My partner always makes fun of my travel itineraries.  Whenever we travel together, I am the official “itinerary maker.” I do my research and I put everything in table form.  I definitely make sure to include notable landmarks, museums, modes of transportation to try, shopping areas like malls, etc.  But more often than not, the funny thing is that my itinerary is peppered by different restaurants and delicacies that we must try.  In short, there will be a lot of entries on FOOD!  Food tripping makes up about seventy five percent of our itinerary.

It was no different when we planned a Christmas holiday trip to Macau.  I had enough time to prepare our travel itinerary as we were able to book about six months in advance because of a special airline promotion.  With so much time in my hands, I had a field day doing my research on the things which should not miss doing in that wonderful destination.

Upon arriving, we immediately browsed through our itinerary and decided to start with our casino-hopping.  It would be lovely to take souvenir pictures of the Venetian Macau Resort before hitting the casino.  While exploring Macau on foot and looking for a short cut to Senado Square, we chanced upon an outlet of Pastelaria Koi Kei (also known as Koi Kei Bakery). Koi Kei Bakery is the most popular store in Macau for different tasty goodies and sumptuous delicacies.  It is so popular that a trip to Macau will not be complete without visiting this culinary landmark.  One of their high selling outlets would have to be the one located on the pathway leading to the St. Paul Ruins.

My heart leaped in delight when I saw so many yummy looking snacks laid out before my eyes.  These snacks come in colorful plastic packaging, colorful matte boxes of different sizes, and those that were freshly baked were laid out on thin wooden containers.  But what really got us so excited was not only seeing all those snacks and sweets but when we were offered samples to taste.  It turned out that at the Pastelaria Koi Kei you can make yourself at home and just try everything that you would like to try before deciding which ones you would like to buy for yourself to bring home.  When I say that you can sample everything…I meant everything.  The attendant event handed us samples of Pineapple pastries that were freshly baked!

Aside from the Pineapple Pastry, make sure that you try those tasty Macanese Almond Cookies.  These almond cookies come in sweet and salty versions.  These crunchy cookies will surely melt in your mouth.   The wonderful thing is Koi Kei Bakery stands by their commitment to serve their food items fresh each day so it is normal to see fresh loads of those almond cookies in their outlets.  One small box costs around MOP 17 and bigger boxes cost MOP 33.

Another delicacy that you must try in Macau are the Peanut Candies.  Aside from Pastileria Koi Kei, there are a lot of other bakeries in Macau that sell this delicacy.  If you go to Taipa and visit the village, you will find yourself in a food street where there are bakeries that make these famous peanut candies right in front of you.   These candies come in different kinds – some are crunchy while some are chewy.  Of course, you can sample these candies to test which flavors or variety you prefer.  These Peanut Candies cost around MOP 15 to MOP 40.

The next thing that will surely catch your eye would be rows and rows of preserved barbecued meat (also called Jerky).  You will find different kinds of meat here from your regular pork meat, beef, to the rare kinds like boar and ostrich that are bursting with different flavors.  These can be salty, sweet, spicy, etc.  These dried meats are a hit among tourists.  Just like other delicacies, the store’s staff would gladly give you a considerable amount of meat to taste. After you’ve decided on the kind that you want to bring home, chunks of your chosen dried meat are weighed then transferred to plastic bags and sealed to make sure that they remain fresh until you decide to open the pack.  This delicacy remains as one of the highest selling among Macau’s delicacies even if this food item is more expensive than the others.  These are sold per 100 grams and price ranges from MOP 40 – MOP 80 per bag.

I felt as if I’ve died and gone to heaven when I tasted those famous Portuguese Egg Tarts.  It’s quite obvious that the favorite among tourists and locals alike would have to be Lord Stow’s Bakery once you see the long and seemingly endless line of people eagerly and patiently waiting for their turn to take home the oven-fresh tarts.  Trays and trays of egg tarts were being taken out of the oven and shoved into takeaway boxes for tourists to immediately devour. My partner and I felt that one egg tart each was definitely not enough.  We could easily finish a box of six egg tarts in one sitting.  Burp!

Of course, these are not all.  You can try the Pork Buns, Sesame Balls, Seaweed Wafers, Egg Rolls, Shredded Pork Floss, etc. We enjoyed all these delicacies so much that we ended up filling one bag with Macanese snacks.  We wanted to make sure that we have enough of these irresistible treats to allure our taste buds long after we’ve arrived home from wonderful Macau.

Posted in Food, Macau

This entry was posted on Friday, February 6th, 2009 at 2:01 am and is filed under Food, Macau. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.