Tucked away on Rua Central in the heart of the city is a surprisingly authentic new French bistro Le Bouchon, serving up delicious cuisine from the famous gastronomic city of Lyon.
“Lyon is the capital of gastronomy in France. Most of the typical dishes in French cuisine are from Lyon, so it was an easy choice to focus on this region,” explains Bernard Peres, co-owner and manager of the restaurant.
Dining enthusiasts in Macau may recognize the location of Le Bouchon as having previously been home to Italian restaurant La Buca. When his Italian business partner left Macau in 2021, Bernard continued to operate La Buca, but eventually decided to change it to French cuisine instead.
“There are a few Italian restaurants and pizza places in Macau, but actually not so many French restaurants, and certainly nothing like a cozy bistro, so we thought it was a good opportunity,” he says.
Originally from Marseilles, Bernard has lived in Macau for 27 years, and is no stranger to operating businesses here. Previously he owned Le Bistro in Taipa and Gourmet Fine Foods.
“We opened Le Bouchon in January and considering the situation in Macau, we are doing OK so far. We are open for lunch and dinner, and dinner is particularly busy. We are normally full in the evenings, so guests need to make a booking.”
The cozy bistro has seating for just 17 upstairs, and also has a small private dining room downstairs for a maximum of six persons. Despite its small size, the table arrangements do not feel crowded and the intimate environment still allows for easy conversations.








Working in the kitchen is another long-term French resident of Macau, Chef Eve Duron who was previously the executive chef at the old Mandarin Oriental, and continued to work there after it was rebranded as Grand Lapa. After retiring, he began teaching part-time at the Macau University of Science and Technology, and Bernard has now invited him to bring his culinary talents to La Bouchon.
“I think he was bored in his retirement anyway,” laughs the restaurant owner.
According to Bernard, some of the most popular dishes on the menu are also the most classic ones in French cuisine, like, for example, baked Burgundy Snails in Garlic Butter (Les Escargots de Bourgogne), and Sauteed Frog Legs with Garlic and Parsley (Les Cuisses de Grenouilles Sautées à l’Ail et au Persil).
Other dishes that come highly recommended include “Rossini” Beef sirloin steak, with pan-fried foie-gras (Le Tournedos Rossini) and Pike River Fish Quenelles in Lobster Sauce (Les Quenelles de Brochet, Sauce Nantua).
On our visit to La Bouchon we also enjoyed the Beef Tartare for our entrée, and an amazing Tatin Apple Tart to finish off the meal.
Cheese and beef Fondues are available but require 48-hour advance bookings, and the lunch set menu for MOP138 is a particularly good deal.


“We change the lunch set menu every week and offer a different soup and dessert every day,” says Bernard.
“We order oysters from Brittany twice week, so they are always extremely fresh,” he adds. “We always use high quality ingredients and we don’t try to do anything ‘East meets West’. We want to keep the original recipes and authentic flavours.”
Chatting with Bernard as we finish our meal, we wonder what brought him to Macau all those years ago.
“I had been living in Portugal for 16 years running another business, so when I came to Asia, Macau was a good choice. I arrived in December 1996 and at that time Macau really just felt like a big village.”
Interestingly, his other business is manufacturing collectible model cars and planes. He has one factory in China and one in Bangladesh, and is currently launching his first collection in Australia.
“Running any business in Macau is a challenge and restaurants are no different, especially now that many people go across the border to Zhuhai on the weekends. Fortunately, I have my other business, so I can still enjoy offering authentic French cuisine to customers here.”
澳門龍嵩正街11A Rua Central 11 A
營業時間 Business hours:週一至週六 Mon – Sat
12:00 – 15:00 • 18:30-22:00
電話 Booking:2825 8637
Enjoy 10% discount on the À La Carte food & drink menu (set lunch excluded) upon presentation of your member card of: Alliance Française de Macau, Alliance Française de Hong Kong, FMCC French Macau Chamber of Commerce, MECC Macau European Chamber of Commerce, FCCIHK French Chamber of Commerce & Industry in Hong Kong, CHAINE DES ROTISSEURS members, DISCIPLES D’ESCOFFIER members