(Last updated: July 29, 2026)
A decade ago, Taipa Village used to be nice. It used to be real. You got the feeling people actually lived there.
Those days are done.
Fast forward to 2026 and it’s full of tourist traps, Instagram bait, and restaurants that seem to exist just for selfies. Sometimes I don’t think they’re real places to eat at all, just Hollywood facades scavenged from back lots and put up for effect.
Amora is one of the few exceptions: a small, unassuming restaurant with eight tables and seriously good food.
I walked in expecting a normal meal. I walked out wondering how I’ve never heard of it before.
We started with the Roasted Sausage ($158), which arrives like it’s auditioning for the Wynn Macau water show. There were big flames, loud sizzle, and full pyrotechnic commitment, all handled by a waitress who made it look routine. No panic, no extinguisher, no emergency room visit. Just pure unadulterated skill.
After all the drama, the sausage itself is legitimately good. Salty but measured, fresh, a little crispy, and wicked with wine. 4 stars.
Then the Suckling Pig ($298) landed, and this is where the restaurant shows real pedigree.
The meat was juicy and tender, while the skin cracked properly without leaving a mouthful of grease. A superb dish. 4.5 stars.
The Pork and Clams ($298) was another highlight. In Portugal this dish is almost impossible to mess up, but in Macau it usually faceplants harder than Zaia at the Venetian in 2010.
Amora, though, gets it right — juicy pork, well-seasoned clams, crisp little potatoes, and a sauce that actually tastes like someone cared. Ordering a bowl of plain rice ($35) on the side was the right call; it tied everything together and gave me a chance to mop up all the best bits. 4 stars.
But the real star — the dish worth crossing the bridge for — was the Pork Secretos ($248). Flown in from Portugal, the meat was beautifully marbled, deeply charred and packed with flavour.
It’s the kind of dish that forces you to stop talking mid-sentence because you need one more bite. If someone told me this came from SW Steakhouse, I wouldn’t be surprised. 5 stars.
For wine, I went with Quinta do Boição Reserva ($320), which they served so cold I ended up wrapping the bottle in a napkin like a newborn, trying to warm it back to life. On my second visit, they actually kept a bottle outside the wine cooler just for me. That’s service, and the kind of personal touch you’ll never experience in Cotai!
The second visit wasn’t quite as successful.
Starting with the good, the Stuffed Crab Meat ($195) was sensational. Rich, fresh and ridiculously creamy, yet somehow light enough that we demolished the whole thing in minutes. Most importantly, the crab never gets lost under the sauce. It’s one of my 10 Can’t-Miss Macau Dishes, and I’d return to Amora for this alone. An easy, no-doubt 5 stars.
The Prime Rib Eye Steak ($518) was also impressive. It’s more tender and buttery than smoky or charred, but the meat is good enough to carry it. Somewhere between 4 and 4.5 stars.
As for the Octopus & Black Pork Fillet ($128)… just no. It arrived looking like a tiny canapé — small, scrawny, fatty, and sitting on a piece of bread like it got lost on its way to becoming an appetizer at a 2 star restaurant. The octopus had almost no presence, the pork was oily without flavour, and the whole thing felt oddly thrown together. A bewildering 1 star (and that’s being generous).
Lastly, the Barbecue Chicken ($198) was serviceable, but not a standout. A touch dry, a touch small, a touch spicy. Never bad, but probably not something I’d order again. A respectable but unexciting 3.5 stars.
Before leaving, I asked the waitress what locals order most. Without hesitation, she answered with Wet Seafood Rice ($268/$458), Macanese Chicken ($208), Grilled Octopus ($288), and Codfish ($268).
So yes, I already know what I’m trying next.
A tiny restaurant in the middle of Taipa Village shouldn’t be delivering food this satisfying, but here we are.
One of my best finds of 2025, I’ll definitely be back.
Many, many times.
***Update***
Two more four star dishes from Amora.
The Duo of Beef Tenderloin and Pork Fillet ($128) is essentially an upmarket pork chop bun, only with much better meat. Both cuts were tender and juicy, although the whole thing needed a little sauce to bring it together. Very good, but expensive for something this small. 4 stars.
The Wet Seafood Rice ($458) was creamy, well-seasoned and absolutely loaded with seafood. They certainly don’t skimp on the ingredients, although at that price, they’d better not. Too rich for my blood to order again, but a very good seafood rice nonetheless. 4 stars.
***Update***
As part of my annual cleanse, I’ve stopped drinking for a month, which meant this was my first visit to Amora with nothing stronger than water. Initially, we were told a bottle would cost $45. The perils of being mistaken for tourists, I suppose. Then another waitress recognized us and brought one over for free. Macau really is like that. Once you’re a regular, the rules begin to change.
We also learned that Alma, the restaurant next door in António’s original location, belongs to the same people. Same menu, same prices, same food, different name. Amora was packed on a Tuesday night, and when we left, Alma was packed too.
Something else I hadn’t mentioned before is how much of Amora’s food is imported directly from Portugal. Other Portuguese restaurants in Macau may do the same, but Amora actually says so throughout the menu. That may help explain why certain dishes here taste so much better than they do elsewhere.
I returned to try a few more of the waitress’s recommendations, beginning with the Grilled Octopus in Olive Oil ($288).
This was magnificent. The enormous tentacles were soft and fresh, with just enough char around the edges. More importantly, they remained wonderfully moist inside, releasing juice with every bite. The olive-oil dressing was exactly right, while the potatoes underneath made it a surprisingly filling plate. One of the best octopus dishes I’ve eaten in Macau. 5 stars
The Roasted Codfish “Lagareiro” Style ($268) arrived looking like Mount Everest had landed on the table. Unfortunately, once the spectacle wore off, it was still codfish.
Amora’s version was less oily than most, but the salt came screaming through and never let up. Bacalhau has never been my thing, although almost every other table seemed to disagree. I watched at least three of these mountains leave the kitchen that night. 3 stars
The Duck Rice ($258) finished the meal on a much stronger note.
The rice was moist without becoming wet, and the duck still tasted unmistakably of duck rather than disappearing beneath the chorizo and pork laid across the top. Plenty of flavour, plenty of meat and a very generous serving. 4.5 stars
