• Subscribe
  • Magazines
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
Thursday 7 August 2025
  • zh-hant 中文
  • ja 日本語
  • en English
IAG
Advertisement
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • CNMI
    • Europe
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Japan
    • Laos
    • Latin America
    • Malaysia
    • Macau
    • Nepal
    • New Zealand
    • North America
    • North Korea
    • Philippines
    • Russia
    • Singapore
    • South Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Thailand
    • UAE
    • Vietnam
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
No Result
View All Result
IAG
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • CNMI
    • Europe
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Japan
    • Laos
    • Latin America
    • Malaysia
    • Macau
    • Nepal
    • New Zealand
    • North America
    • North Korea
    • Philippines
    • Russia
    • Singapore
    • South Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Thailand
    • UAE
    • Vietnam
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
No Result
View All Result
IAG
No Result
View All Result

A culinary vision

Oscar Guijarro by Oscar Guijarro
Fri 9 Jul 2021 at 12:46
A culinary vision
32
SHARES
801
VIEWS
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Portucau is a Portuguese-cuisine infused restaurant located at the very heart of the historical downtown of Macau. But it is not a regular one. A vintage touch spreads throughout its walls and ceilings, transporting customers to a space and time long gone but still familiar to the senses.

Everything is unique in Portucau, from the old automobile welcoming customers or the intricate jungle of decorations above the head to its portmanteau name which melts Portugal and Macau into a single word or even its food selection.

Although a well-known venue in the local cuisine scene, IAG has come to know Portucau firsthand after the 8th edition of quarterly networking social, Macau After Dark, in March.

However, there is no better way to scratch a little deeper below the surface than to spend some time with Pedro Almeida, the Portuguese chef behind Portucau’s memorable cuisine.

Needless to say, cooking is in Almeida’s DNA.

“I started very early, between 10 and 12 years old,” the chef recalls.

“My parents opened a restaurant and I was pushed to work. I took care of the service with my father while my mum and my brother were in the kitchen.”

After that early kick off, Almeida devoted his teens to learning all aspects of the trade, including developing his cooking skills. Those apprentice years lead him to work in a casino, in a 5-star hotel and in a Michelin-starred restaurant, providing the experienced needed on his pathway to become a professional chef. After several ventures in the F&B industry, he crossed paths with Asai – a Macau entrepreneur and frequent visitor to Portugal – and grasped the opportunity to take the reins of a set of culinary venues Asai managed in the city.

In Macau, Asai and Almeida began by overhauling an iconic venue in the Sāo Lázaro district: Albergue 1601. The restaurant had been successfully serving à la carte that combined Portuguese and Macanese cuisines. However, the Portuguese chef felt the need to define the personality of Albergue 1601 as a 100% Portuguese cuisine spot.

Albergue 1601

“We lost customers, but then we built again,” he recalls. “We came up stronger and we already beat the records from before. But it takes time. We passed that big step, but we already had an idea in mind … Don’t stop. We want to have something else.

“I am from Chaves in Portugal, so we brought the Pastéis de Chaves to Macau as well.”

The opening of a shop selling pies marked the company’s next step in its evolution. Pastéis de Chaves is a Portuguese traditional veal-stuffed puffed pastry with a very particular scent and whose value has been recognized by the European Commission as a protected product.

Asai was also fond of the delicacy. He had tasted the dish during one of the first trips to Portugal and thought the flavor and crispy textures perfectly matched the Macau taste. Now Pastéis de Chaves are part of the gastronomic microverse of Macau.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Macau’s tourist numbers shrank to near zero, but rather than let the setback impede them, Asai and Almeida regrouped and took the opportunity to revamp their assets. The changes involved refurbishing Albergue, moving the Pasteis shop to a new location closer to Albergue and respelling Portucao to become Portucau.

By this time they had also opened Three Sardines, a petiscos locale that enjoyed a booming launch.

“We were full for more than four months and you needed to book with three weeks in advance,” says Almeida, who clarifies that petiscos are small dishes a-la-tapa style but with Portuguese denomination. Once the opening hype stabilized, they realized the concept was solid and thought the model could be transposed to Portucau.

Portucau had been the third project just after Pasteis but had been oscillating between Portuguese style and Macanese-Cantonese cuisine trying to adapt to the tastes of the scores of tourists flocking around its privileged location at the heart of Macau’s historical downtown.

However, the low tourist numbers demanded reinvention.

“We decided to make a bigger Three Sardines. And it worked,” Almeida smiles. “We started to get customers back and started to share customers with Three Sardines and Albergue. People started to know that we are here not with just one project. We have a lot of projects.”

The change included the tweak in its name to Portucau to give a Portuguese aroma and adding main courses to the petiscos list in order to offer a more diverse experience. Now, Almeida says, Portucau is “a mix between Albergue and Three Sardines. And you can have both in one experience, if you want to have petiscos you go to Three Sardines, if you want to have main courses you go to Albergue, here you can have that good part of both.”

