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Food and Drinks
LifestyleFood & Drink

Restaurants in Asia’s casino capital, Macau, fight for survival as tourism slows to a trickle, sparking a pandemic price war and fine-dining shutdown

  • ‘A regular customer who used to often order toro sashimi for lunch is now having fried chicken,’ says the owner of a restaurant in Asian gaming hub Macau
  • With travel curbs to fight Covid-19, tourism has all but dried up, forcing some restaurants to close and drawing others into a price war to lure residents

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Closed restaurants near Senado Square in Macau. Tourism has dried up, depriving many food outlets in Asia’s gaming hub of customers. Residents who rely on casinos for their livelihood have less to spend on eating out too. Photo: Irene Sam
Irene Sam

Macau has long been one of the top destinations for foodies in Asia. From fine-dining venues listed in the Michelin guide to casual restaurants offering fusion cuisine, it offered mouth-watering options for travellers on a budget and those with deep pockets.

In 2018, the opening of two integrated resorts – MGM Cotai and Morpheus – saw restaurants launched in collaboration with some of the biggest names in the food and drinks industry, such as Pierre Hermé, Alain Ducasse, Mauro Colagreco and Graham Elliot.

Then the coronavirus pandemic came along. Macau has been hailed for the success of its measures to curb the spread of Covid-19, having recorded fewer than 100 cases and zero deaths thanks to the swift implementation of strict curbs on cross-border travel. But a consequence of this was a drastic fall in the number of tourists, and in Macau’s gaming revenue.

During China’s “golden week” national holiday in October, only 8,156 visitors arrived – an average of a little more than 1,000 individuals per day compared with 140,000 per day back in 2019.

The Morpheus Lounge in Macau no longer serves French pastry chef Pierre Hermé’s signature desserts, one of a number of collaborations with star chefs that have ended in Macau. Photo: Irene Sam
The Morpheus Lounge in Macau no longer serves French pastry chef Pierre Hermé’s signature desserts, one of a number of collaborations with star chefs that have ended in Macau. Photo: Irene Sam
“There are no Hong Kong tourists and visitors from mainland China are limited, so we can only rely on the locals for now,” says Raymond Vong, owner of Henri’s Galley, which has been serving Portuguese and Macanese food since the 1970s.
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