Macau Food

Thought I’ll take a break from journaling and tell you about the food.

I mostly ate at the university’s cafeteria, so I won’t be the best judge of food in Macau. That said, I did observe some things about its cuisine.

1. Food is not spicy at all, no matter if it claims it is. (Spicy is food in Malaysia. And other Asian regions I’m sure, but I can’t say since I haven’t been there yet.)
2. Food is expensive. Even McDonald’s is.
3. They love pork there. They love pork as much as Malaysia loves chicken.

If you’re Muslim, you better bring some halal food in your luggage. Halal restaurants are very rare and probably expensive. But it also depends on what sort of Muslim are you – there are those who would go to restaurants serving pork but order non-pork dishes, and there are those who cannot eat in any restaurant which is not halal. Even a restaurant not serving pork is not considered halal because they may not slaughter the chicken or beef meat according to the halal standards; they could eat seafood in such places, though. You could find halal food in grocery shops, though quite rare too.

Food is quite alright in Macau, if you’re willing to spend. A must-eat is the Portuguese Egg Tart. We have these egg tarts in Malaysia too; personally, I couldn’t really tell the difference between Malaysian ones and Macau ones, but my friends have told me the famous tarts are better than the Malaysian ones. Apparently the famous Portuguese Egg Tarts are from Lord Stow’s Bakery, which costs MOP$7 (about USD$1, pretty pricey – tarts sell at less than RM2 in Malaysia, less than USD$1). I’m not sure where is this bakery, but you can get those tarts from the University of Macau’s library cafe.

Speaking of the library cafe, that’s one of my favourite places to eat. They serve mostly sandwiches, salads and other Western dishes at affordable prices (probably because it’s at the university). I like their lasagna (even if it’s pre-made and chilled). The menu selection is quite wide, so there should be something for anyone (unless you hate Western cuisine). The cafe is clean and bright, with a direct view of a cemetery (which isn’t as bad as it sounds, I kinda liked it).

McDonald’s in Macau is different from Malaysia’s. Personally, I prefer the Macau McDonald’s; they have more variety, although somewhat pricier than Malaysia’s. They have KFC and Pizza Hut too. While I haven’t had KFC, the Pizza Hut is a bit strange. In Malaysia, you can eat at Pizza Hut for less than RM10 during set lunch period (about USD$4) but in Macau, Pizza Hut is an upscale restaurant.

If you’re looking to bring home some Macanese delicacies, the bakeries are famous for their cookies and barbecued meat. The most famous is Koi Kei Bakery; easily located enough, seeing there are about 3 shops at the street leading to the St Paul’s Ruins alone! Walnut cookies, pineapple cookies, sesame cookies… there are lots of varieties to choose from. You can buy Portuguese egg tarts from such bakeries too. Since we have those barbequed meat back home in Malaysia, I didn’t buy any, nor did I try. They are very persistent in getting you to try those meats; at the street leading to St Paul’s Ruins, they’ll have salespeople holding those meats with scissors in hand, convincing you to try a small slice of it. They barbecue all sorts of meat – chicken, beef and of course, pork, so be careful what you try if you don’t take one of those meats.

I’ve only touched on a small part of Macanese cuisine, so you should do more research on your own. It’s mostly Chinese food, though there are Portuguese restaurants around, as well as other cuisines. I supposedly ate at this restaurant serving Portuguese cuisine, but it looks more like a place serving Portuguese food in Chinese style or something.

If you have any questions about Macanese food, feel free to ask!

How Macau Came To Be

My Portuguese lecturer received a letter from the University of Macau offering places for her students to study for a Portuguese language and culture course. (Macau was a former colony of Portugal.) The course itself was free, but we had to pay 2500 patacas for food and lodging at the university hostel. That was about RM1000. (RM1 = MOP$2.40) (USD$1 = RM3.30)

Initially, I was adamant about not going. I didn’t have the money for it – or so I thought. I needed to get a job after finishing my final exams. I could never leave home for so long; I’m not independent and I don’t know how to take care of myself. I’m not even that interested in Portuguese – it was a language I learnt for fun, I don’t need a certificate for that.

But after a while I thought about it. I’ve never had a proper holiday. This could be the cheapest holiday. Where can you get food and lodging for one month for just RM1000? Many friends are going – I’m not alone, they’ll take care of me. Once I start working, I could never have a chance for a holiday like this. And I do have money – I have a substantial amount of study loan left over which was sufficient to fund this trip.

And so with that, I filled in the form (in Portuguese, with the help of my teacher), bought the air ticket, procured the guide books and maps, packed the essentials needed for the trip, planned the many places I would visit with my friends (all in the space of 2 months), and went on a trip that changed me.