360°旋轉餐廳 (西灣)

My day was once again saved by desserts. Revolving Restaurants (located usually at the top floor, where the entire restaurant turns 360 degrees so that you can eat while enjoy the view from the top) have failed me since the Furama Hotel marked its closing. Back then it was quite a charm to be on the top, eating while having the view moved by your side. R66 failed to deliver the same effect, despite the view was good. It's no surprise that I have generalized with the same conclusion when an opportunity to visit the Macau Tower was offered to me. Never been there before, the view from up top was good. You get to see everything from a far-away spot, but that's about it. Macau doesn't have a fantastic skyline like Hong Kong does, and despite the bling-blings of flourescent and flashy lights from hotels and casinos, it can't possibly be compared to the awesome view of HONG KONG.

The restaurant is a revolving one. As the elevator spitted us out with a ring still going in my ear, my eyes opened to see concentric circles slowly moving. The innermost circle was the buffet line, while the two on the outside are the seats. There are no better seating in a revolving restaurant, since eventually you'll get the view anyways. The food too, moves with the view. The decor of the Cafe 360 is modest -- with lots of black, white, and chrome in the mix, allowing us to focus on the view outside other than its minimalist simplicity.

The buffet line featured some of the most common finds -- Chinese mains like roasted duck and steamed whole chicken were cut up and presented neatly on a hot platter with accompanying sauces. The duck has a crispy skin while the meat part remained moist with a prominent taste of five spice from the inside. The chicken, together with selections of dim sum were satisfactory. I paid little attention to sushi here, but the salad bar has some good selections of fresh greens. "Cold Dishes" were outstanding here. Notable ones include a Avocado and Artichoke heart salad, where artichoke hearts, together with mini-shrimps and hard boiled eggs, were tossed in a dressing made with plenty of lemon, mashed avocado and a glug of olive oil. Roasted Tomato and Beetroot salad was a red-on-red killer. The sweetness from both were clean and pleasant. Indian curries are not bad. The Tandoori Chicken seemed a little dry but the Naan Bread were made on the spot.

I looked at the view again, now only the bridge to Taipa was the only attraction to be seen. I moved on to the desserts, and took all these pictures shown here. It'll take some explaining here. On Picture 2. LOWER LEFT is a Blueberry Cheesecake. The cheese was very creamy and light while the blueberry compote was fresh with a tang. Right next to that is a Cheese Tart. I chose a slice from the pistachio side, but tasting my friend's (almond side) reminded me that both sides had the same filling, just the appearance was different. It certainly has fooled me! This cheese tart was slightly denser than the previous cheesecake, and sweeter with a buttery taste benefited from the glaze on the top.

On Picture 3 are citrus jelly mold (a showstopper that's too sweet), Mango mousse in tiny glasses, A Souffle cheesecake with mixed berries, and a Lemon Almond Cake. The souffle cheesecake was pillowy enough while the almond cake came out dense and sweet with a deep caramel finish, but the lemon curd filling was tart enough to balance it out. Picture 4 featured a chocolate and pear cake (top left), Pine Nut Tart (top right), a "Spice Cake" (bottom left) and a dessert of tapioca in coconut milk, sitting on a bed of ice (bottom right). The chocolate and pear cake was good in a sense that the pears were poached (not canned) and then atop a thinly iced chocolate cake. The "Spice Cake' though, was sweet throughout with a rancid taste from mixed spices that reminded me more of tired perfumes. Pine Nut Tart is my favorite here. You can see kernels of pignoli throughout the top. The nutty custard filling matched with the buttery shortcrust. This was the dessert I went for a second slice.

Slices of cake later, we were back to the main view, looking at the various hotels' flashing lights competing for our attention. I couldn't give my all to them, as I spent a good deal of it enjoying the wonderful desserts here. A thought passed my mind, that maybe I could've eaten less of curries or salads to try out everything else on the dessert table. But savouring bites of what I have taken and wasting none, I imagined I have done my best to choose what's tempting and irresistible here. I left contented, you can say the meal was a great one, but I think it's great not because of the view, but of the sweets.

誠昌飯店 (氹仔舊城區)

I don't want to sound all whining and complaining and all...but as scandalous as this may seem (the crying face), I have tried my best to conjure up something meaningful with the least mean finger-pointing blames. That said, 誠昌 does have what it takes to be one of the best eateries of its kind in Macau, instead, with burgeoning publicity in the press and on TV in the past year, 誠昌 has become an icon, where many foodie plan their pilgrimage to eat here. But the food served here has taken a wrong turn along the downward spiral towards mediocrity'. Was it really so bad? No, it's just plain awful, and I have left the part where the waitstaff treated us like intruders from a foreign land.

