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2010-06-09
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I just did an interesting search due to curiosity, there were a total of 156 Portuguese restaurants in Macau according to “Openrice”. You can image how competitive the dinning business is in this tiny place. Amongst these 156 restaurants, majority of them are local café 茶餐廳 or Macanese places. We have a strong desire of authentic Portuguese cuisine tonight, so we picked Antonio.Antonio Coelho, in fact, is a cooking celebrity in Macau. He is born in Portugal but considering Macau as his home nowa
Amongst these 156 restaurants, majority of them are local café 茶餐廳 or Macanese places. We have a strong desire of authentic Portuguese cuisine tonight, so we picked Antonio.
Antonio Coelho, in fact, is a cooking celebrity in Macau. He is born in Portugal but considering Macau as his home nowadays. He has his first visit to Macau in early 1970s while he was still in military service. He then returned in 1997 as a chef since he just loved this tiny town.
He cooks with his heart and insists on offering genuine Portuguese cuisine. He imports most of the cooking ingredients from Portugal and never minds to cook with patience and quality food. He is now 62, both the owner and chief chef of Antonio. Unfortunately, we did not have the luck to meet with him tonight.
Reservation is always recommended. The restaurant was full although we came on a Thursday evening. Guests sitting next to us were wine cellar owners for the Wine Expo in Hong Kong. They were drinking and chatting happily and we could not help by hearing all their conversation since the tables were so pack.
Portuguese cuisine is characterized by rich, filling and full-flavored dishes and is closely related to Mediterranean cuisine. Spices are widely used; such as saffron, pepper, cinnamon, black pepper, etc. Olive oil is also one of the bases of Portuguese cuisine.
Four of us have decided to order 3 starters and 2 main courses as we have a late lunch today.
Starters are the standouts:
Sauteed Clams with Garlic, Coriander, Olive Oil and White Wine $100
This starter is served to the table in a small clay pot, has a strong fragrance of garlic and white wine. Just one bite, my mouth is full of sweetness! Clams were small but fresh with no doubt. Masses of chopped garlic and coriander strengthen the taste of the secret sauce while white wine balanced their odd tastes. Appropriate portion of ingredients were applied and mixed, cooked with clam with sufficient time with no excess. They were just perfect match and delicious.
Cooking clams with garlic and white wine seems to be a simple dish. However, taste of the sauce makes the difference. The one from Antonio tonight was just terrific! .
Gratinated Goat’s Cheese with Olive Oil and Honey Served on Toast, Lettuce and Balsamic Vinegar $145
This dish was presented as an art. It looked like a fish burger with sunshine as a quick glance. All ingredients were made in circular shapes with goat cheese on top and toast at the bottom. In fact, a piece of lettuce was placed at the lowest layer. Acacia honey was spread on the surface so it looked like that the goat cheese was slightly burned. Balsamic vinegar was added to the toast so it appeared as dark brown color. The plate was also decorated by slices of tomato, carrot and olive on the side.
Unless you are a cheese lover, not many people are able to accept goat cheese. Luckily, the sweet taste of honey successfully balanced her strong taste. There was no upset smell at all according to our opinion. Vinegar and honey were also added to the home made toast. The bread was a bit tough on the surface but soft inside. Never know toast goes so went well with cheese, vinegar & honey until tonight. The experience was unique. This is a must try dish in Antonio.
Fried Codfish Cakes $100
There are 365 ways on cooking cod as Portuguese claimed. It is probably true since bacalhau (cod) is the type of fish most consumed in Portugal. Cod is almost always used dried and salted because the Portuguese fishing tradition in the North Atlantic developed before the invention of refrigeration - therefore it needs to be soaked in water or sometimes milk before cooking.
Deep fried Codfish is one of the most well-known dishes to HK people. The one in Antonio tasted a little bit different. I believed Antonio used more codfish then potato as compared with other Macanese restaurants. The meat cake has more texture and chewy. Codfish cakes are deep fried but not oily. Crisy on the skin and so soft & juicy inside. Well done!
Main Courses:
Assorted Seafood Stew in a Portuguese Copper Pan (Crab, Prawns, Clams, Scallops, Mussels and Monkfish) Served with Boiled Potato (2 persons) $490
Portugal has Europe's highest fish consumption per capita since it is just a seafaring nation with a well-developed fishing industry. How could we avoid the temptation of an assorted seafood stew although it is the most expensive item in the menu!
Assorted seafood stew was served in a big copper pan. Plenty of crab, prawns, clams, scallops, mussels and fish stew can be found easily in the pan. Furthermore, there were tomato, green pepper, onion and potato. Spices were also generously added to the soup; saffron, black pepper, basil, etc.
Both seafood and soup were still quite hot by the time they were served on our table. They are all very fresh, juicy, in good shape & generous portion. With abundant quantity and variety of ingredients, the soup was very rich & sweet. It was one of the best seafood stews I have ever tried. Yummy!!
Black Pork Fillets (Imported from Portugal) on Charcoal Barbecue with French Fries and Salad $170
Porco preto (black pig) from the Alentejo was the most pricy pork in Portugal. They are grazed on fallen acorns from cork trees, which some say makes for its sweet taste.
The presentation of this dish was a bit fast food style with French Fries and green salad – therefore not impressive. The 4 pieces of pork fillets were thin cut and seemed have been marinated for a long time. I could not tell if the pork fillet we have tonight are Porco preto since I could not tell any sweet original taste on it after the seasoning. Nevertheless, the charcoal barbecue has done an excellent job. The fillet was juicy and tender.
We were quite full and did not admire this dish too much as it was the last one.
We have a wonderful evening and thanks so much to Antonio. A restaurant has her own style.
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