Macau: An affordable feast of things to see and do
Remarkable art exhibitions, workshops, heritage restaurants and dazzling Light Up Macau installations
End of the Light: The Black Hole by Jeon Young III at Nam Van Lake, Macau
Light Up Macau and plenty more attractions
Two days in Macau compressed a remarkable range of scales: museums and monument workshops; suspended dining and heritage restaurants; contemporary art and baroque facades; spectacle and restraint culminating with a viewing of the dazzling Light Up Macau 2025 installations along the waterfront of Nam Van Lake.
Light Up Macau 2025 installations along the waterfront of Nam Van Lake
Our itinerary deliberately moved between distinct experiences. Day one centred on the new integrated resorts clustered around Cotai, day two on the older peninsula where tradition and tourism compete for attention.
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The two days presented Macau as layers: each venue spoke to a different constituency, yet all operated simultaneously within the same forty-eight-hour window.
Silk Roads Beyond Borders exhibition at Poly MGM Museum
That coexistence, rather than any single attraction, illuminates what the territory has become.
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Our first morning opened at the Poly MGM Museum with the Silk Road exhibition, followed by lunch at Rossio, adjacent to the museum and in the same atrium.
Rossio’s African Chicken with chilli, coconut, peanut and lemongrass
The restaurant provides Portuguese and Macanese cuisine. We ordered the African Chicken, a signature dish of marinated poultry braised in spices.
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I followed this with a Portuguese egg tart, its custard filling set within pastry that crackled under the pressure of a fork.
Rossio’s Traditional Macanese Egg Tarts
Both plates photographed well, in a way that distinguishes refined plating from mere sustenance.
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The afternoon continued at City of Dreams, where we explored Laurent Perbos’ solo exhibition Artletics.
Many cultural attractions in Macau
That show deserves its own review, and the venue’s scale and curatorial approach demonstrated how integrated resorts in Macau function as cultural platforms beyond gaming and hospitality.
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Dinner in the Sky operates from the same address, suspended in midair by a crane. The restaurant seats diners at a communal table and raises them during the meal.
Dinner in the Sky at City of Dreams
The afternoon tea session featured mini chorizo quiches, pistachio chocolate tarts, and a lobster sandwich. Items designed to signal refinement within the constraint of eating whilst suspended.
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The novelty of being suspended high above while enjoying a meal was thrilling. The story of the experience was the one I retold often.
Studio City Resort, celebrating its tenth anniversary, is filled with movie and Christmas-themed exhibitions.
Madam Tussaud Studio wax figure of Bruce Lee at Studio City Resort
Madame Tussauds presents wax figures of Bruce Lee, Marilyn Monroe, and Brad Pitt, along with eight other celebrities, inviting us to pose for selfies.
Studio City Resort movie-themed exhibits
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I had not realised how short the first two actors were, or how tall Brad Pitt is.
Madam Tussaud Studio wax figure of Brad Pitt at Studio City Resort
The Ice and Snow Paradise installation aligns with the Christmas theme, featuring an inner-tube ice slide and a play area with real snowfall.
Inner-tube ice slide at Studio City Ice and Snow Paradise installation
For our overnight accommodations, we stayed at the Grand Lisboa Palace hotel.
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Our evening dinner was at the Tian Kong Pavilion Health Center, featuring a vegetarian menu. The restaurant operates under a philosophy of featuring seasonal ingredients and health-conscious preparation.
Stuffed Radish with Wild Rice in Golden Sauce served at the Tian Kong Pavilion Health Center
I enjoyed the Stuffed Radish with Wild Rice in Golden Sauce and the Curry Land and Sea Bun.
Curry Land & Sea Bun at Tian Kong Pavilion Health Center
These dishes demonstrated vegetarian cuisine as a coherent system rather than a reduction of meat-based cooking.
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Day two began with a journey from the Cotai Strip to the main peninsula via the Macau Light Rail.
Travessa da Felicidade
Traversing the reclaimed land between Taipa and Coloane islands, the system’s elevated, driverless carriages offer an unobstructed view of ongoing land development.
Macau Memories workshop where visitors can create a night light souvenir of St. Paul’s Cathedral facade
The crossing itself served as a transition: leaving behind the new resorts, entering the older topography where heritage venues and local practice prevail.
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The Macau Memories workshop, located in a studio near the Ruins of St. Paul’s, offers a two-hour session to create a working night light from polymer clay and electrical components, resulting in a functional night light shaped like the Ruins themselves.
Ana Manhão at her Belos Tempos restaurant
Belos Tempos serves Macanese cuisine under the direction of owner Ana Manhão.
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The chef, a retired civil servant, has made it her mission to document and serve authentic Macanese recipes.
Bitter Melon with Shrimp made with home-made golden shrimp paste at Belos Tempos, cooked by Ana Manhão
We ordered the African Chicken again, this time prepared with the rusticity that characterises local cooking traditions.
Ana Manhão’s African Chicken
The texture and depth of seasoning demonstrated how the same dish shifts across kitchens and contexts.
Belos Tempos serves traditional Macanese cuisine
Capela (Meat roll) at Belos Tempos, which serves Macanese cuisine by Ana Manhão
The Egg Pudin dessert that followed carried the same philosophy: unpretentious preparation and profound flavour.
Egg Pudin at Belos Tempos
Lok Kei Noodle specialises in bamboo-pole kneaded noodles, a labour-intensive technique that cannot be replicated by machine.
Pole kneaded noodles at Lok Kei Noodle
The restaurant holds Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition. We ordered the crab congee, a rice porridge laden with crab meat.
Crab congee at Lok Kei Noodle
The congee functions as a vessel for the crab; the interaction between rice, broth, and protein matters more than any single component.
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Our second day ended with visits to the venues hosting Light Up Macau 2025, which continues through 11 January 2026 and operates in the evenings across the Macau peninsula.
Light Up Macau 2025 installation
The installations include projection mapping onto buildings, interactive lighting sequences, and sculptural light elements.
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These serve as a shared public occasion, a moment where residents and visitors encounter the same transformed landscape.
Ark of Light, by Emanuel Barbosa at Nam Van Lake Nautical Centre
Two distinct experiences of Macau coexist in these two days.
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Day one operated at the scale of spectacle: suspended dining, wax figures, engineered snow, theatrical cuisine.
Madam Tussaud Studio wax figure of Marilyn Monroe at Studio City Resort
Day two operated at the scale of function: light rail transit, noodle consumption, heritage restoration, and community festival.
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Both are as authentic as the other. The texture emerges from how venues serve multiple constituencies without pretending to unite them.
Rua Dos Ervanarios, Macau
That plurality, along with its spectacle, constitutes Macau’s draw for visitors.
Text and photos Martin Wray
