Portas do Sol, Hotel Lisboa, Macau

Portas do Sol, located in Hotel Lisboa, serves Chinese haute cuisine with seasonal specialties, accompanied by an extensive dim sum menu.

Though the decor is not fashionable by any means, I found it charming.  The decor harks of a bygone era.  The cuisine far outstrips any expectation based on the decor.  I found the cuisine incredible and the restaurant of exceeding value.

Steamed crab claw with minced ginger and rice wine

Not ground-breaking by any means, this dish scores full marks for authenticity instead. Light and steamed, this is the best of Cantonese cuisine.  You can taste the light, imitable flavour of the rice wine and thankfully, there is no unpleasant odour nor taste with the crab, as can sometimes happen with seafood.

Steamed Shrimp Dumplings flavoured with Basil

The aromatic taste of basil (anise, pepper and mint) in the skin totally balances the protein of the prawn.  The result is that the dumpling was not sickeningly filling.  I felt like I could go on and on eating this. The adding of basil to the skin was ingenious! I wished I had thought of it.

Steamed Rice Flour Roll with Deep-fried Shrimp Spring Roll

I was also surprised by this dish.  Most rice rolls only have a steamed white skin and some kind of filling inside (usually shrimp or char side).  This particular one, besides the fillling, has a crispy fried spring roll skin inside the white steamed skin.  When you bite into it, there is a wonderful contrast of textures.  Another ingenious innovation!

Deep-fried Shrimp Coasted with Mashed Taro

Nothing ground-breaking, just a classic favourite done really well.  The skin was fried really crispy but not oily (which requires technique in itself) and the taro was generous in quantity.  Because they resemble gold ingots, I appreciate they bothered to use a nice plate to match the “status” of the dish.  Details matter.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Usually an oily and filling dish, here it is nicely balanced by the fresh lettuce available.  You bite into it with the lettuce wrapped around the spring roll— it is light and fresh.

Charcoal-grilled French Goose Liver with Char Siu and Taro

This one is incredible. There is a wonderful interplay of different flavours.  There is the good gras, the sweetness and ‘burnt’ flavour of char siu, the sweetness and satisfying creaminess of the taro. All this is balanced by the lightness and crunchimess of the spinach. This dish is very close to perfection.

The cuisine here is innovative and executed very well.  Overall, it is of exceeding value.