Gastronomic lunch at The Macanese Table by Fat Tea

By Laura Lee

At the Macanese long table media luncheon with my ex-colleague Peter Yap from The Sun

I have been introduced to Macau’s gastronomic delights by the Macau Government Tourism Organisation (MGTO) when its representative office in Kuala Lumpur sent me on its media familiarisation trips many years ago.
I had the opportunity to taste its authentic cuisine at fine dining outlets as well as its street food during those occasions. To be alerted recently that it is collaborating with Fat Tea Macanese Food Restaurant at Damansara Perdana to introduce Macao’s many unique flavours from 4-28 June from Tuesdays to Fridays with a specially created dinner menu, I certainly could not resist its media preview invitation.

The restaurant owners June Yap and Chef Susana Batalha were very generous. Instead of just debuting the dishes on its special menu – Macao’s Pork Chop Slider, Minchi and Serradura - followed by coffee or Macao nai cha or milk tea and pandan water for its The Macanese Table promotion all for RM42++, we were introduced to so many other items from its a la carte menu.

June (right) is pleased that their Macanese restaurant is the only one in Malaysia that is endorsed by MGTO as chef Susana listens on besides her

The media luncheon turned out to be quite heavy that some of us decided to ta pau or pack home part of our main course and Portuguese tart.

For our preview, our appetiser comprised a variety of buns such as the polo pork belly and char siew bun and mini cocktail bun. 

Those topped with the sesame seeds are mini cocktail buns with coconut inside. I enjoyed their buns

The salad is mixed with pine nuts

They were followed by the Rissole and nuts pork chop salad. 

For the main course, we were introduced to Portuguese meat loaf and Minchi rice, Piri piri chicken, Portuguese rib with rocket salad.

June tells us that the meat loafs are popular dishes for parties. This Capela or Macanese meat loaf comprises minced pork, edam cheese, olives, wood ear mushrooms topped with pine nuts, almonds and bacon.

Minchi, equivalent of a national dish in Macao, is a household favourite comfort food. It comprises minced pork, onions, diced fried potatoes, fried egg, chopped long beans, rice and topped with some chi yau cha or fried lard. It’s also priced at RM42 like its meat loaf dish.   

Minchi rice and the Portuguese meat loaf came together 

Meanwhile, the piri piri chicken dish is said to have its roots not only in Portugal but also in Africa. Macanese cuisine is very much derived from Portuguese sailors and settlers who brought European ingredients and other favourites from the major trading ports such as The Cape (South Africa), Goa (India) and Melaka (Malaysia) to Macao, according to Fat Tea’s a la carte menu.

Back to our piri piri chicken, it is marinated for at least 12 hours before it’s grilled and served with homemade piri-piri sauce. Its preparation time takes 20 to 25 minutes. 

The piri piri chicken is available at RM42 as a main at Fat Tea but if you were take it as a single plate, comprising a quarter grilled chicken that comes served with rice, fries or salad and its homemade piri-piri sauce, it’s RM24. 

These mains mentioned above, including its Portuguese ribs served with rocket salad which is priced at RM48, can be eaten by two or three persons. Although we were served small portions of Fat Tea’s mains, I was feeling full from all the samplings. 

I had to pack the Portuguese pork spare ribs with tomato salsa sauce and salad although we were given a small portion to try. We were served Macao milk tea as well.

I reserved my stomach for its Serradura or sawdust pudding as dessert is one of my favourites. You can top this Macao pudding, layered with whipped cream and crumbled biscuits, with ice cream for an extra RM3. Perhaps on my next visit to Fat Tea.

Me and my glass of Serradura. I had the pleasure to be catching up with travel writer-cum-author David Bowden and Cherry Lee, MGTO representative for Malaysia

Besides its weekly lucky draws on 12, 19 and 28 June where you stand to win a trip to Macao, there is also live performance by Sweet Notes jazz band on these Wednesdays. The first 100 diners coming for Fat Tea’s special dinner menu will receive an exclusive cutlery set.  

Not sure of if the cutlery sets are still available by now but it sure is a great place to check out if you are interested in good Macanese food and a cosy ambience in the Klang Valley. Chilean and New Zealand wines are available to go with your special dinner menu. A glass of a Chilean Terramater Shiraz or NZ Misha’s Sauvignon Blanc costs RM15.

Well, this idea of promoting Macanese gastronomic delights is not a first for MGTO for it has done such collaboration with a New York-born café in Bangkok in 2017 to introduce distinctive Macanese cuisine besides promoting its culture and tourism.