Macau – a halal/pork free dining trip (Kuliner Halal di Macau)

So, where do Muslims go and dine at when in Macau?

Well, for the “go” part, there’s plenty to see, learn and explore sans casinos.

batch_sightseeing in macau-003

Macau has thrived on tourism for years with its beautiful historical sites and grandiose hotels.
Some of these majestic properties are mind-blowingly huge, and offers dining and all manner of facilities which are enough to keep its occupants preoccupied for days, without having to step out of the property.

Macau Tower - sightseeing - bungee jumping

But since this post is about FOOD, let me get on with it and I’ll talk about the sightseeing in a separate posting.

The safest bet for an absolutely pork free meal is in an Indian cuisine outlet.

As Macau is an an international travel destination and leisure hub, an increase in the number of visitors from Muslim countries is expected as well. Likewise for a substantial number of foreign workers to fill the employment quota.
Many of these workers are of Islamic origin. As a result, a restaurant that specializes in Halal food has a reasonable chance of success in Macau.

Macau Day 1

During my trip I managed to to dine at 2 with HALAL certification and one without the certification but with no pork on the menu.

No doubt if you are in Macau you would prefer to sample the local delicacies instead of having Indian food, but for now, you can’t have it all.
Restaurant staff (in general) are more than happy to oblige special request, but most outlets would have pork on the menu.

Anyhow after a long flight without food, our dinner was this scrumptious spread of rich curries, fluffy breads and even some Portugese specialties plus “Chinese” dishes thrown in the mix, such as the chap chye.
All in a comfortable, hygienic, air conditioned outlet with efficient service, of which I can’t complain.

batch_REVIEW - Taste of India at Macau Fisherman’s Wharf-008

Taste of India @ Macau Fisherman’s Wharf is Macau’s first halal-certified restaurant.
There is a bar in the middle and the dining area is on either side.
There are options for both buffet or ala-carte but for our small group, ala-carte sets were more suitable.

Verdict of food?
Well, the breads were good though some of the items were a bit salty for me. All in all, it was definitely adeptly prepared Indian food that could rival any respected Indian restaurant in Klang Valley.

What we had: Portugese Seafood Stew, Portugese Vegetable Croquette, Portugese Piri-Piri Prawns, Chicken Tikka, Biryani, Macau style beef and Indian Bhuna Gosh.

batch_REVIEW - Taste of India at Macau Fisherman’s Wharf-007

batch_REVIEW - Taste of India at Macau Fisherman’s Wharf-005

batch_review - Escada Portuguese Restaurant - food

batch_REVIEW - Taste of India at Macau Fisherman’s Wharf-010

batch_REVIEW - Taste of India at Macau Fisherman’s Wharf-009

batch_DSC03074

Taste of India is one of the many F & B establishments within Macau Fisherman’s Wharf, a 111,500m² park and the first-ever cultural, themed and creative attraction in the tourism industry of Macau.
It is centrally located in the outer harbour (hence there are seaview on one side) and it is not just a theme park but a combination of dining, shopping, entertainment, accommodation, convention and exhibition facilities in a single location.
It is worth noting that the wharf sits right beside the Sands Macau, which is another place to further your visit.

batch_REVIEW - Taste of India at Macau Fisherman’s Wharf-001

batch_REVIEW - Taste of India at Macau Fisherman’s Wharf

Yes, that tiny blue figure is me! 🙂

rebecca saw at fisherman wharf Macau

Tips:
Macau Fisherman’s Wharf opens 24 hours, with no admission fee.
Transportation:
Take bus no. 1A,3,3A,8,10,10A,10B,17,28A,28B,28BX,28C,32, get off at Macau Fisherman’s Wharf.

Breakfast was at our hotel, the Grand Harbour View which was just opened a month ago.
Generally hotel buffet spreads would have elements of pork (bacon, sausages, steamed buns). However the Muslims could avoid those by opting for the packaged products like cereals, milk and cheeses.

BELOW: Harbourview Hotel Macau, a 4* luxury hotel ideally located‎ in Macau city.

Harbour View hotel macau

We went to Senado Square for a cultural tour after breakfast and was rewarded with another delicious lunch at Escada Portuguese Restaurant.
This restaurant doesn’t have a halal certification and there are pork on the menu. However, our meal was specially catered for us without any trace of pork or alcohol.

