The Portuguese exploration of the world in the 15th century brought the discovery of new ingredients as fleets sailed from Europe, via South America, around Africa to Southeast Asia and onwards to Macau.
En route, the sailors and soldiers stuck to their native cuisine but added ingredients unearthed on their travels. Macanese cuisine is unique to Macau, a blend of Portuguese cuisine with significant influences from Southeast Asia and the Lusophone world. This 450-year old cuisine with its roots in Portuguese cooking traditions is arguably one of the world’s oldest fusion cuisines.
One of the leaders of today’s Macanese cuisine movement is Manuela Ferreira, owner of Restaurante Litoral, which opened in 1995. It is located just a stone’s throw from the Maritime Museum and A-Ma Temple and is acknowledged as one of the most authentic Macanese restaurants in town. The restaurant has a small bar downstairs with a larger room upstairs with private rooms for 10 to 30 persons. The exterior is decorated with dark wood, a stone floor and whitewashed walls filled with pictures of old Macau.
All the local Macanese dishes like minchi, tacho, curry crab, and tamarind pork are here, and if the proof is indeed in the pudding then you must try the Mango Pudding (excuse the pun).
Another favourite here is the African chicken. The story goes that the dish was started by the Portuguese soldiers who were based in Macau, and then evolved by a certain Macanese chef named Americo Angelo in the 1940’s. Chef Angelo first worked at a hotel called Pousada de Macau, owned by Manuela Ferreira’s grandmother, and later Manuela also worked together with Americo Angelo at the Lisboa Hotel.
The restaurant also offers Portuguese classics like roast chourico, caldo verde, feijoada, bacalhau, and codfish baked with potato, garlic and onions.
The restaurant manager Raymond Cheong recommended us the squid with vinegar, garlic shrimps and the plate of clams. For the main course we ordered the charcoal grill black pork ribs, duck rice and African chicken. First to arrive were the garlic shrimps; fresh, simply presented with a delicious sauce, great for dipping your bread into. This was followed by the squid with vinegar, which looked and tasted great.
Plate of clams, (I just love how they wrote this up on the menu) simply written and simply cooked, came piping hot with bags of favour – another dish which needs bread to soak up all the juices.
The remaining dishes all came together. The charcoal grill black pork ribs were caramelized, juicy, succulent and full of flavor. Black Iberian pigs seem to be all the rage at the moment and are found in the central and south Iberian Peninsula which includes Spain and Portugal where they roam freely and enjoy a diet of acorns. My only quibble was there was not nearly enough, but nevertheless, a very good dish.
The African chicken was tender, moist and rich in flavour. The most important thing to remember when making a good African chicken is to use the freshest and plumpest chicken available, and the secret is also in the sauce. At Litoral, it is smothered with it, less spicy than others but with a slight buttery nutty taste.
The baked duck with rice cooked in stock and duck fat has layers of lean duck meat, topped with Portuguese sausage and bacon; tasty and filling but I’m not so sure if it’s good for your cholesterol.
The 100% Portuguese wine list has some nice labels at reasonable prices. For house wines, only one red and one white are offered by the glass and the wines are okay at best. I ordered the Quinta da Bacalhôa, which is always a nice wine at a fair price. The wine is quite Claret-like with Cabernet Sauvignon and a little Merlot in the blend. Rich dark fruits of cassis, plum and brambly fruits with soft integrated oak.
The waiting staff were efficient but there’s no service with a smile. Prices border on the slightly high side probably due to the many tourists that flock here, but the portions are generally huge. The room has a nice buzzy atmosphere and reservations are a must, so if you fancy some honest local fare then Litoral is not a bad place to start.
