Coined as the Las Vegas of Asia, Macau is a municipality of China and one of Portugal’s last colonies. While Macau might be famous for their extravagant casinos, do make it a point to venture beyond the city center’s luxurious hotels.

Take a walk along Macau’s vibrant cobblestone streets and you will discover a wide variety of delectable dishes. These tasty street foods are mostly influenced by the Chinese and Portuguese cuisines. The number of vendors is exhaustive and is admittedly overwhelming, especially for first-timers to Macau.

Dive straight for Macau’s famous classic Pork Chop Buns if you have no additional time and stomach capacity to spare. This delightful street snack is similar to the Western hamburger but with a unique Macanese twist.

The Pork Chop Bun is essentially a deep-fried pork chop stuffed between two fluffy buns. The lightly toasted buns are crisp on the outside and pillow-like on the insides.

Unlike the messy cheeseburgers that are loaded with cheese, capsicums and whatnot, Macau’s pork chop buns only have marinated pork as its only ingredient stuffed between the delicate buns.

Each serving is made to order and served to customers in paper bags. The Macanese specialty is best eaten while they are still piping hot.

Do take caution that these Asian ‘burgers’ are insanely greasy to the extent where you can simultaneously see and feel oil seeping through the paper bag onto your hands! While they are definitely not the healthiest option around, these tasty pork chop buns are actually worth the nasty calories for street food enthusiasts.

Pork Chop Buns can be found on almost every corner and alleyway on Macau at very affordable prices; the only problem would be deciding which hawker to choose from.

Macau, also known as the Monte Carlo of The Orient, is a renown gaming destination in Asia. With its economy based largely on tourism and gaming dollars, Macau is home to more than 30 casinos, and even more integrated resorts (IRs) and hotels – including many big names like Las Vegas Sands, Galaxy, Wynn and Sheraton.

You need not be a Blackjack fan to like the bustling city. Just a tour around the big IRs and there will surely be something to attract you – daily performances, shopping belts, popular restaurants and whatnot.

My favorite has got to be The Venetian, by the Las Vegas Sands group. Modeled after the Italian city, the interior is that of blue skies (ceilings), complete with canals and gondola rides, an array of shops and restaurants of different sorts to cater to every kind of taste buds. And oh, do not forget to queue up for Macau’s most popular Lord Stow Bakery Egg Tarts – agreed by majority that they bake the best ones.

Another lush IR is Wynn, one of the oldest yet ever popular among locals and tourists alike. Its signature nightly Performance Lake and luxury shopping attract huge crowds on a daily basis.

For the sophisticated lot, do not miss a trip to Galaxy, one of the newest and biggest IR in Macau. Set to treat every patron like a royalty, Galaxy is a full-fledged IR with a huge casino, various room categories, a prestigious spa house, outdoor waterwave pool and sun-tan areas, and a whole directory of restaurants. Do a dimsum feast over at Laurel’s and treat yourself to an exotic Northern Indian cuisine at Spice Garden.

The best part about Macao is that you will never go bored and hungry at ungodly hours. Hungry at 2am? Sure, there are so many 24hrs eateries everywhere. Can’t sleep at 5am? Take a walk outside and be dazzled by the iconic neon lights and highways of the city that never sleeps.

And in case you are wondering about getting around, you will be glad to know that most of the hotels and IRs provide free shuttle bus service to and fro the common ferry terminal, and selectively from hotels to hotels. Just be sure to check the timings as not all of them operate 24hrs.

Words and photographs by Melody Yap and ladyironchef