(Last updated: April 11, 2026)
Frites at Grand Lisboa Palace is a bit of a strange one. On paper, it should be an easy win. Steakhouse, Belgian roots, live jazz, sharp room.
But the experience swings depending on what you value. For me, it leans too far into bar territory. The live band is excellent, genuinely so, but loud enough to take over the room.
Add in a packed crowd and it turns into a full wall of sound. A restaurant is a restaurant, a bar is a bar, and I’m not sure Frites knows which one it wants to be.
It doesn’t help that food takes a while to come out, and pricing isn’t exactly forgiving either, with even the cheapest reds around $400, and no Grand Lisboa Palace discount to soften it. (The explanation from the waitress was they are simply not involved in that.)
The Sautéed Prawns ($235) started things well. The prawns were fresh and properly cooked, but the loose, savoury sauce was the real attraction. It tasted like something you could pour directly over pasta, and we used every piece of bread to finish it. 4.5 stars
The Duck à l’Orange ($375) was a complete miss. Half of it arrived cold. Not warm, not slightly off, but actually cold. The meat was chewy and flat, while the orange sauce was far too sweet. There are glimpses of what it could be near the bone, where the meat is actually hot and more flavourful, but it’s too little, too late. At this price, it’s nowhere close to being good enough. 2 stars
Then the 500-gram Rib Eye ($625) arrived and reminded me why I came to Frites in the first place. In a town where steaks are often smothered in garlic or drowned in sauce, this one was refreshingly straightforward. A proper steak, served the way a North American would expect it.
Tender, juicy, properly seasoned and carrying plenty of char, it only improved as I worked towards the fattier parts. For $625, this might be Macau’s best steak. 5 stars
Taken as a whole, Frites is a hard place to pin down. The room is loud, the pacing is off, and some of the pricing feels ambitious. But the band is excellent, the steak is outstanding, and the prawns are very well done. The duck is a reminder that not everything lands. It’s worth visiting for specific things, but you have to be cool with the extra noise and careful about what you order.
I’d also be remiss not to mention the Ladies Night on Thursdays, which runs $300 for a main plus free flow drinks. Seems like stealing to me.
