Revisiting Fernando's in Macau

A signature dish at Fernando's - clams in garlic sauce 

I'm in Macau for some assignments with two colleagues and after we finished for the day we decided to go to Fernando's, a famous restaurant in Macau on Hac Sa Beach in Taipa.

The rustic atmosphere has hardly changed inside

As it's a Tuesday night, there was no need to rush over there and we got there after 7pm to find it busy, but not packed.

I love the sign at the front door. It says: No air conditioning, no ketchup, no baby chair, but we have food and drinks!

I was last at Fernando's years ago so it was nice to come back to a place that was very familiar. Hardly anything has changed in this place, from the red and white checkered tablecloths to the ceiling fans and of course the menu.

The food soon arrived, but not without the famous bread. But the buns looked much bigger than I remembered them, though they were still soft inside, and flaky on the outside. In the end I could only eat half of the bun.

A new favourite - roast chicken with fries and olives

My favourite dish, the clams in garlic sauce arrived, and while the sauce was fantastic, flavoured with fresh coriander, it was disappointing to find there was sand in many of the clams. 

We also had my colleague's favourite dish, bean stew, which features kidney beans braised with chopped up pork knuckle and slices of chorizo. This sauce was also delicious, and the pork off the bone was very tender.

However my new favourite has to be the roast chicken. It comes on a bed of thick cut fries and a few scattered olives for flavour. The chicken meat is very tender and flavourful, and none of the pieces were dry.

We almost finished the chicken and bean stew, but just didn't have enough space. I still had the big bun on my plate too.

For the three of us the bill came to just over HK$500 including three beers.

Bean stew with pork and chorizo

Afterwards we walked to the beach to take in the sound of the waves and a light breeze before heading back to the frenetic Cotai strip.

Fernando's
9 Praia de Hac Sa
Macau
(853) 2888 2264