Lei Ka Choi

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 

Lord Stow's Bakery, Chui Heong and Koi Kei Bakery

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)

Miramar Restaurant

If any of you frowned when they read about my dinner at Le Buffet, don't be disappointed.  That was more out of convenience rather than looking for some gastronomic delight.  It worked as we were tired and really didn't want to venture far.  However, that would all change the next day as one of my uncle's friends picked us up and helped show us around.  In fact, he took us directly to a popular Portuguese eatery far off the beaten path - Miramar Restaurant right on the water.

For our first dish, we went straight for one of their most popular in the Chef Style Clams prepared in a creamy white wine sauce.  As simple as this may have appeared, this was addictive.  The buttery and plump clams were briny and sweet on their own, but the silky and thick cream sauce added a certain mild flavour without hindering the natural flavour of the clams.  Equally delicious, the Octopus Salad featured tender octopus that still retained an appealing chewiness.  There was a natural sweetness and taste of the sea that was accented by a balanced sweetness and acidity.  The olives provided a layer of saltiness as well as some brininess.

We then moved onto a traditional Portuguese soup in the Caldo Verde consisting of cabbage (looked like kale) and sausage.  Due to the large amount of dissolved potato, the soup was starchy and somewhat thick.  There was the brightness of the greens while there was some smokiness, tartness and spiciness from the sausage.  Next, we had the Fueoada a Transmontana (Portuguese Bean Stew) with red beans and pork ham.  This was hearty due to the tender beans and generous amount of sausage and pork.  There was a light smokiness to go with considerable meatiness of the stewing liquid.

Onto another "appetizer" as it seemed like we were eating non-stop, we had the Croquettes.  These were made with beef, but the texture wasn't very beefy, rather it was pasty and rather salty.  With that being said, it wasn't dense though.  Outside, the breading was rather light and stay crispy throughout.  It was also easy on the grease.  Sliced, but served on the bone, the Costoletao de Vaca Grelhado (Grilled Beef Rib) was done medium and that allowed the meat to remain tender and succulent.  In classic rib meat fashion, there was a nice rebound texture as well.  I found the briny seasoning offered up a certain umaminess which was rather appealing.

We weren't done with the stews as we had 2 more including the Carne de Porco a Alentenjana com ameijoas e batatas frita aos quadrados (Pork with Clams).  This was definitely interesting as the combination of briny clam juice met the meatiness of pork (also the tangy veggies).  I was on the fence whether it was an impactful dish or not.  But whatever the case, I liked the buttery clams, yet the pork was a bit chewy.  I enjoyed the next stew very much as it was Tripe with White Beans (Dobrada com Feijao Branco).  The tripe was appealingly gamy and tender with a chew while the beans were nicely textured being just soft enough.  There was definitely depth-of-flavour with a umami savouriness.

Our last item was the Bacalhau a Bras or scrambled eggs, salt cod and potatoes.  As expected, the dish was salty, yet not in a bad way.  The textures were soft and in addition to the saltiness, there was some sweetness from the onions.  As you can see, there was more than enough food for 10 people, let alone 6 with 2 kids.  However, this was a good sampling of the enormous menu at Miramar.  Something definitely different for us and away from the touristy areas.

The Good:
- Large portions
- Fairly tasty
- Away from the touristy areas

The Bad:
- Not easy to get to without a car or taxi

Le Buffet (Parisian Macao)

Okay, I realize there are more interesting things to eat in Macao other than a hotel buffet, but really, how could I resist?  Unlike the one in the Paris resort in Vegas, Le Buffet in the Parisian seems to focus on seafood a whole lot more than French cuisine.  I guess it suits the Asian clientele...  Whatever the case, we were already staying at the Parisian and without transportation for the night, we decided to take it easy and do the convenient thing by walking downstairs for food.

As per usual, I skipped the salads and went straight for some seafood including Crab Legs, Conch and Clams.  Served cold, the conch was sweet and a bit seafoody.  Texturally, I thought they were just right being chewy while still tender.  As for the crab legs, they were a bit scrawny, but the meat was not overdone.  They were also sweet with some natural saltiness.  The clams were served hot thought, cooked in a sake broth that was flavourful with the alcohol completely cooked down.  Hence, the natural sweetness of the clam juice as well as the brininess came through.  The clams themselves were buttery and plump.

