Recently, a spacious new Portuguese restaurant, D’Ouro at the Macau Roosevelt Hotel, opened under the leadership of three talented culinary professionals. Executive Chef Herlander Fernandes and Head Chef João Casimiro have both worked in prestigious hotels and restaurants in Portugal and Macau, each bringing their own unique approach to Portuguese cuisine, while restaurant manager João Figueiredo brings years of experience in the F&B industry.
“I’m from Coimbra in central Portugal where the food is more comfort food, more meat based with rich stronger flavours,” says Executive Chef Herlander. “Chef João Casimiro comes from Setúbal south of Lisbon on the coast, an area that specialises more in seafood. There are many different types of food in Portugal from north to south, so our different backgrounds compliment each other.” Interestingly, while restaurant manager João Figueiredo and Chef Herlander both come from Coimbra, they only met each other while working in Taipa Village.
“Actually we were almost neighbours in Portugal. We discovered we have a lot of common friends but we had never met before,” says Chef Herlander. Despite their many years of combined experience, opening D’Ouro, with a capacity of around 250 guests, has been a learning experience for the three compatriots.
The poolside and lounge bar offer more international cuisine, but at it’s core, D’Ouro is most definitely a Portuguese restaurant, with a menu featuring all the classic dishes you would expect to find, plus a number of less well-known, but equally delicious creations.
“As a Portuguese chef in Macau, we always have a mission to bring our memories of the type of food we used to eat in Portugal,” Chef Herlander explains. “We try to introduce some different techniques to enhance the flavours, but we cannot move too far away from traditional ingredients and techniques, because our mission is to bring real traditional Portuguese food. We may add some new touches to the presentation or cooking methods, but the base is very much traditional.”
“We took over the space in late August last year and opened the restaurant on November 27. We had a lot of work to do to get it ready,” says the Executive Chef. “The kitchen is all redesigned and completely new, and we needed to buy lots of materials and equipment.” “It’s definitely been a life changing project,” he adds. “It’s a very large restaurant and a very versatile space. We have this amazing balcony with panoramic views of Hengqin, the poolside area and four private rooms. It can be much more than just a Portuguese restaurant.”
Starters include some regular favourites like clams with white wine, garlic and coriander (Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato), codfish cakes, garlic prawns and octopus salad. But for something a little different, Chef Herlander recommends Tiborna de Alheira. “This is a traditional Portuguese sausage from Mirandela in the North-east of the country, served on top of grilled sour dough bread, with sautéed vegetables, and a sous vide egg.”
The main courses are very generously sized and perfect for sharing. Our Octopus à Lagareiro came with large succulent pieces of octopus, perfectly roasted. “This is a very traditional recipe, with octopus, potato and olive oil, cooked together in the oven. It’s very simple, but difficult to get the octopus to exactly the right tenderness,” notes Chef Herlander. “To introduce our own personal touch, we add the romesco sauce, and for colour, cherry tomato confit and some micro greens.”
And for dessert, something a little different is the egg Pudding Trilogy with green tea, orange and caramel flavours.
“Opening in 2020 was not an ideal time, but we couldn’t miss the opportunity,” admits Chef Herlander. “For now we are just focusing on the local market and looking forward to the borders opening sometime in the near future.” December, their first full month of operations, was actually very busy, and given the spaciousness of the restaurant and its great location with views of Hengqin to the west and the Jockey Club to the east, the team have many ideas for the coming year.
“We plan to do some petiscos and wine events with a range of finger food and free flow of wine. We are also working on an afternoon tea set and some wine pairing dinners, and when the weather warms up, of course we hope to use the poolside area more too.”
Reservations: 8291 3898
www.douromacau.com
D’Ouro Restaurant, Level 3 Macau Roosevelt Hotel
Open hours: 11:30 – 15:00 18:00 – 22:00; Pool Bar 11:30 – 18:00； Lounge 18:00 – 0:00
