Vignettes of the World
On the second day of the heritage tour in Macau, I visited the Moorish Barracks first, and then headed over to the Monte Fort and the Guia Lighthouse before going home. It was a very hot October day and the walking did amount to a …
The Chiwan Left Fortress has been on my list of interests and I finally had the opportunity to visit it on a rather cold winter day in Shenzhen. The Chiwan Left Fortress is located in the Yingzui Shan hill area overlooking Chiwan Bay, in the …
Common tourists don’t really go to Macau for its history or heritage. They go to Macau for shopping, shows, gambling and other kinds of fun. They also certainly go to Macau for its food. Perhaps then this entry will appeal to the common interest.
This following list is not ordered in a ranking.
| Restaurant | Address | Comment | Recommendation |
| Sei Kee Café in Nam Van | Av. Panoramica Do Lago, Nam Van, Macao
(Lake View Mansion, Ground Floor Shop E) |
Besides its claypot brewed coffee, Sei Kee’s pork chop buns also top the charts for this distinctly Macau delicacy. However, at the Nam Van Lake shop, the restaurant only serves the beef and chicken variations of the bun. | Yes. |
| Restaurant | Address | Comment | Recommendation |
| Sei Kee Café (Ruins of St. Paul’s Shop, close to the Senado Square)
|
15 Patio da Palha, Macao | Since 1965, Sei Kee Café has been serving the world-famous pork chop buns and claypot brewed coffee. This Sei Kee Café is a takeaway-only spot. It does sell its signature pork chop buns, but there are no seats for you to sit down to enjoy the meal. | Must-try in Macau. |
| Restaurant | Address | Comment | Recommendation |
| Lucky Dragon Portuguese Steak Café | G/F, 26 Travessa dos Becos, Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro | This restaurant obviously caters to the tourists that frequent the Senado Square and the Ruins of St Paul’s area. It is quite close to the Hong Kong Cha Chaan Teng food, like an old-fashioned kind of fusion food. Its food is so-so, but perhaps that was because I didn’t quite know what to order. | No. |
| Restaurant | Address | Comment | Recommendation |
| Wabi-Sabi | Edificio Veng Kuong, 22 R. de Mitra, Macao | This restaurant serves Japanese cuisine made by a Japanese chef. With a name referenced to Japanese philosophy, the restaurant’s food is indeed on the “zen” stripe. It is certainly very high quality, I’d say at the level of craftsmanship. They also don’t ask for a lot for this high quality food. The only reminder is that the restaurant serves only about a dozen customer at one seating. Watch out for the days that it is open and be prepared to line up at 11am to secure a seat at the first round for lunch. | Highly recommended. |
| Restaurant | Address | Comment | Recommendation |
| Lam Coffee | Edificio Veng Lai, 13C Patio da Cabaia, Macao | Hand-brewed coffee crafts. Tucked away in a nondescript location close to Senado Square’s heart of action. It was a completely different world of serenity at this coffee shop. | Yes. |
| Restaurant | Address | Comment | Recommendation |
| Lun Kee Cheung Fun Rice Roll | Edificio Chun Choi, No. 26 R. da Ribeira do Patane, Macao | Hand-pulled rice rolls (cheung fun) in all varieties that are known and unknown to the world. I highly recommend trying their dessert rice rolls in turtle jelly with a touch of osmanthus. The sight of rice roll pulling was itself a sightseeing activity. | Yes. |
| Restaurant | Address | Comment | Recommendation |
| Alorcha | Av. Almirante Sergio, no. 289 AA, G/F, Macau | Alorcha is a very well-known restaurant serving Portuguese styled Macanese cuisine. Established in 1989, it has remained the favorite for Macanese food in Macau, tourists or locals alike. Order anything and it is sure to be good. On the pricier end. | Must-try in Macau. |
| Restaurant | Address | Comment | Recommendation |
| Li Jing Xuan | Rua do Comendador Kou Hó Neng, nº. 7-13, Hotel Riviera, Cave 1, Macau | Li Jing Xuan is the Chinese restaurant of the Riviera Hotel, where I stayed. It serves traditional Cantonese cuisine. | Yes. |
Namely the heart of Macau that drives all pedestrian flows, the Senate Square (Senado Square) is a must-see before one reaches the famous Ruins of Saint Paul’s. In this square, you will come across an innumerable number of historic structures, including the St. Dominic’s Church, …
I took an easy walk at the Guiwan Park of Shenzhen’s Qianhai district today and found it to be surprisingly pleasant. The Guiwan Park of Qianhai The Guiwan Park is a slender strip of land allocated as a public park space. The park “wraps around” …
There are a few kinds of local Hong Kong food that are the ultimate comfort foods for me. Beef brisket noodles are one. I have previously written about Sister Wah’s noodles in Tin Hau. Victory Beef Balls （Shing Lee Beef Balls) in Yuen Long is another famous beef brisket noodle shop. In fact, it stands on the same street as the other famous beef noodle shop, Ka Lai Yuen.
“What you do well today affects the business tomorrow,” said the owner of Shing Lee Beef Balls in an interview. This is the spirit of dedication that Mr. Wu of Shing Lee Beef Balls has held close to his heart for more than four decades. Since 1982, when he started the restaurant, he has been making the famous beef balls daily with freshly slaughtered beef.
Work begins at 4:30am for Mr. Wu and his son. Together they visit Yuen Long’s two wet markets to collect the ingredients for their beef balls daily. The beef tables at the wet markets open early to serve the owners of the beef noodle businesses, as they must source the beef, then go through a pounding process before the beef balls are ready for the table.