**Note the yellow facade of the restaurant: That would be the entrance to Escada Portuguese Restaurant.

Macau Day 11

It was a beautiful Portugese lunch with the freshest seafood and some traditional dishes like African Chicken and Portuguese grilled sardines (not the canned ones mind you!).

We slurped hungrily at our Portuguese Soup, bit into crunchy samosas, devoured juicy clams with lemon, bouncy prawns in chilli, garlic and coriander and then the Portuguese Seafood Rice.
I especially loved the prawns and the Portuguese Seafood Rice, which was cooked in delicious, hearty seafood stock so I could taste all the essence of the sea in it.

BELOW: Soup, Portuguese Seafood Rice, bouncy prawns in chilli, garlic and coriander.

iphone - Macau - iphone1

BELOW: Clams, African Chicken, Grilled Portugese Sardines.

batch_review - Escada Portuguese Restaurant - food-001

batch_review - Escada Portuguese Restaurant - food-004

batch_review - Escada Portuguese Restaurant - food-003

Desserts:
Serradura (aka Macau Sawdust Pudding), Portuguese Chocolate Pudding and Portuguese Egg Pudding.

batch_review - Escada Portuguese Restaurant - food-005

Serradura is an iconic Portuguese dessert and its name means “sawdust”, referring to the finely crushed cookies in the pudding. This is made from cream and condensed milk, and is often compared to Italian Tiramisu because of its beautiful layers of cream and crushed cookies.

serradua - macau traditional dessert

Dinner at Golden Peacock Indian Restaurant at the Venetian Macao which includes an interview with the chef.

menu - Golden Peacock - indian restaurant Venetian Macau-002

Golden Peacock Indian Restaurant is the only Michelin-starred Indian cuisine in Asia and thus I had high expectations of dinner. I expected top-notch ingredients, first-rate authenticity, high level of detail to the cooking preparation and superb flavours.

1 The Golden Peacock - review - Macau michelin star restaurant - halal food

batch_The Golden Peacock - review - Macau michelin star restaurant - halal food-007

And what I sampled that night exceeded expectations. Yes, it is indeed an Indian restaurant worth visiting in Macau.
The authenticity of the Golden Peacock derives not only from the chefs, recipes and preparation techniques, but from the ingredients themselves. Spices, bright red pomegranates and even clay serving pots are imported direct from India.

batch_The Golden Peacock - review - Macau michelin star restaurant - halal food-004

batch_The Golden Peacock - review - Macau michelin star restaurant - halal food-003

The Chef was even nice enough to share his recipe of the delicious Tandoor Beetroot Chicken; a unique sweet, smoky chicken that is not overly smothered in spices and thus suitable for consumption for all ages.
So, here I’m sharing this recipe with you, for good things are meant to be shared yes?
I hope that when you prepare this at home and serve it to your children, parents and friends, you will toast to Chef Justin Paul’s (a native of Kerala) health and send him warm regards for his excellent work.

Macau Day 13

1 kg chicken breasts.

Marinade A:
50g coriander seeds, 25 g cumin, 15 g dried chillies
– roast , tumbuk to make paste

Marinade B:
200 g pomegranate juice only
100 g beetroot juice
15 g Ginger and 20 g garlic (make paste) and juice of 3 lemons + a pinch of salt

Marinate chicken breast in marinade A for 30 mins.
Then add marinade B to the chicken and marinate for 24 hours.

Bake in oven at 180 c for 15 mins.

The Beetroot Chicken was 1/4 of this appetiser platter.

batch_The Golden Peacock - review - Macau michelin star restaurant - halal food-009

Our dinner was another scrumptious affair. The venus is gorgeous, the service stellar and food rich, aromatic and tasty.

batch_The Golden Peacock - review - Macau michelin star restaurant - halal food-001

batch_The Golden Peacock - review - Macau michelin star restaurant - halal food-010

Chicken Tikka Makhani, Kashmiri Lamb Rogan Josh, Yellow Fish Curry, Aloo Gobhi, Dal Tadka, Kabuli Pulao (Chickpea rice).

batch_The Golden Peacock - review - Macau michelin star restaurant - halal food-008

batch_The Golden Peacock - review - Macau michelin star restaurant - halal food-005

batch_The Golden Peacock - review - Macau michelin star restaurant - halal food-011

batch_The Golden Peacock - review - Macau michelin star restaurant - halal food-006

batch_The Golden Peacock - review - Macau michelin star restaurant - halal food-012

batch_The Golden Peacock - review - Macau michelin star restaurant - halal food-013

Dessert: Pistachio Kulfi.

batch_The Golden Peacock - review - Macau michelin star restaurant - halal food-014

It is not a halal outlet but PORK-FREE.
So there are alcohol served but the Lassi is amazing. So is the Masal Chai Tea.

