Wong Chi Kei, Macau

Wong Chi Kei in Macau is famous for its noodles and the three storey restaurant lies within historic Senado Square on the peninsula. The shop’s founder learnt the skill of noodle making from a famous noodle master in 1940 and began to open his stores six years later with much success. With the shop now in its third generation, it has been a long contributor to spreading Cantonese noodle culture outside of China.

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Braised noodle with shrimp eggs ($60MOP, ~$10AUD)

Wong Chi Kei’s famed noodle making technique results in extra-thin, firm but springy noodles. Large bamboo sticks are used to flatten the noodle dough before being sliced. They’ve performed this technique twice for the Portuguese President on his official visits! The generous helping of shrimp eggs can make the taste quite dry unless you thoroughly mix it through the noodles before eating. There’s also the small bowl of soup to help wash it down.

Shrimp dumpling with noodle in soup ($36MOP, ~$6AUD)

The noodles in soup are popular here as evidenced by its appearance on every table. Each big dumpling is filled with a mixture of meat and chopped prawns. I must admit, eating wonton soup with thinner-than-vermicelli noodles is different for me, but I enjoyed it as much as the hearty soup. Even former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten liked it!

Deep fried wontons ($36MOP, ~$6AUD)

Honestly, I was expecting the same wontons as in the noodle soup but crispy, so I was surprised when I saw them looking like puffy flowers! Each wrapper contained some chopped prawns and came with a sweet and sour dipping sauce. A “small” plate is a plate of six; more than enough.

Seasoned vegetables with oyster sauce ($30MOP, ~$5AUD)

Sometimes when you’re on vacation, you easily forget that you should be eating vegetables. Luckily gai lan, also known as Chinese broccoli, is present on every menu. It’s almost always boiled and served with a dashing of soy sauce or oyster sauce because y’know, greens can be boring.

Hot tea and coffee ($18MOP, ~$3AUD)

A mix of half milk tea and half coffee, this is a drink popular in Macau and its neighbour Hong Kong. It is also known by the name “yin yang” with the black coffee being yin and white milk tea being yang. The taste of it leans towards coffee although it decidedly smells like tea.

The bill ended up being $195MOP, which is about $32.5AUD; very cheap for the amount of food and the quality! There are currently three branches: two in Macau and one in Hong Kong. Don’t worry if you can’t read Chinese, just do what I did and try to memorize what the store front looks like.

Wong Chi Kei
17 Largo do Senado
Macau