One for the road

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A couple of hours after we walked around Macau and digested some of our breakfast, it was - strangely enough - time to eat again!  As an alternative to some local Macanese joints, 娜姐 proposed that we lunch at Guincho a Galera at Hotel Lisboa.  After all, we wanted the chance to open another bottle of old German Riesling before we had to leave Macau!

My one and only previous visit to this restaurant was disastrous, as I was totally stuffed and drunk from lunch... and wasn't in any shape to enjoy any food or wine.  I was therefore very much looking forward to this lunch.  As I'd eaten a reasonable amount of food in Macau already, I decided to take things easy by choosing the set lunch for an unbeatable price.

Our amuse bouche was Portuguese cheese balls with ham.

Frango "piri-piri" e tomate fresco - beautifully presented here... and certainly nothing like what I had sitting al fresco at Bonjardim in Lisbon!

The chicken was really delicious, and stuffed with things like chorizo.  My only complaint was that it wasn't piri-piri at all!  There was barely a hint of spice, and nothing like the fiery stuff that one lathers onto the chicken skin in Portugal.  Nevertheless, this was a good start to lunch.

Chocos e vieiras num arroz á moda de Sesimbra - another beautiful dish, full of seafood flavors.  Prawns were good.  I thought the thick medallions were scallops upon first glance, and only realized they were cuttlefish once I started to cut into them.  The rice underneath was absolutely delicious, but I wish there was more of it.

I nibbled on a couple of things from the dessert trolley...

Flan - I loooove this, and it was nice, a little dense, and sweet.

Serradura - nice and small, with chocolate and cape gooseberry on top.

娜姐went through the wine list and picked out a nice bottle.  Unfortunately the first bottle of a 1976 Dr. Loosen Auslese was off... Very oxidized with a musty nose.  So she ended up picking a second wine - something slightly younger.

1983 S.A. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel - nose of mandarin peel, a little flinty, marmalade.  Slight hint of bitter mid-palate, with very noticeable alcohol level.  Rounded and a little viscous on the palate.  Yum.

The very last thing one does in this restaurant - as one also does at Robuchon au Dôme - is to order coffee.  I do it not because I love their coffee, but for the little pitcher of caramel that comes with the coffee.  If you don't know why this little pitcher is worthy of special mention (and its own entry on my Facebook page)... you should consider reading about my first taste of it.  I didn't pour it into my coffee.  I drank 6 spoonfuls of it.  I then sipped coffee and let the two mix on my tongue.  Happiness.

The mignardises helped us end on a sweet note.  The mini pasteis looked prettier today compared to last night.

This was such an enjoyable weekend.  Gotta do another one soon...