Macau’s status as the gambling Mecca of Asia is well-established. The city racks up more money in bets than Las Vegas and its skyline is a dazzling display of glass and steel and flashing lights that advertises the arrival in recent years of the in-your-face glamour of the global gods of gambling—Wynn, Sands, and MGM Grand, for instance — as well as the might of the homegrown casino empire of local scion Stanley Ho.
On the surface, it’s true the nightime scene is sleepy: The number of glitzy shows is far fewer than in Las Vegas — The House of Dancing Water at the City of Dreams casino and Cirque de Soleil’s Zaia at the Venetian gambling complex are currently the only two major shows in town. There is no entertainer on permanent rotation to compare to Celine Dion or Barry Manilow — though there are frequent one-night stands by Western and Asian pop stars. The casino bars and clubs also lack the breadth and energy to make them a true destination for now.
Macau is still not Vegas. A slight often leveled at this former Portuguese colony is that beyond the card tables, there’s not a lot going on. However, dig a little deeper and you’ll find an array of options that are uniquely Macau, an odd mishmash of colonial and modern, European and Chinese.
With that in mind, your best bet is to spend the evening away from the casinos altogether. If you’ve passed the afternoon in the smoky gambling dens, you’ll welcome a breath of fresh air on a walk uphill to the Ruins of St. Paul’s, the city’s most popular tourist landmark that isn’t draped with neon. The site was originally developed in the 16th century and, down the centuries, included a cathedral and a college. Today, all that remains is the cathedral façade — the rest of the building was ravaged by a fire in 1835.
At night, there is something haunting and sacred about the place, that is, until the chorus of clicking cameras of tourists photographing the full moon reminds you where you are: tourist central. The surrounding area is filled with shops selling souvenirs, almond cookies and meat jerky—a Maccanese speciality. If you pause for a moment, a vendor will snip off a piece of the sweet pork and let you try it without too much pressure to buy more.
Just around the corner from the ruins, the Macau Soul wine bar is at 31A Rua de São, a sidestreet safely tucked away from the tour groups. The proprietors are retired English expatriates David and Jacky Higgins, and the bar — which sells mostly reasonably-priced Portuguese wines as well as an array of interesting cheeses — feels like you are in their living room. The two owners sip wine alongside patrons seated on sofas. A half-bottle of 2009 Cortes de Cima Chamine wine with a plate of olives and a few nibbles of one of Macau Soul’s cheeses — such as the St. James, an unpasteurized sheep’s milk the owners flew in from England — is a fine way to unwind.
It would be easy to while away the evening here, but drag yourself on to dinner instead, at the charming Club Militar, which sits practically under the glare of the Hotel Lisboa, on the Avenida da Praia Grande. The colonial-era mansion, built in 1870, is where Portuguese military officers once socialized, and its easy to imagine that the food and decor has barely changed in a century. Macanese and Portuguese classics include caldo verde—a cabbage soup larded with bits of chorizo sausage, which tastes far better than it sounds—and the misleadingly named Macau favorite, African chicken, a hefty piece of poultry simmered in a spicy coconut sauce. The suckling pig is a reminder that the Portuguese can roast pork just as well as their Chinese counterparts.
Sticking to Old Macau — historically the area within the medieval city walls, but these days the part of town untouched by the casinos — take a short taxi trip to the Macau Yat Yuen Canindrome, at Avenida General Castelo Branco. Long before the executives from Vegas landed here, there was only Yat Yuen, a dog track that once was the center of gambling and social life in the city. Today, the stadium looks a little shabby and attendance is meager. Still, there is something charming about this dying sports event. The old bettors all know each other and chat amiably with the dog’s trainers, and the stadium announcer cracks wise in Cantonese, laughing at his own jokes. Another plus on a busy night of sightseeing: greyhound racing is a faster-paced than horse racing and the interval between them is brief.
Another quick taxi ride back — no more than eight minutes — brings you to The Whisky Bar on the 16th floor of the Star World Hotel on Avenida da Amizade. The bar stocks more than 80 whiskeys which you can sip to the sound of a Chinese cover band crooning to synth-heavy arrangements of Chinese pop songs. This would make a great spot to round out the night. But this is Macau, and it seems unfair to finish the evening without visiting at least one casino. The Lion’s Bar at the MGM Grand (at Avenida Dr. Sun Yat Sen) is situated in the middle of the gaming floor and features some of the best live music in town, courtesy, often, of a Filipino cover band performing renditions of 80s and 90s classics that are better than the originals. While the music is good, the people-watching is even better. Octogenarian Chinese gamblers drink cognac; a tableof scantily clad Russian women share a bottle of scotch; some pony-tailed Indian men sip pints nervously, as if waiting to place their chips.
This is Macau at its most intriguing. It’s like Vegas, but different.
The Details
Macau Soul, 31A Rua de Sao Paulo. Tel: 853-2636-5182
Club Militar, 975, Avenida da Praia Grande. Te: 853-2871-4000
Macau Yat Yuen Canindrome, Avenida General Castelo Branco. Tel: 853-2822-1199
Whisky Bar (Star World Hotel), Avenida da Amizade. Tel: 853-8290-8698
Lion’s Bar (MGM Grand Macau), Avenida Dr. Sun Yat Sen. Tel: 853-8802-8888
http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2010/12/30/after-hours-macau/
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