DSC03287

Apparently Macau only produces only one beer. True?

x

We staggered out of the restaurant that night. What a wonderful meal!

IMG_5914

Our lunch the following day was at Grand Coloane Resort.
The menu was Indian/Arabic, even Indonesian with Soto Ayam thrown in.

Grand Coloane Resort - indian lunch - halal

Grand Coloane Resort - indian lunch - halal - review-001

A lover of greens, I obligingly opted for the Salad (Fattoush) to start, and then the Lam Rogan Josh as my main.

IMG_6101

There was sharing plates of freshly baked flatbreads with hummus as well as baba ghanoush as appetizers before the mains arrived.

Macau Day 4

My Lamb Rojan was flawless, aromatic rice without being overly greasy and thick, rich curry with chunks of tender lamb.
I sampled some of the Chicken Biryani as well and was impressed. It was seriously good.

1 Grand Coloane Resort - indian lunch - halal - review

Grand Coloane Resort - indian lunch - halal - review -001

Grand Coloane Resort - indian lunch - halal - review

Our lunch was prepared by the halal kitchen within the resort, which is separate from the Chinese restaurant. So if you happen to be in the Coloane area, then this would be the ideal venue for a halal meal!

Grand Coloane Resort
1918 Estrada de Hac Sa
Coloane Macau, China
[email protected]
General:+853 2887 1111/Reservations:+853 8899 1196

For dinner we have a buffet of international cuisine with a bird-eye’s view over Macau City.

360 Cafe Revolving Restaurant, Macau Tower - REVIEW Buffet-005

I must admit, it was a great respite from all that Indian food. I loaded up on the salads, the Portuguese specialties, the sashimi, the roasted meat and the desserts.

The 360 Cafe is on 62nd floor of the Macau Tower is a revolving restaurant so that you will get a 360 degree view of Macau as you dine.
The night views are pretty and the concept is cool though food was just good in erms of variety, but not great on taste.

360 Cafe Revolving Restaurant, Macau Tower - REVIEW Buffet-001

Below are some of the pictures I took from the buffet. I didn’t managed to shoot every single dish as we were pretty late for dinner and the food was in an disarray which didn’t make very good pictures.

360 Cafe Revolving Restaurant, Macau Tower - REVIEW Buffet

The only station that matters – The Japanese food section.
Unfortunately the sushi and sashimi were pretty dismal.

360 Cafe Revolving Restaurant, Macau Tower - REVIEW Buffet-003

output

Dinner was 480 MOP (about RM240++) so this would be a worthy splurge if you do appreciate the view.

Macau Day 41

batch_DSC03515

batch_DSC03511

DSC03518

batch_DSC03517

DSC03524

DSC03526

DSC03530

DSC03525

360 Cafe Revolving Restaurant, Macau Tower - REVIEW Buffet-002

Macau Tower 360° Café
Address: Largo da Torre de Macau, Macau
Phone:+853 8988 8622

So that’s it.
All the pork free eating that we did for 3 days! As you can see, delicious pork free meals are possible in Macau. 🙂

*** This is a media trip with the Macau Government Tourist Office Malaysia and other members of the media from Malaysia.

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. Sean EDKL

    this is quite a diverse range of recommendations in terms of settings (i love them all!) and food (the portuguese fare calls out to me, especially the seafood!) 😀

    1. Rebecca Saw

      Same here!
      I like the Portuguese cuisine too! Especially the seafood ones. so fresh and delicately flavoured – soups are tomato-based, and seafood in garlic, olive oil .. hmmm! <3 🙂 🙂

  2. ateqah

    love the egg tart <3 <3
    and the Portuguese cuisine was so remarkable.. love it to the max..
    wish to go again..

    1. Rebecca Saw

      Hi ateqah,
      I do hope you get to go to Macau again too! 😀
      And the egg tart – so many people love them!

Leave a Reply to Rebecca Saw Cancel reply

Related Posts

How to Afford Your Next Getaway

After a sustained period of lockdown, nothing will be more exciting than planning your next vacation. With freedom returning to our streets in the coming

Buy Seafood Online

Get your favourite seafood delivered to you!  The coronavirus epidemic has been taking a toll in Malaysia. People start working from home, restaurant can only