The seafood continued with large Shrimp and Lobster being cooked on the flattop.  They were basted in garlic butter and the aromatics were intoxicating.  I found the lobsters overdone though. Right next to it, I tried some of the cooked items that consisted of Stewed Ham Hocks, Braised Chicken with cream sauce, Slow Cooked Salmon in dill sauce, Sauteed Green Beans and Potatoes.  Of the bunch, I was most impressed with the salmon as it was soft and moist, despite sitting in a chaffing tray.  The sauce was buttery with only a touch of dill.  We found the chicken to be lackluster though as it wasn't interesting.  At least it wasn't overdone.  I also like the stewed pork as it was purposefully salty and super tender.

There was a requisite Sushi station consisting of Nigiri, Maki Sushi and Sashimi.  As expected, the sushi rice was rather dry and chewy, but it wasn't too bad.  The fish on top was a bit inconsistent.  I found the red tuna to be the best as it wasn't too soft nor too bland.  However, the salmon sashimi was not very good as it lacked any texture being too soft.  It was not very sweet either.  There was a small selection of rolls and nigiri which were a bit too rice-heavy.  They were constructed in an average manner where they were tight enough that the rolls didn't fall apart, but at the same time, they were too dense.  I guess that is what we would've expected anyways.

Despite not wanting to try it, I had to get a plate of the Chinese Food for research purposes.  Turns out that Sweet & Sour Chicken was actually quite good with large chunks of tender chicken bathed in a balanced sauce.  The steamed fish (not even sure what kind of fish it was) turned out to be decent as well being moist and only lightly seasoned.  I really couldn't stand the Peking Duck Wrap as the whole thing was stone cold.  Even though the crepe was thin and dried out, it was was stiff from being cold.  Inside, the duck was not warm either and the skin was not at all crispy.

As you can clearly see, there wasn't much in the way of French food at the buffet despite the hotel's theme.  However, the Dessert section made up for it.  The picture only shows one section as on the other side, there was fresh fruit, hard ice cream, jello, layer cake and strawberry shortcake.  In the refrigerated display, there was various cakes.  To be frank, nothing was outstanding, but the selection was extensive.  Overall, Le Buffet is a serviceable option for those looking for a hotel all-you-can-eat.  It's really nothing special, but does offer a good amount of seafood.

The Good:
- Nice selection of seafood
- Lots of desserts
- Okay sashimi

The Bad:
- Lack of French food
- Chinese food was subpar
 

Honolulu Coffee Shop

The veritable Egg Tart, a Chinese bakery staple as well as many a Dim Sum service.  There are the good, the bad and unfortunately the ugly.  Personally, I love the ones with the flaky puff pastry over the hard tart shells (like the ones from Anna's, bleck!).  However, I do realize it is very subjective, so each to their own.  So while in Hong Kong, the logical thing to do is eat lots of food and for at least this morning - to see if the famed Egg Tarts at Honolulu Coffee Shop live up to their name.

We traveled the short distance from North Point to Wan Chai on the MTR for some breaky, so I decided on the Scrambled Eggs and Chicken Steak accompanied by a buttered roll.  I gotta say the eggs were pretty good being silky and runny.  However, that chicken steak...  There was enough oil in and around that thing to heat a house.  Furthermore, it was so overdone, the meat was akin to jerky.  Not good at all.  Viv had the Eggs and Pork Chop and sadly, it was equally oil-logged.  She resorted in using napkins to soak up the grease.  Texturally, it was not as chewy as the chicken though, so that was a plus.

For my son, he had over easy eggs and buttered roll with Ham and Spaghetti in Soup.  So nothing particularly interesting with the roll, but the eggs were nicely runny and yes, greasy.  The runny yolk was good with the lightly buttered roll.  As for the spaghetti, it was actually somewhat al dente rather than the usual overdone pasta.  The soup was fairly mild while the amount of ham was adequate.  My daughter went for something different in the Spaghetti with Borscht.  Again, the spaghetti was firm and the borscht was the typical tart Hong Kong-style cafe version with some cabbage, tomatoes and onions.

So far, these breakies were pretty blah, but we weren't here for that.  Instead, it was all about the Egg Tarts.  Before that we decided to try the Bo Loh Yau (Pineapple Bun with butter).  This wasn't very good since the bun was cold.  Therefore, it was quite dense and lacking in a crispy sugary top too.  On the other hand, the Egg Tarts were legit.  Featuring a flaky and firmly shattering shell, it was a nice contrast to the silky and purposefully sweet egg custard.  These did not disappoint even though the rest of the food did.  Yes, the food was actually sub-par and not very appetizing.  They use far too much grease and even if that was the case, at least drain it from the food before serving it...

The Good:
- Flaky and buttery egg tarts
- Cheap

The Bad:
- The rest of the food is sub-par
- Hurried service