Macau’s hot , humid weather at this time of the year can be energy-sapping, so we opted to have a Portuguese-Macanese dinner at our hotel’s Fado restaurant, instead of journeying to Antonio’s in Taipa as we’d originally planned.
Our dinner consisted of:
- Amuse geule: bacalhau canapes
Starters:
-
Açorda fria de santola com carpacio de polvo e vinagrete de pimentos - tian of crab bread with octopus carpaccio and bell peppers, from the Alentejo region. I didn’t quite know how to appreciate this dish: I’d read somewhere that “its use of bread to pair with the tian of crab was a stroke of genius”. Turned out, I thought those pieces of baked stuff looked and tasted rather like big, hard croutons. And the tian of crab seemed more “tuna-mayo” than a nice, creamy delicate dressed crab dish that tasted of the sea (which I’d envisioned in my mind when I ordered it). Oh well.
-
Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato - king clams with olive oil, lemon, garlic and coriander.
Supposedly, the most celebrated clam dish in Portugal, created to honour Lisbon-born poet, Raimundo António de Bulhão Pato. I quite liked this - the clams were large and moist.
Mains:
-
Bacalhau à Brás - cod with egg, angel-hair fried pototoes “à Brás”, created in Estremadura . Creamy-textured, finely-shredded potatoes - very interesting, it looked like sauerkraut, but when consumed, it’s like biting into soft tagliatelle. Very much enjoyed this dish.
-
Arroz de Pato - duck rice, baked with bacon, raisins and pine-nuts, originating from the city of Braga. Loved this dish - it came like a homely rice bake in a large pan, but was positively rich and delicious. In addition to duck and rice, the other essential ingredient of arroz de pato was the chouriço, a smoked pork sausage which was fatter and spicier than its Spanish cousin, the chorizo. It is seasoned with cumin, paprika, garlic and white wine.
Dessert:
6) Fondant de abóbora com mousse de queijo fresco e amêndoas tostadas - pumpkin lava cake with white cheese mousse and toasted almonds, from the Beira region. We were recommended this very creamy dessert, which was a rather inventive take on molten chocolate lava cake, without the chocolate.
Loved the blue-hued tiles and furniture, typical of the Portuguese, which were prevalent in the restaurant’s slick, stark decor. The whole restaurant was rather quiet when we dined there last week - the hotel staff told us that the HK unrest had adversely affected business in Macau as well, since most travellers tend to cover HK & Macau in one trip, and there were quite a bit of cancellations.
Address
Fado (花道葡萄牙餐廳)
Mezzanine Level, Hotel Royal
Estrada de Vitória, Macau
Tel: +853 2855 2222 ext. 142
Opening hours: 12noon-3pm, 6pm-11pm, daily.
