By Ling Tan
Macao is a fascinating blend of Chinese and Portuguese cultures, boasting its gourmet cuisine. Over decades, Cha Chan Teng (traditional local teahouse) has been the symbol of Macao’s food culture. Will the overwhelming café culture change this situation?
With its nostalgic decoration and narrow space, Cha Chan Teng is like a childhood bubble, refreshing Lio’s memory with friends.
Along with the rapid pace of economic transition, Macao witnesses the ever-changing needs and taste of its customers. When local teahouses, simply capturing the very essence of local cuisine, could no longer satisfy customers, cafés prevailed because of their customized and varied menus.
Cafés usually serve a combination of appetizers, soups, the first course, the main course and dessert. Besides, cafés go out of their way to create unique and memorable menus exclusively for their customers, such as spaghetti with mushroom and spinach in cream sauce, smoked salmon pizza, crab meat and mushroom risotto, side Caesar salad, etc.
If you follow 16-year-old girl Mandy Lio on her way home to Avenida de Horta e Costa, numerous cafés might catch your eyes. Inside the cafés, a variety of food and drinks are served within modern interiors featuring subdued lighting and elegant seating.
Mandy is “surprised” at the booming number of cafés, which have gradually become gathering spots for her and her friends. “Some of the cafés are even right next door to each other and most of them have been open for just two years. There are around five cafés near my home, and if you walk around you would even find more,” she described.
According to Mandy, the connections between individuals are closer in Cha Chan Teng than in cafés. “If I sit in a nostalgic local restaurant, I would feel more relaxed and comfortable. I can stretch my body. While sitting in a café, with all those elaborated decorations, I would be in a less relaxed state,” she said.
Mandy Lio’s most relaxing time is to have a cup of chilled honey Lemon, chatting at Cha Chan Teng after school.
Furthermore, some scenes that are common in Cha Chan Teng are rarely seen in cafés. Without making an order, pork chop buns and a cup of hot milk tea would be served on a table for an old customer; the restaurant owner would start conversation with customers, basically all trivial matters or neighborhood gossips; one might need to share a table with strangers due to the limited space in Cha Chan Teng in peak hours. In general, Cha Chan Teng is a place one can feel at home. For Mandy, the restaurant is like a childhood bubble, it refreshes her memory with friends.
However, like many of her friends, Mandy admit- ted that she prefers the café to that of Cha Chan Teng. “There are more alternatives available in cafés; moreover new menus would be introduced constantly, which is more to young people’s taste; while in Cha Chan Teng the flavor remains the same throughout decades.”
“Though I love the atmosphere, culture, and feeling in Cha Chan Teng, my preference would be given to cafés because they offer new and delicious food,” she added.