Macau

This was better than Wong Chi Kei's - crab was very fresh and sweet and the porridge itself was full of flavour.

This place was such a hidden gem. Away from Macau's touristy areas, this restaurant has a well-deserved mention in the Michelin Guide. Very homely and authentic, with some lesser-seen dishes on the menu. This congealed pig's blood (I get grossed out by the thought too but this was yummy... And it's not available in SG!) was seasoned perfectly. Best dish of the night was the claypot fish head, which was sizzling when it arrived at the table and AMAZING - it was gooey and crispy and so umami and sooooo good.

So we found out that the darker the porridge, the stronger the crab flavour and better the taste. Our two bowls arrived with a marked difference in colour, and despite them both having a whole (small) crab, they had different levels of crab flavour. Porridge itself was smooth and comforting, but I felt that there wasn't enough of that sweet seafood flavour in it.

Trying to locate this place in the maze that is the Venetian Shoppes was a nightmare. There was a looooong line outside it, but there was actually a smaller takeaway counter a few steps away that no one was paying any heed to (?! No idea why). These were good, with not-too-sweet filling, flaky pastry and a subtle burnt sugar flavour. But not as good as those I had in Belem, Lisbon.

There are branches of Tai Lei Loi Kei in various locations in both Macau and Hong Kong, but we made a trip to the original outlet for this. No regrets! The pork chop was perfectly spiced and super tender and juicy - none of that sinewy, tough nonsense here. The freshly baked baguette-like buns are only available after 2pm, so we didn't get to have them and had the soft rolls and the boluo buns instead. Both were slightly sweet, and played off the savoury pork chop perfectly. However this was rather pricey - a larger slab of pork would have been nice.