Macau Food Porn: Heaven in My Mouth

Highlights of Macanese Cuisine

Macanese cuisine is a mixture of Portuguese and southern Chinese cuisines with some influences from South-East Asian countries such as Thailand or Vietnam. It is well known for its steamed or boiled seafood, grilled and roasted pork/ beef, egg tarts and seaweed egg rolls. The majority of Macanese dishes are seasoned with coconut milk, turmeric and cinnamon. Surprisingly, the food is not as spicy as many people think. 

Macanese almond cookies
Macanese almond cookies

Our Culinary Experience in Macau

We could not afford to dine out in Portuguese or Macanese restaurants on a regular basis while living in Macau so we mainly stacked to the budget street food which was not only cheap and filling, but also delicious and nutritious. We grabbed some buns and croissants with a cup of coffee from local bakeries in the morning, had a bowl of steamed veggies and fish balls at local food stand for lunch and enjoyed a plate of Chinese food for a dinner.

A girl is holding a tray with Chocolate croissant, had bun, garlic bread and mini cheese soft baguette in a bakery in Macau
Breakfast time! Chocolate croissant, bun, garlic bread and mini cheese soft baguette

Here are some of the food we tried, loved and we would like to recommend:

Egg Tart (Pastéis de nata)

It’s creamy, soft and delicious. It tastes best when it’s hot. You can have it with a glass of Portuguese red wine or an espresso.

Pastéis de nata Egg tarts
Egg tarts

Sauerkraut and Soy Sauce

It’s a great alternative for vegetarians. If you are a meat lover, you can get one with a small pieces of beef or pork.

DSC06747
A bowl of sauerkraut

Seafood

There is a great variety of seafood in Macau. You can have some fish balls, crab balls, fried or grilled salmon, etc. Any kind of seafood balls are cheap, ready in 5 minutes and they are also very filling.

Fish and crab balls
Fish and crab balls

Seaweed egg rolls

You can buy a whole box of them and have a few when you need a great, quick snack. It’s perfect with a cup of tea or coffee. Very crispy.

A box of Macanese seaweed egg rolls
A box of Macanese seaweed egg rolls

Serradura (Portuguese sawdust pudding)

It might look a bit weird, but this biscuit dessert is just amazing. The biscuits are crushed super fine so it looks like sawdust. It is in a cake slice form, very creamy and cold, like a hard ice-cream. Perfect sweetness!

A bowl of Serradura
One serving of Serradura

Kebab

It’s a very popular street food. You can fill yourself up with a kebab meat wrapped in a pita bread topped with garlic sauce and served with veggies. It’s cheap and delicious!

Kebab in Macau
A portion of kebab in pita bread, salad and dressings

Portuguese Baguette with Chips

Are you looking for some breakfast ideas? Go for Sandes de Ovo com Queijo, Fiambre, Tomate e Afece (egg, cheese, ham, tomato and lettuce sandwich). Fresh, crispy and filling!

Portuguese baguette with chips
Portuguese baguette with chips

Chinese Specialty – Diced Chicken with Hemp Pepper Rice

If you miss rice, meat and spicy herbs, go to any Chinese restaurant and order a spicy Sichuan meal. You will get a plate of fried chicken or pork meat, any kind of veggies and a bowl of sticky pepper rice. Sounds delicious?

Diced chicken with hemp pepper rice
Diced chicken with hemp pepper rice

BBQ Dishes

If you are bored of steamed and fried dishes, go for a grilled option. You can have well done chicken wings, steak or sweetcorn. Cheap and yummy.

Grilled chicken wings and sweetcorn
Grilled chicken wings and sweetcorn

Strawberry Yoghurt Shake

Words cannot describe how much we love fruit drinks, from smoothies, shakes to frozen yoghurt. Macau coffee shops serve a great variety of tropical fruit drinks so if you feel like having a mango smoothie or frozen berry yoghurt, you can find it anywhere around you! We enjoyed our strawberry yoghurt shake, iced and creamy!

Strawberry yogurt shake
Miss perfect on our table

Breakfast Sandwiches

There is no way you can find a ham and cheese toast anywhere in China (Chinese breakfasts are more complicated than this). Macau is different. Finding a nice sandwich, breakfast roll or pork bun is super easy. Every single restaurant sells them. We highly recommend ham, fried egg and cheese sandwich, simply cheese toast and a mug of hot chocolate. 

A mug of hot chocolate, ham fried egg and fish sandwich, cheese toast
A breakfast we would never get in China

P.S. Everything tastes better in Macau with a glass (often a bottle) of Portuguese red wine, right?

See also  10 Chinese Street Foods And Drinks I Miss So Much It Hurts

Any particular Macanese food we missed?

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Agness Walewinder
Agness Walewinder
Travel freak, vagabond, photography passionate, blogger, life enthusiast, backpacker, adventure hunter and endless energy couchsurfer living by the rule "Pack lite, travel far and live long!"
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