Wineshark Macau Restaurant Review - Long Wa Tea House

Located adjacent to the Red Market, this traditional style Cantonese tea house has a long history, which can be traced back to the 1960s. Walking up a flight of stairs, the first sight greeted us was the calligraphy and paintings. And the whole floor is basically surrounded by windows on two sides, letting in the air so even though it is in the hot summer and without air-con, there is a nice breeze making us very comfortable when seated at the table overlooking the balcony.

The dim sum is self-serviced, which means that you need to go out to grab what you want. But first we ordered the tea, which is very good and I understand the owner is very proud and conscious of the tea quality, and there is in fact a wide range of different tea you could choose. Another point to note is that most people would perceive such a tea house to be dirty and filthy, but it is the opposite with the utensils neat and clean, the environment bright and orderly.

Coming to the food I had grabbed siu mai, stuffed green bell pepper, spongy cake, steamed spare ribs, and fish meatball. The siu mai is made from a good mixture of fat and lean meat, and even though lacking the sophistication or flair of many modern restaurants with shrimp and other ingredients, the simplicity did provide a sense of homecoming and memory for the taste we enjoyed when still being a kid.

The stuffed green bell pepper is also decent, though it is not hot and maybe the dim sum had been sitting in the trolley for quite a while. Still the fish meat was marinated well and the bell pepper crunchy but not raw. The black bean sauce also added the flavors to the dish.

The spongy cake is always Ivy's favorite and the one from Long Wa is also quite well prepared, with softness and spongy texture while balancing well on sweetness.

The spare ribs is my favorite on the day, however. It had got the right portion of meat, fat and cartilage so making it chewy, crunchy and juicy, each cut in small pieces. The seasonings are also done perfectly. While in today's standard it may seem a bit oily, the overall taste and texture really are a good highlight of the traditional dim sum.

Fish meatball is another of my favorite dim sum, and the one I tasted here certainly lived up to the standard I looked for. There is not a lot of flour added to the fish meat, and the flavors of fish is still clearly identified, along with the spring onion and citrus peel. Even without adding soy sauce or white pepper powder the taste is a real treat.

The price for the meal was fairly reasonable with five dim sums and tea for two persons totaling $155, with each dim sum costing $25 and the tea $15 per person. If you are looking for such old style tea house, I don't think there are that many in HK and Macau nowadays and Long Wa is certainly one I would recommend.

My overall rating is 53/100.