Each morning, they make their rounds in the wet market to source 150-200 catties of beef at five beef tables to make the day’s lot. They do not always manage to source so much, depending on how much the beef suppliers have in stock. They have a quantity in mind because they know that customers often come a very far way to Yuen Long to try their beef noodles. If the beef balls are out of stock, it would be a huge disappointment to his fans.
Diners know it when a beef ball is top notch. But the maker of beef balls has to break it all down to maintain his culinary legacy. The usual criteria for assessing a beef ball start with the texture. Mr. Wu’s chief concern is whether the ingredients and the pounding process result in bouncy beef balls.
Next, by choosing the right parts of the beef and removing the excess fats, tendons and membranes, he locks in the flavors and the mouth-watering fragrance in these heavenly morsels.
After sourcing the beef, Mr. Wu and his son returns to their beef ball making shop. They fire up more than ten old-fashioned beef pounding machines. After 1.5 hours of continuous motion against the beef, they have the “beef paste” that will be squeezed into ball shapes by another machine. Then the beef balls are cooked in 80-degree Celsius water to solidify. This same soup becomes the soup base for their noodles.
Despite the ever-rising prices of beef, Mr. Wu insists on using the most suitable parts of a cow to make his beef balls. In his daily selection, he knows what parts and raw textures of the beef he wants when he sees them. He uses only lean parts. He also wants beef that has been just slaughtered, when the meat still shows softness and tenderness. The beef balls are beef only, with seasoning and just a pinch of preserved cabbage to taste.
Victory Bee Balls has been a family-run, family-owned company since its inception forty some years ago. Mr. Wu has marked his territory in Yuen Long and he has never considered moving shop to other (perhaps more) upscale neighborhoods. His son Ian made the leap to open a takeout-only shop in Tsuen Wan. At that shop, more menu items are available, including beef tendon balls.
It is often said in Cantonese that “it is hard to found a business, and yet harder to keep the legacy.” Ian Wu is doing all that he can to carry on with the family’s exceptional legacy in beef balls.
When I sat down at Victory Beef Balls, the lady sees that I was clueless and so she recommended the “beef-three-way.” This bowl of noodles comes with beef briskets, tendon and beef balls. The price is $47, and I think it is quite reasonable.
Unlike Sister Wah, which serves beef brisket in clear broth, Victory Beef Balls cooks the beef in five-spice flavor. It is significantly heavier in taste but each bite is explosive in its meaty, distinctive richness. The beef balls are certainly the stars of the show.
I added a whole scoop of house-special chili oil, and cleared up the whole bowl, its soup base included.
TalkFood, 40 Year Old Shop in Beef Balls, Father and Son Starts Work at 5am (Chin, video interview).
It is that time of the year. The “fall” foliage is once again the center of attention for theme photographers. On this wonderfully sunny winter day we visited the Honghualing Park, into the depths of the Longgang District of Shenzhen, to see some of the …
This was my first time returning to the United States in 13 years, and I had to get by without a car because my drivers’ license expired. Therefore, the theme of this trip was “America on Foot.” In both Los Angeles and Portland, I relied …
One reason why I found Long Beach to be exceedingly welcoming is that it offers a wide variety of food in all colors of the spectrum. From daily Asian to food truck Mexican, from all-American steak to a cozy brunch, there are a ton of choices that meet expectations. There was not one meal in Long Beach that I did not enjoy to the fullest. So, I put together the following selection of restaurants that I recommend to visitors of Long Beach.
| Restaurant | Comment | Recommended |
| Ubuntu Café | I had Sunday brunch with friends at Ubuntu. It was surely happening on a sunny morning. Lots of space for outdoor seating amidst sunshine with a relaxed but boisterous vibe. Food is also very good.
Address: 335 Nieto Ave, Long Beach, CA 90814 |
Yes |
| Restaurant | Comment | Recommended |
| 555 East American Steakhouse | A local favorite for steak and the restaurant is more than 40 years in the running. It features a beautiful dining space for proper dinner with plenty of festiveness in the air. I was seated at a bar, and my 14 oz New York strip was flavorful without the need any sauce or condiment. Reservation is recommended.
Address: 555 E Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90802 |
Must-go in Long Beach |
| Restaurant | Comment | Recommended |
| 123 Pho | 123 Pho serves up Vietnamese comfort food (pho, rice dishes and banh mi) and it was a very good downtown choice for lunch. I had Shaken Beef over rice and it came with generous portion. Conveniently located and reasonably priced.
Address: 210 E 3rd Street, unit e, Long Beach, CA 90802 |
Yes |
| Restaurant | Comment | Recommended |
| Sonoratown | Easy-going tacos and burritos joint and fully satisfied my craving for Mexican flair in my first meal in Los Angeles. The burrito came with special house sauce that was actually spicy and I was hands full with Latin American goodness.
Address: 244 E 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA 90802 |
Yes |
| Restaurant | Comment | Recommended |
| Crab Shack | I had dinner here. The restaurant features “bucket seafood,” where you dig in the bag of goodies they serve and dispose of the shells in a bucket. We wanted mussels, clams and shrimp. Usually, seafood is offered by weight here, but the combos are value for money if they feature the seafood item that you want. For sauce, we ordered the “everything sauce,” which is the house sauce that they recommend. Finally, we topped it up with clam chowder. It was very satisfying and fun eating seafood with your hands.
Address: 601 E Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90802 |
Yes |
After a few days in Portland, I returned to the warmth of Los Angeles. I felt forever welcomed there in the City of Angels. On my last day in Long Beach, I took a leisurely walk in the Marina area, the beach, and some downtown …