MACAU · FOOD GUIDE
Eating in Macau
Macau's cuisine is one of the world's most unusual fusions — Macanese cooking combines Portuguese techniques and ingredients (olive oil, salt cod, chouriço) with Cantonese methods and South Asian spices accumulated during Portugal's trading empire. The result is found nowhere else and in only a handful of genuinely old restaurants.
葡式蛋挞
Portuguese Egg Tart
Flaky pastry shell with a slightly caramelised, wobbly egg custard filling; the Macau version is creamier and more burnished than the Hong Kong version.
Where to try: Lord Stow's Bakery (安德鲁饼店), Coloane Village — the city's most cited origin; Margaret's Café e Nata, Rua Almirante Sérgio.
非洲鸡
African Chicken
Chicken marinated with coconut cream, African bird's eye chilli, garlic, and paprika, then roasted; a Macanese invention from the colonial spice trade era.
Where to try: Restaurante Litoral, Rua do Almirante Sérgio; Restaurante Fernando on Coloane beach.
马介休炒薯仔
Minchi
Minced pork or beef stir-fried with potato cubes, soy, Worcestershire sauce, and a fried egg on top; a Macanese home comfort dish.
Where to try: Any Macanese restaurant in the Taipa Village or inner Macau peninsula area.
马介休
Bacalhau (Salt Cod)
Portuguese dried salted cod — baked with potato and egg, deep-fried as croquettes, or stewed in a cream sauce; Macau's most reliably Portuguese ingredient.
Where to try: Restaurante Litoral; Portuguese-style cafes in the historic centre.
猪扒包
Pork Chop Bun
Crispy fried pork chop served inside a crusty Portuguese roll; a Macau street food icon sold from bakery windows.
Where to try: Tai Lei Loi Kei (大利来记), Taipa; copycat stalls throughout the Senado Square area.
Historic Centre / Senado Square
Restaurante Litoral
- Address
- 261 Rua do Almirante Sérgio, Macau peninsula
- Hours
- 12:00–15:00, 18:00–22:30 daily
- Metro
- No metro; on foot from Senado Square
- Order
- African chicken, bacalhau baked with potato, minchi
Margaret's Café e Nata
- Address
- Rua Almirante Sérgio, inner harbour area
- Hours
- 06:30–17:00 daily (closed Wednesday)
- Metro
- No metro
- Order
- Portuguese egg tarts, coffee, almond cookies
Senado Square stalls and bakeries
- Address
- Senado Square and adjacent lanes, Macau peninsula
- Hours
- 09:00–22:00 daily
- Metro
- No metro; central walking area
- Order
- Beef jerky, almond cookies, pork chop bun
Taipa Village / Coloane
Tai Lei Loi Kei
大利来记
- Address
- 35 Rua Correia da Silva, Taipa Village
- Hours
- 06:30–18:30 daily
- Metro
- No metro; bus from peninsula
- Order
- Pork chop bun, milk tea, scrambled egg sandwich
Lord Stow's Bakery
- Address
- 1 Rua do Tassara, Coloane Village
- Hours
- 07:00–22:00 daily
- Metro
- No metro; bus or taxi to Coloane
- Order
- Portuguese egg tarts (warm), custard bread rolls
Restaurante Fernando
- Address
- Hac Sa Beach, Coloane
- Hours
- 12:00–21:30 daily
- Metro
- No metro; taxi from Taipa
- Order
- African chicken, grilled sardines, sangria, garlic prawns
The Red Market (红街市) on the Macau peninsula is the city's main wet market — open from early morning with fresh produce, dried seafood, and the ingredients behind Macanese home cooking. The streets around Senado Square have shops selling beef jerky (dried beef strips from dedicated jerky shops), almond cookies, and Macanese pastries. Rua da Felicidade (Happiness Street) in the historic district has a cluster of traditional Macanese and Cantonese restaurants in restored 19th-century shophouses.