These are a few of our favorite...

Having just passed the three-month anniversary of our arrival in Macau, I thought I'd write some more about the places we like to go and the things we like to do...namely, the restaurants at which we like to eat. Many of these are hole-in-the-wall restaurants that don't really have English names, and we usually don't know the Chinese names, so we've just given them our own nicknames, which sometimes make our conversations sound rather strange to people who don't know what we're talking about.

1) The "phallic noodle shop" aka Fei Chai Nam Mei Sek (肥 仔文 美 食)
Eve introduced us to this little gem in Taipa during our first week - it's a great place to get some savory shrimp wonton noodles (they use real shrimp!), stir-fried beef and vegetables over rice, and they also make a pretty good bowl of congee. The price is a little more expensive than some other places, about 30 MOP (about $3.75 USD) for a dish, but the portions are generous and they always throw in a free bowl of soup. We recently found out that the restaurant itself is only open for dinner, but you can call in for lunchtime takeout.

You might be wondering, "So far this sounds pretty normal...why the name?" The answer:

*drum/cymbal crash*

2) "Place of deliciousness," aka Sun Yick
The nickname came from Brian, although the rest of us would agree. About three blocks from our apartment in the Costa area, this restaurant is an eatery that's very popular with the locals. The dishes here are more expensive, about 60-70 MOP each, but they're big because it's all family-style service, and the preparation/seasonings are top-notch. What makes it more fun is that all the names on the menu are rather metaphorical, so even Chinese customers tend to just point to the photos. For example, one dish says something like, "If you walk quickly, you'll get around the world." It's actually pig's feet.

Personal favorites include the 空 心 菜 tublers and the stir-fried beef dish shown below, as well as spiced pork chop chunks (排 骨) and the giant curry chicken bun (look on the menu hehe)

The metaphorical menu

Yumminess

3) Dumpling Town (which is the actual name)
Sadly, I realized I have no photos of the food from this place (yet), but that's because every time I've been, it's difficult to prevent people from attacking the plates long enough to take a snapshot =P Hidden in a back alley off Senado, this gem is a bit expensive (18 MOP for a plate of 4-8 dumplings), but the extensive variety of options makes it worthwhile. My personal favorite is definitely the "satay chicken dumpling," with its unusual triangular shape, tender bits of chicken, crunchy celery, and thick, savory gravy inside. Other recommendations: the steamed "carrot" haw gaw (the skin is just a bright orange, but there are whole shrimp inside) and fried chive dumplings...all of these go well with their freshly made soymilk =D

4) The "spicy noodle shop" (the Chinese name means something like "Crossing the Bridge")
Just earlier this week, Susan and I were going to take Austin to Dumpling Town, but unexpectedly found it closed. We wandered down the street and saw a lot of locals in a basement restaurant, so we decided to try it out. We all got massive bowls of noodles and meat, with varying levels of spice. On the menu (center bottom), they offer "little spice," "medium spice," "Szechuan spice," and a few other options including "extra spice" and "crazy spice." There is actually a sign in the restaurant that they are not responsible for what happens if you order the "crazy spice." Knowing my own limits, I got the "little spice," but Susan went for "medium spice" and Austin almost went the whole nine yards, going for "extra spice."

My bowl...

Austin looking rather rueful at his very, very red bowl

The menu

Even better, we found out this place was a chain, and there was a branch just a block from our apartment! I haven't been there yet, but Susan ended up getting takeout a few days later and I'm sure we'll be back at some point because a large bowl of spicy soup sounds like the perfect dinner to warm up on a chilly winter day!

So yeah, there are some of our favorite places (so far)...I'm sure I'll be adding more to this list in the future ;-)