Tai Lei Loi Kei Pork Chop Bun flagship 大利來記豬扒包 總店 (Macau, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

At this point, we were almost done at Taipa Village (氹仔舊城區) but there was one final spot Jelloman would like to hit before turning our attention to Galaxy – Tai Lei Loi Kei Pork Chop Bun flagship (大利來記豬扒包 總店). 



This is not the first experience we found ourselves at a Tai Lei Loi Kei establishment (as they have many outposts around Macau) but it will be our first dining experience at their (so-called) flagship location. Would it make a difference? Let's find out...

Some history on the wall here. This is where it all got started from a humble coffee stall back in 1968.

First up was their pork chop pineapple bun, a modern twist to their original pork chop bun. The oversized bone-in pork chop fried to golden brown color, was pretty succulent but the savory-sweet combination didn't work out as well as I thought it would.

Better was the original pork chop bun served on a warm, buttery Portuguese bun.

This was much much better. 

The original pork chop bun was probably worth a stopover (once) but they needed a much better cup of milk tea to make the whole experience worthwhile. 

Food Rating: 4.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 35 Rua Correia da Silva, Vila de Taipa, Macau

Closest LRT Station: Pai Kok

Tel: +853 2882-7150

Opening Hours: 8:00am - 6:00pm daily

Sei Kee Café 世記咖啡 (Macau, CHINA) ★★☆☆☆

We split up into two teams in our exploration of Cunha Street following lunch at A Petisqueira Restaurant (葡国美食天地). Team A led by Jelloman went looking for souvenir stores while yours truly decided to check out some local delicacies. 

Sei Kee Café (世記咖啡) was one of the take-away shops on my to-do list but I didn't expect such a long lineup.



I remembered Sei Kee has another branch about a block down the street, just a few stores next to Gelatina Mok Yi Kei (莫義記) and this one actually has a small dine-in area.

I didn't have the time to sit down for a cup of pantyhose milk tea so I ordered a bottled one to enjoy on the go. The tea here was pretty strong but there was no creaminess nor fragrance. Just very disappointing.

Food Rating: 3.6/10

Price: $$$

Address: 37 R. de Horta e Sousa, Vila de Taipa, Macau

Tel: +853 2882-8815

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 6:30pm daily

A Petisqueira Restaurant 葡国美食天地 (Macau, CHINA) ★★★★☆

This morning, we were joined by our good friends from Hong Kong. As planned, we dropped our kids off to the playhouse before picking up where we left off at Taipa Village (氹仔舊城區). Our first order of business was an early lunch at A Petisqueira Restaurant (葡国美食天地), a place touted for its traditional Portuguese dishes.

Very simple and warm decor and I have this feeling as if I was invited into someone's house for lunch.

Stewed beef tripe in Portuguese style – I love anything with beef tripe in it and this was really really good. Very soft-chewy and succulent. The dish itself was similar to the Italian version of beef tripe stew with a tomato-based sauce. I like the lentils and carrots in there for the extra crunch.

Octopus salad – This came with some serious acidity but I thought it made a pretty appetizing starter to kick off the meal.

House spicy prawns with garlic – Not bad.

Roasted Portuguese sausage – Love the nice crispy skin. One of my favorite dishes this afternoon for sure.

Stir-fried clams – Pretty tasty.

Shredded codfish – Easily the best dish of the afternoon simply because I've never had it before and it's so delicious. Scrambled egg, onion and shredded codfish. The salt in the codfish along with its texture really made this ordinary scramble egg dish extra special.

Fried Portuguese Rice – I thought the soupy rice from last night was a little bit better but that's just me.

I was so glad to have someone in charge this afternoon so I didn't have to go through the food menu myself! And this was such a hearty recommendation. Many thanks to my friends for the wonderful suggestion and time to move onto the next destination.

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$

Address: 15C-D Rua de S. Joao, Vila de Taipa, Macau

Tel: +853 2882-5354

Website: www.apetisqueira.com/en/home/

Opening Hours: 12:30pm - 2:15pm, 6:45pm - 10:00pm (Tue - Sun)