(Last updated: August 23, 2026)
*** What follows is a succession of different reviews. The first one from 2012 isn’t so kind, but the rest are!
*** All prices are current as of February 2026.
If A Lorcha is the most overrated restaurant on the Macau Peninsula, then that honour belongs to Fernando when you’re talking about places to eat in Coloane.
Located beside Hac Sa Beach, Fernando is clearly living off its reputation as “one of the best restaurants in Southeast Asia”, content to sit back and rake in all that tourist money, all the while serving bland uninspiring food that doesn’t live up to its billing.
Marketed as a seafood restaurant, Fernando doesn’t really have that much seafood on the menu. And what seafood they do have is exceptionally ordinary.
The Boiled Codfish ($265) I tried was heavy and oily while the Fried Prawns with Garlic ($259) lacked taste.
I fared no better with the half serving of Grilled Chicken ($148), which was bone dry and unappealing.
To top it off, waitresses were slow and lazy and I had to get up and find one whenever I wanted something. At the end, my total bill for two came to $558, and I felt like a sucker having to pay so much. (The same dishes would cost over $700 in 2026).
Fernando’s only real value may lie in its outdoor beer garden located between the two dining rooms.
On a hot summer day, it would make for the perfect place to kick back for an hour or two and enjoy a few cold ones. Just don’t have think about ordering any food when you do though.
You’re sure to be disappointed.
***UPDATE***
After years of knocking Fernando and ridiculing the owners of MacauSoul for their loyal support and business, I decided to give it another try in the summer of 2017. Armed with a list of Jacky’s personal favourites and strict instructions to “try the right things this time”, I visited twice for lunch with my good friend Layla Huang.
I’m not going to completely take back what I wrote above, but Fernando is undeniably better than I originally gave it credit for, enough so that I’ve raised the rating to 4.5 stars.
I’d never heard of Favas ($229) before, but they completely floored me. Soft beans, fatty meat and a magnificent sauce come together somewhere between a stew and feijoada. They went straight onto my list of Ten Can’t Miss Macau Dishes. 5 stars
The Prawns with Clam Sauce ($297) are another monster dish, covered in a thick, garlicky sauce that works its way into everything. They’re expensive with a capital E, but I’ll gladly pay it. Just make sure there’s bread nearby. 5 stars
The Fernando-Style Clams ($246) deliver more of the same, and I mean that as a compliment. The clams are fresh, but the garlicky sauce underneath is the real reason to order them. Another bread basket will be required. 5 stars
The Grilled Pork Ribs ($220) are one of the sleepers on Fernando’s menu. Plenty of flavour, excellent texture, and just enough char from the grill to keep things interesting. I came expecting them to be good. I didn’t expect them to be this good. Another easy 5 star selection.
Three more dishes earned 4.5 stars.
The Caldo Verde Soup ($67) has real substance, loaded with potatoes, greens and sausage instead of water vaguely introduced to vegetables. 4.5 stars
The Grilled Sardines ($168) are heavily seasoned, as good sardines probably should be, but the smoke from the barbecue gives them another layer of flavour. Better still are the boiled potatoes and vegetables alongside, which somehow balance out the saltiness perfectly, turning what could have been an overpowering dish into a surprisingly harmonious one. Strangely enough, I think they taste even better the following day. 4.5 stars
The Sea Bream ($264) comes with an excellent olive oil-based dressing and is far lighter than Fernando’s oily bacalhau. I order it almost every time. 4.5 stars
Moving down to the 4 star level, the Oxtail Stew ($265) is straightforward family cooking and absolutely made for rice.
The Suckling Pig ($313) is good too, though I never quite reached the same level of enthusiasm others seem to have for it. The skin is impressively crisp, but almost too crisp at times, becoming genuinely hard in places rather than delicately crunchy. Still enjoyable, just not quite at the level of Fernando’s best dishes.
Not all of Jacky’s recommendations landed, however, with the Portuguese Style Green Salad ($91) remaining flat out pathetic. Lettuce, tomatoes and onions is simply not enough at this price point, especially at a restaurant capable of producing dishes this good elsewhere on the menu.
As usual, David and Jacky were right all along. Fernando really is fantastic, provided you order the right things. Start with the Favas, Clams or Prawns with Clam Sauce, avoid the pathetic salad, and keep the bread coming.
I still don’t love everything about Fernando, but 4.5 stars now feels right.
As always, the restaurant inevitably fills up during peak hours, in particular Friday to Sunday lunch and dinner, so be sure to make reservations before dropping by then. They also serve wine in common beer glasses, and somehow only the Asian waitresses seem willing to bring you a side order of rice.
***UPDATE***
A quick update on four more of Fernando’s dishes, none of which I’d recommend or order again.
There wasn’t much doing with the Grandmother’s Soup ($67), which should have stayed in the kitchen of the poor old woman who made it up. It’s just vegetables in a thin watery broth that packs no punch. I like my soups to strike me in the face with the force of a sledgehammer, to leave a mark, to be so flush with flavour that they’re almost meals onto themselves. You definitely get some of that action with their Caldo Verde soup, so stick with that one instead.
The Feijoada ($209) is hearty and filling, but it never quite comes together. There’s plenty of meat and substance, yet the sauce lacks the cohesion and depth that make the Favas sing. Put side by side, it feels like the lesser sibling, one that’s not broken, just overshadowed. With the Favas on the menu, I see no reason to order this again.
The Chorizo came in thick chunks that were hard, dry, and aggressively salty, missing the smoky balance that gives this sausage any appeal. At $178, it’s not cheap, and it’s certainly not subtle. Hard pass forever, till the end of time, even when you’re drinking wine.
Likewise, the Drunken Steak ($289) was another catastrophe, so much so that I’d like to apologize to the cow from which it came. A steak that is smothered in sauce simply isn’t a steak, as it should require nothing but a grill, a touch of salt and pepper, and that’s it. The whole point is to bask in the brilliant beefiness of the meat, to let those taste buds swoon and shake to some terrific texture and finish. I’m not down to drop $289 on some saucy misadventure, which just goes to show, yet again, how vitally important it is to order the correct things when frequenting Fernandos.
Everyone who visits Fernando’s regularly have their own favourite dishes- If it is just my husband and I it is the prawns in clam sauce and favash, a broad bean and pork casserole which is out of this world. I am salivating at the thought of them both. Roll on October when we will visit again!
Prawns in clam sauce….hmmmmm. Sounds good! Appreciate the post!
You were right about the Prawns in Clam Sauce!! Amazing recommendation! The favas too! We are 100% on the same wavelength!