Henri's Galley

In Macau for the long-awaited Gala Dinner organised at Robuchon a Galera in presence of the man himself, a friend and I decided to have a quick lunch pit-stop to refuel before spending the afternoon walking around town in search of delicacies to bring back. We flipped a coin and Henry's Galley won over Afonso III, which we will definitely hit on a next visit. Established in 1976 (arguably a very good year for many things...), it's a fine ship Mr Henri has there! A little Portugese joint tucked away in a slightly remote part of Macau, close to the Macau tower - very well worth visiting for its honest & generous home-style grub (4G-H Av. da Republica, Macau)

Henri's African Chicken recipe - very high on my "to-cook-at-home" list

Caldo verde - potato broth (think super-diluted mash) with shredded green cabbage and smoked Portuguese sausage - a very nice way to warm up after being frozen to the bone on the bloody ferry from HK for an hour... the starchy potato broth was very light and nicely smokey from the numerous sausage bits




Caldo verde

 Stir-fried clams - so good. The clams were obviously very fresh, and had been stir-fried in white wine with red chilli, onions, garlic, sprinkled with chopped coriander and served with a squished lemon wedge - delish. This came with warm bread rolls to mop up the sauce :-)


Stir-fried clams



Bacalhau a Bras

Bacalhau a Bras - home-style: chunky bits of salted cod, pan-fried with onions and eggs, and topped with crispy shredded potato. Absolutely delicious. The waiter suggested we add some olive oil on top, which we didn't do as it was totally unnecessary, the dish having been generously drizzled during the cooking process already. I regretted not tasting the oil though, as I couldn't help but notice that the said oil on the table was a premium Portuguese olive oil (virgin, cold pressed).

Arroz chau-chau

Arroz chau chau - fried rice, Portuguese-style: ham, smoked Portuguese sausage, ground beef, onions, egg, thinly chopped tomatoes. The combination of the various meaty flavours was very good and the rice nicely cooked, but for me the dish missed one thing: chilli!!