Coloane Village Route

From the birthplace of the egg tart

The route begins at a small bakery in Coloane Village. Macau's signature Portuguese egg tart is said to have started when an English pastry maker put it on sale on this quiet island. A Lisbon sweet reworked with custard and a char, it later spread to the peninsula and around the world. Some say the thick pastry layers and the soft custard beneath the blackened top run richer at the source. Weekends bring long queues and it often sells out tray by tray. Take a number first and eat one warm looking at the sea. The same tart, but here you trace the story of the original — different from Senado Square on the peninsula.

A fishing-village table — duck, seafood, shrimp paste

Away from the sweetness of pastry, the island keeps a table all its own. The signature of Coloane's old restaurants is duck stewed long with sun-dried, aged tangerine peel and spices. The faintly bitter citrus cuts the fat, and the family's handed-down blend is the core of the taste. Facing the mouth of the Pearl River, the island makes clams from the inner sea another draw — stir-fried hard with fermented black bean and chilli, the shells sucked for their broth. The other island specialty is shrimp paste, small shrimp salted and fermented, a little fried with rice; behind its strong smell the deep salt and ferment turn to a rounded savour. Not the showy cooking of the peninsula, but a plain, forceful taste lives here.

How to walk this route

Come into Coloane Village by bus from the peninsula or Taipa and stand on the seafront Avenida de Cinco de Outubro near the terminus. First, at the bakery down Rua dos Cordoeiros, eat one of the original egg tarts fresh from the oven. Then look at the yellow St. Francis Xavier Church from Largo Eanes, order tangerine-peel duck at an old restaurant, and while it comes, share stir-fried clams at a seafront eatery. In the afternoon settle the stomach with shrimp paste fried rice, then a cup of hand-beaten coffee down a lane, waiting for it to foam. Close with a put chai ko in the hand, passing from Tam Kong Temple to the pier to look over the inner sea. The island is small with few slopes, but shops are limited and can close early. Skip the noon hour and walk in the quiet afternoon to see the island's unhurried food, unlike the peninsula.