A Lorcha might be the most overrated restaurant in Macau. Universally praised online and in guide books (I have no idea why), the place lives off its glorious reputation as one of Macau’s top restaurants, a “can’t miss attraction” among so-called experts and those in the know, who probably haven’t eaten there since 2005.
Bottom line: A Lorcha may have been great once – it isn’t anymore. It’s a Filipino restaurant now, including the food.
My friend and I did not have one dish that was any good. The Octopus Salad ($42) was basically a bowl of garlic where you had to fish out tiny pieces of octopus, while the Chicken and Vegetable Soups (both $42) were more akin to water.
The mains kept the pain train on track, headlined by a Fish Fillet ($108) that had no taste, and a Veal Steak ($120) that flashed all the consistency of great rubber. The side salad, naturally, had a healthy share of onions.
I don’t think the cook put anything into the food preparation or presentation and it clearly showed. Our dining experience there was totally lame and insignificant.
Thankfully, people are starting to catch on. Business at A Lorcha is slowing and the manager saved face recently by blaming it on the increasing popularity of the Cotai Strip. His point was that with so many tourists choosing hotels down there now, a lot fewer people were spending time on the old Peninsula, and thus fewer people were going to his restaurant.
After dining there though, I can say the real reason why business is down at A Lorcha isn’t because of the Cotai Strip, it’s because the food is terrible.
If you’re in this part of Macau, do yourself a favour and walk up the road to Litoral instead. A Lorcha in Portuguese means “wooden ship” and this ship has sunk.