RelatedPosts

MGTO to launch 10-day market in Macau’s NAPE to help area transform ahead of pending satellite casino closures

MGTO to launch 10-day market in Macau’s NAPE to help area transform ahead of pending satellite casino closures

Tue 5 Aug 2025 at 14:59
Experts claim 90% of Macau money exchange gangs eradicated since passing of illegal gaming law

Morgan Stanley says Macau now a growth market, raising 2025 GGR and EBITDA forecasts after two consecutive monthly beats

Mon 4 Aug 2025 at 11:48
Macau GGR up 19% year-on-year to MOP$22.1 billion in July, sets new post-pandemic record

Macau GGR up 19% year-on-year to MOP$22.1 billion in July, sets new post-pandemic record

Fri 1 Aug 2025 at 12:49
Melco’s long-stalled Countdown Hotel at City of Dreams to be converted into 150-key all-suite hotel

Melco’s long-stalled Countdown Hotel at City of Dreams to be converted into 150-key all-suite hotel

Fri 1 Aug 2025 at 06:45
Load More

When asked to reveal his all-time favorite dish, Almeida doesn’t hesitate: “The seafood rice!

“I’ve been developing the recipe for many years, even in my school years. In the restaurant of my parents I always tried to make the best seafood rice. My mum would always say, ‘Rice again?’ And I said, ‘Yes, but it’s going to be better than the last time’.”

And while tourists seem to be gradually coming back to Macau’s streets in the bumpy way that COVID allows, Almeida already has his eyes set on the next project.

“It’s the brewery,” he says. “The objective is to supply craft beer to Three Sardines and it’s going to be exclusive for Three Sardines.”

Sounds like another “must try” from Pedro Almeida, Asai and the team behind their vision for Macau foodies.

Tags: f&bMacauPedro AlmeidaPortucaurestaurant
Share13Share2
Oscar Guijarro

Oscar Guijarro

Oscar Guijarro is Deputy Editor of Inside Asian Gaming. He worked on communication in his motherland Spain until 2010, when a six-month stay in Shanghai turned into a full relocation to Macau some years later. His two-decade experience ranges subjects such as lifestyle, economy and technology from a multi-media approach.

Current Issue

Editorial – Better late than never

Editorial – Better late than never

by Ben Blaschke
Thu 31 Jul 2025 at 07:13

Inside Asian Gaming has in recent weeks been hearing increasing chatter around a possible move by Vietnamese authorities to introduce...

Angel’s Yasushi Shigeta

Angel’s Yasushi Shigeta

by Ben Blaschke
Thu 31 Jul 2025 at 07:08

Yasushi Shigeta, Chairman and owner of one of the world’s largest gaming industry suppliers, Angel Group, sits down with Inside...

The Magic Number

The Magic Number

by David Bonnet
Thu 31 Jul 2025 at 06:41

In this in-depth deep dive into the evolution of the Asian gaming landscape, David Bonnet argues that many regional jurisdictions...

Rashid Suliman – A road well traveled

Rashid Suliman – A road well traveled

by Ben Blaschke
Thu 31 Jul 2025 at 02:45

Rashid Suliman, Vice President of Global Gaming Asia-Pacific for casino solutions provider TransAct Technologies, provides some insight into his unique...

Evolution Asia
Your browser does not support HTML5 video.
Aristocrat
GLI
Nustar
SABA
Mindslot
Solaire
Hann
Tecnet
HKUST
NWR

Related Posts

Rising tide

Byron Yip to depart as Okada Manila President and COO, replaced by Universal’s Nobuki Sato

by Ben Blaschke
Thu 7 Aug 2025 at 13:25

Byron Yip will step down as President and COO of Okada Manila operator Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment, Inc (TRLEI) after seven years in the job, to be replaced by parent company Universal Entertainment Corp’s Nobuki Sato, the company has...

Bloomberry boss Razon reveals major concerns over Japan’s lack of IR clarity

Enrique Razon Jr named second richest person in Philippines as gaming names dominate Forbes 2025 list

by Newsdesk
Thu 7 Aug 2025 at 12:25

Bloomberry Resorts Corp founder Enrique Razon Jr has retained his position as the second richest person in the Philippines in 2025, according to Forbes, with his fortune climbing further over the past year to an estimated US$11.5 billion. Razon, whose...

Light & Wonder to pursue sole ASX listing, complete delisting from NASDAQ by end of November

Light & Wonder to pursue sole ASX listing, complete delisting from NASDAQ by end of November

by Ben Blaschke
Thu 7 Aug 2025 at 05:57

The Board of Directors of global gaming supplier Light & Wonder has approved a sole primary listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), with the company to delist from the US NASDAQ by the end of November. The decision to...

Payment technologies help Crane Co profits surge 377% in 2Q21

Crane NXT profit down as payments arm CPI reveals lower sales volumes in 2Q25

by Newsdesk
Thu 7 Aug 2025 at 05:45

Global currency and payments technology company Crane NXT reported a 9.1% year-on-year increase in net sales to US$404.4 million in 2Q25, although operating profit fell by 29.1% to US$47.9 million in part due to a challenging quarter for payments arm...

Your browser does not support the video tag.


IAG

© 2005-2025
Inside Asian Gaming.
All rights reserved.

  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
  • NEWSFEED
  • MAG ARTICLES
  • VIDEO
  • OPINION
  • TAGS
  • REGIONAL
  • EVENTS
  • CONSULTING
  • CONTRIBUTORS
  • MAGAZINES
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISE

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • Subscribe
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • Magazines
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • About
  • Home for G2E Asia

© 2005-2025
Inside Asian Gaming.
All rights reserved.

  • English