An Alternative to Fernando's in Macau

Roasted suckling pig was very tender with salad and fries

It turns out not just Hong Kong was quiet for the Easter long weekend, but Macau too. Granted the 10.30am ferry I took this morning was pretty much full, once the vessel arrived an hour later the immigration lines were short.

Hearty octopus salad with onions and coriander

My relatives have lived in Macau for almost five years and used to go to Fernando's to eat, but post-Covid they have found the quality has dropped. So instead of eating at this Hac Sa institution, we went to another place a short distance away called Miramar that serves Portuguese food.

It's located in a somewhat secluded area near the Grand Coloane hotel that used to be the Westin Macau. What's good about Miramar is that there is not only outdoor seating, but indoor as well, and today being muggy and humid it was nice to have some air conditioning while we ate.

The menu is filled with pictures, and we chose a few dishes to try.

The octopus salad features tender slices of octopus, combined with oil and vinegar, onions, lettuce, and coriander. This salad had a greater ratio of octopus than vegetables, which was hearty yet refreshing.

Bacalhau had more potato than cod fish in them

Roast suckling pig is a nice portion for three to share. It comes chopped into pieces with a side of salad and fries. The pork is moist, and practically falls off the bone, the skin is relatively crispy, with a thin layer of fat underneath.

At this point we waited for our last two dishes to arrive, and we were surprised considering the restaurant was not full, but we were told there was only one chef! 

We finally got the order of bacalhau, or codfish cakes. My relatives told me these were slightly bigger than before, but when we tried them we were disappointed, as there was more potato than codfish in it. One of them was also very salty.

Our waiter also told us our grilled sardines would come out soon, but we waited and waited... until we had to chase the waiter again.

Long awaited grilled sardines arrived warm

Finally it arrived, four fish with boiled potatoes and carrots, but was warm and lost its appetising taste. Seafood needs to be served fresh from the kitchen, but this one seemed to have been sitting too long. 

To make up for the long delay in our order, the manager gave us not one, or two desserts, but three to try.

There was a slice of serradura cake, lots of cream with "sawdust" of crumbled biscuit on top; a cup of dark chocolate pudding that tasted decadent, and pineapple upside down cake served warm. All the desserts weren't cloyingly sweet at all, and it was nice to try all three, though we were already so full we couldn't finish them.

It also meant that despite walking along Hac Sa Beach, we didn't have enough room to eat egg tarts from Lord Stow's bakery. Nevertheless I bought half a dozen to take back to Hong Kong!

Serradura cream cake wasn't too sweet

Miramar 

Zona Nordesta da Praia Hac-Sa, Coloane, Macau

(853) 2888 2601

(853) 2888 2623