As Macau's pioneering eatery that's famous for its Crab congee and Fried dace balls, there are now so many upcoming places that sell the same things. It's only a matter of time before these two took over the Portugese custard tarts to claim the staple of Macau. TV hosts have visited here, and so did magazine reporters from all over Asia. The articles and compliments pile up high. The smart move will be to retain the same quality over what was served and what is served. Instead, the owners must've fallen into the glamour of stars in the ratings and how many thumbs-up have been given to them. We arrived at the packed restaurant at 6 pm. The earliest table we could get was 7 pm. Just perfect, we arrived there as the waiting crowd parted like the Red Sea as they heard we reserved a table. There was no glamour, it's just something reasonable to do on a Saturday night. Then the waiter arrived with notepad in hand, we asked for recommendations, as he started ticking off dishes and writing them in the pad, not asking. He's writing down what it appeared to be a mountain of food for 4 people. Then we asked for the eel, only to realize that half an eel will cost about $250. We've had the eel before -- gigantic rounds of eel steaks with plenty of black bean and garlic mash smothered all over and steamed until cooked through. The fish was so thick in size that by the time it cooked through the outside has turned mushy. Not exactly the best way to cook it, and at times we were overcharged for its weight.

We ordered a crab congee (Large, $125), Deep-Fried Dace Balls, Braised E-Fu Noodles ($28), and Boiled Pork Offals ($48), another signature of this place. The crab congee arrived first. The pot must have shrunk a few sizes like our wallets for the past few months. At the peak of crab season there was hardly any coral in the congee, let alone visible in the naked eye. A faint yellow spread across the congee that contradicted against green onions and the white smooth congee. The congee based was good enough, but the crab was nowhere to hold the candle as the last one we had here. The crab tasted like crab and congee tasted nothing of the crab. Disappointingly enough the crab wasn't the same kind of crab we had either.

Fried dace balls were dainty to begin with -- Delicate golden brown fishballs with clam-sauce as a dip. No rice-crispies or vermicelli as crusts, the fishballs were barely hot enough to be considered fried to order. Without dried tangerine peel in the mix, these fishballs tasted rather bland with no depth in the flavour. I wondered if the only thing remotely fishy in these came only in the name?! With two specialties sloppily served with such ease from the kitchen. we were still hopeful to have a brow-up moment. The braised noodles were forgettable, when a messy pile of noodles mixed with enoki mushrooms and a bland soy sauce then tossed on the plate. It tasted like carbohydrates warmed up in the microwave, or those packaged dinners in plastic trays, whichever is more appetizing.

Then our brow-up moment arrived. Boiled pork offals (heart, intestine, liver and kidney) were steamy hot on a bed of lettuce. I took a bite into a seemingly perfect liver. I couldn't believe my eyes before I chewed up...I present this to you to judge here, in this picture -- half a piece of bloody (very rare, still bloody) liver. I was still in shock with my chopsticks in mid-air while we signaled the waiter to come over. I held up the messy pile with the offending bloody offal. He looked at it, pondered for a second and looked back at me. It seemed like he's daring us to say the words (to return them). He did NOT apologize, did NOT say anything. Offensive may it be, I did a shroving motion with the plate in hand and looked at him straight in the eye...no words needed, he and the plate of offending meats disappeared into the kitchen.

5 minutes later the same plate of offals reappeared on the same plate (chipped on the side). The offending half-bitten liver was removed, and the plate was set before us with a bang, like they aimed and tossed onto our table. The waiter smirked at his perfect aim and walked away. The re-cooked offals are no longer bloody, but this time they are BLOODY OVERCOOKED. Tough like cardboard and tasted of nothing remotely meaty, we decided its fate on our wish list...it's off, the list I mean. The staff had no problem producing the check, but as we left the place pissed off with a recurring tune in my head ringing..."I don't get no...satisfaction", I realized the waiting crowd has increased in size with folks holding guidebooks in their hands longing to get a seat into this overrated establishment. The length that some of them were willing to go through (e.g. waiting for 2 hours for a table with no guarantee that some dishes will be sold out) beggars all rationality. What attracted them perhaps was the idea of eating in venues that got plenty of publicity as the food came secondary to the glamour within it all. I realized that no matter how awful the food were served in a place like 誠昌, there will always be a fanbase who want to visit there, just for the sake of it.

