- Fantasia Kitchen serves creative Italian cuisine with Asian influences, such as tteokbokki-topped pizza and pineapple buns stuffed with seared goose liver
- The restaurant is located in Macau’s picturesque St Lazarus District, home to numerous heritage buildings that enhance the dining atmosphere
On an unassuming alleyway in Macau called Rua de Sanches de Miranda – set between the famed landmark Ruins of St Paul’s and the heritage building-turned-art hub Albergue da Santa Casa da Misericórdia – you will find Fantasia Kitchen emitting a warm glow from its glass-paned doors in the evening.
Chatter and laughter from the restaurant can often be heard from the street, and customers are sometimes seen gathered outside on the stone-paved lane, having conversations over glasses of wine.
Since opening in 2016, the restaurant has garnered fanfare from locals and visitors alike for its creative Italian cuisine with Asian influences. In online reviews, regulars rave about dishes such as the mint cream with coriander soup, served in a bread bowl, and Japanese-style beef risotto with tomato. Daring creations such as Korean-style pizza topped with braised chicken and tteokbokki have received diners’ acclaim as well.
Restaurant co-founder Jeffrey Ieong recalls a time when the chef decided to play around with Hong Kong’s classic pineapple bun, a sweet bread roll so named not because it contains the fruit, but because its creviced, crusty top resembles the skin of a pineapple.