow, the filling was sweeter and there seemed to be hits of caramelized onion, The pastry itself was buttery and flaky with an appealingly crisp exterior.
Still on the BBQ pork theme, we had the BBQ Pork Rice Noodle Roll as well. I really enjoyed the rice noodle as it was thin and almost translucent. It was soft with an elastic rebound texture. Inside, there was no shortage of lean pork mixed with a balanced amount of cilantro. Hence, it wasn't overwhelming. I also loved how they served the side of sweeten soy hot, so that it didn't cool down the rice noodle roll. Included with the set meals was the choice of carb, so we chose the Seafood Fried Noodle. As evidenced in the picture, there was much more seafood than noodle. Everything was on point including the chewy noodles that were subjected to proper wok heat.
One look at the Phoenix Talons, it was pretty obvious that it wasn't going to be scrawny nor underdone. They appeared to be plump and buttery and with one bite, it was confirmed. It isn't often that we find chicken feet this plump, but somehow, it seemed like I was eating a substantial amount of food despite the bones. I found the seasoning to be just right bordering on being salty. Prepared with unique flavours, the Basil Beef Short Ribs also teemed of rosemary. Hence, the dish was aromatic and definitely different than the usual black pepper sauce. Texturally, the ribs were appealingly chewy while being tender.
With a light egg coating, the XO Daikon Pudding Cake were on point taste and texture-wise. The soft cubes still retained a bite while the daikon flavour came through. Although there was plenty of XO sauce used in the wok toss, the dish was only mildly spicy where the brininess from the dried shrimp and scallops being at the forefront. Most important of all, the dish was easy on the grease. We also got the Braised Pork Belly as part of the set meal and despite being a bit difficult to cut up, it was ultimately super tender and moist. The fat portion of was buttery and delicious. Silky, sweet and only lightly salty, the sauce was a nice match to the mild-tasting pork.
Also part of the set meal, we had the Steamed Pork Patty which was meaty and soft. It wasn't salty nor was it fatty either. It was sweet with a natural pork flavour. Each set meal included a soup, so we chose 3 different ones for variety. The first, Spinach and Crab, was visually stunning in rich deep green hue. It was very mild-tasting with the brightness of spinach. The Chicken & Mushroom Soup featured bits of Virginia ham that added rich saltiness that wasn't overwhleming. The natural sweetness of the chicken was at the forefront as well as the Earthiness of the shiitake. Similarly, the Lo Foh Tong which consisted of chicken, pork and fuzzy melon was also lightly sweet with natural flavours. I liked how they didn't overseasoned the soup and allowed it to stand on its own. From all the dishes we tried, it is pretty clear that Lotus Palace is a legit place to have high-class Dim Sum. Don't hesitate to try it if you are at the Parisian.