檀香山咖啡 (下環)

On the open end of the road leading to the Temple, there were two rivaling Portguese restaurants. One with raving reviews over their food for a long time and the other has more raving reviews over their food. Little did I realized that on the other side of the road lies another joint, smaller coffee joint that sells more than coffee. I've heard from guidebooks about its Porkchop Buns, and this day I arrived here for a tryout.

I started the day with porkchops, so me and my party of 3 shared the Portugese sausage bun ($13), and the Sardines Bun ($13). The Portugese sausage one was simply pan-fried Portugese sausages (4 slices) stuffed into a perfect Portugese roll. Fresh throughout, bread has never failed me in Macau, despite disappointments in the filling everywhere else. The Portugese sausage turned out to be less seasoned than the Spanish Chorizo. The bun with sardines, however consisted of a sardines filling made out-of-a-can, mashed up sardines smeared and spread onto a toasted bun. It's something I would consider making at home past midnight or late-afternoon for quick snack, not something I would order from a restaurant...But anyways, like I said earlier, the buns never failed me. This one, despite the filling, tasted fine as it is.

Next we ordered two rice dish, just to fill up before our journey commenced. The oxtail with rice ($30) tasted fine with slow-cooked oxtail and plenty of tomato-based sauce. The flavours were safe with no surprises. It tasted like non-complicated one-pot meal, and it's good that way. The Brisket with curry ($30) was on the other hand, fiery with spicy notes, and plenty of red chilies fished out from the sauce. The potato chunks were cooked down to a mash that thickened the sauce and the brisket pieces were soft and yielded to the bite. I wouldn't consider it a very good curry but the heat certainly got me on the surprise note!.

We didn't have coffee, at the end, thinking that this joint must be well rounded enough for all the tables not ordering coffee. There is one entire page of coffees to choose from but somehow nobody was ordering any...By the time we left the restaurant was more than half full, and no coffees. Everyone with their orders of rice and sandwiches...Perhaps I'll have the coffee next time.

禮記雪糕 (荷蘭園)

There was a time when Taro root took the ice cream market by storm...All of a sudden everywhere was packed with tubs of icecream in rainbow colours, with neon green being mint and purple being taro. There is not an ounce of the root vegetable's flavour nor the original colour in that icecream, but somehow we've grown used to the purpleness within it all being associated with the veg. Then all of a sudden it's green tea/ adzuki beans that took over the market by storm, and taro disappeared into a minimal role, so little of a role that it has somehow fallen off our ice cream radar.

This time one year ago our bus ride passed 禮記 and its "Taro Icecream: Favorite in HK and Macau" banner on the show window. We passed by it, and sworn that we would stopped by, and somehow never did. Now that we did stop by for a quick visit, we knew that we will be back the next time we're in Macau.

The wooden booths and ceiling fan reminded me of the soy-milk + dumplings joints in Hong Kong. Old school with painted sign on the wall. The menu was simple. Ice cream is served by the scoop ($6.50/ scoop). 3-Color icecream is not a Neapolitan, instead, it's 3 of your choice of flavours. For $18 dollars you get three flavours. In the long run you'll be able to save up quite a lot. Plus you will always have appetite for more than one scoop. It is ice cream, afterall...

We ordered the favorites: Coconut, Mango and Taro. Coconut is a generous scoop most resembled to a scoop of virgin snow -- soft and purely white as snow, with a smoothness and distinct coconut flavour to it. Mango ice cream is nothing like the store-bought ones. This one is more orange in colour and more vibrant in the taste. Using pureed mango in the mix made the ice cream more icy, but the flavour is more pronounced. Taro is surprisingly NOT purple in colour. It looked unappetizingly grey-ish and upon the first spoonful it didn't taste much like anything. But then a few seconds later I could taste the starchy root in the ice cream, and the flavour grew stronger as I swallowed it, with a strong Taro taste lingering in the mouth.

The Ice cream sandwich, too, came in three flavours: Coffee, Vanilla and signature Coconut ice cream. The vanilla is not as strong but the coffee is NOT the usual cloyingly sweet kind. It actually tasted like coffee, which can make great ice cream but often failed because there is too much sugar in it. The coconut is the same as the one served in scoops. The table next to us were two girls helping themselves with the "ice cream brick" ($22 for half a pound block). Looking at them forking into a divided block of ice cream and biting away with a grin that touched their own eyes, I realized that it's ice cream, regardless the flavour, that make us smile from within. The flavours are just icing on the cake. Often times, just a lick, or a nibble of ice cream with its crispy wafer cone will satisfy us to the fullest. When it comes to ice cream, I believe that it deserves the "I want it, and I want it now!" moments. (Now will you just throw that "delayed gratification" thing out the window?! You can always indulge yourself with a little more ice cream!)