Our concierge recommended we try Fat Siu Lau for lunch. It's a family-run Portuguese restaurant that has over 100 years of history. Fab. I mean, I'm all for staying power and authenticity.
Fat Siu Lau is about a 10-minute walk away from the Sofitel, through a pedestrian overpass and along charming avenidas.
When we got there, all doors seemed locked and all windows were shuttered. But dammit, I was hungry, and I was in no moood to look for another restaurant - let alone one that hasn't been endorsed by the Sofitel's Filipino concierge!
"Push," the sign on the door said, and that's exactly what I did. To my amazement, the door gave.
Duh.
The interiors are warm, modern and stylish - a marked contrast to the facade, which simply retains the texture of the original structure.
We were served by - you guessed it - a Filipino waiter.
I just remembered then that the Sofitel's bus crew at the Macau Harbour Terminal was Filipino, too, and he spoke fluent Canto. Dammit, I'm proud of my people. We're everywhere, we're doing well, and we adapt adeptly.
Now, on to the food.
Yes, I was totally perving on this Euro-Chinese pair, and they were my appetizer. LOL.
Rolls were served warm and freshly baked. Perfectly crispy on the outside, soft and pliant on the inside. This is how I like my bread. It reminded me so much of pandesal, which my mum used bake. I slathered butter onto my bread, then promptly felt guilty when Chris didn't. He's watching his cholesterol
OK, this was huge, and it flooded the whole dinig room with the smell of burning sugar. I dunno what it was; it was for the other table, anyhow. As soon as this dish was served, iPhones at the other table popped out and started happily snapping away.
I ordered ox tongue because I love lengua estofada - a flavourful dish of braised beef tongue - and wanted to see how this version compares to the Filipino one. Fat Siu Lau's lengua was cut with more refinement, I have to say, but it lacked the richness I was looking for. The sauce was rather subdued and opaque, instead of thick and creamy. Darn. And here I thought I was about to ingest an artery-clogging meal.
Chris ordered African chicken, which is among the restaurant's three signature dishes. Chris's chicken was fat and had thick skin - just the way I like it, but not the way Chris likes it. Chicken Skin = Saturated Fat = Cholesterol.
Hey, I'm Filipino, so I'll eat anything that'll send gentle squeezes to my heart. And this did the job. The sauce was nice and heavy and packed with spices, rice was begging to be soaked in it. But since Chris wasn't having any rice, I decided not to, either. I swear, simply inhaling the same air as Chris will soon make me slimmer.
"Oh, well..." Chris sighed, pushing coagulated clumps of chicken skin around his plate, "there's always dinner."
"Mmm," I mumbled in agreement whilst I busily shoved Chris's leftover down my hungry gullet.
Service at Fat Siu Law is attentive and snappy. Th staff are alert and friendly. Interiors are warm, tasteful, pleasing to the eye. Atmosphere is lively, buzzing, even at 2.30pm.
The bill, together with 3 cans of Tsingtao, came to just over MOP300.
Obrigado!
With Affection,
James
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