Macao Trading Company

Set on a quiet Tribeca street, the only thing that notifies a passer-by of Macao Trading Company is the red light above the door. Oh yeah, and the bouncer ready to pounce. Other than the bouncer thing, Macao Trading Company is a seemingly compete departure from the owner’s first place, Employees Only. (The bouncer there is either your best friend or your worst enemy. He once suggested that I call the cops on him, as I was first in line to get in with three of my girl friends, I guess us quietly talking to each other and patiently waiting made him think I was upset about something? Little does he know…)

This place deserves the buzz it’s getting. Behind the velvet curtain (and the bouncer… who cares if you are there for dinner or drinks at 7:30?) is a dimly lit restaurant with a lot of style. Don’t forget to check out the owner’s rendition of a phallus wall on your way downstairs. The restaurant takes reservation for the upstairs, which I would guess seats 50. The downstairs and the bar are first come first serve. We got there at 7:30 and the place was pretty much empty. We were given the option of sitting upstairs in the main dining room, but could only have the table for an hour (er… no thanks) or we could sit downstairs in the lounge which serves the full menu. We chose the downstairs, which can also be rented out for a private party. If you are looking for a place, this would be great. There is a separate bar, separate music and a separate entrance/exit. Perfect for a b-day party, although I have no idea how much it costs. I didn’t see too many large tables for groups, but the lounge area is great for apps and meeting up with friends.

To start, there is a good wine list and a very imaginative cocktail menu. As you can see, the menu is split into Portuguese and Chinese styles. We chose the Chinese style shrimp, Portuguese style meatballs and mushrooms for our small plates, as well as the Portuguese style pork ribs and Chinese style sea bass. Most of Chinese small dishes are fried (not hearing any complaints from me). I got the mushroom and shrimp dishes on a recommendation and I would recommend these along. The shrimp was served with a spicy sweet chili sauce accompaniment while the mushrooms croquettes were wonderfully done with the inside made of mushrooms and cream with truffles (awesome). The meatballs were tender and excellent. Not being a full on meat eater, its not often I enjoy a meat dish without any complaints. The meatballs came in a red sauce and were filled with cheese (maybe that was the kicker). The large or house dishes were not as enjoyable as the smaller ones. My suggestion is to stick to the apps. The pork ribs were more like pork tips, very fatty and covered in sauce. I couldn’t even eat a full one. The bass was decent, over a light soy sauce. There were parts of both dishes that we couldn’t eat because of the fat (ribs) and the tough middle part of the fish.

Overall, I liked this place a lot. The prices are reasonable, especially in comparison to other similarly sceney restaurants in the city. I think our cocktails were more expensive than our appetizers. Some of the small dishes are hard to share with more than two people, as they mostly came in orders of two to three pieces. It seemed like a very cool and hip scene. I will definitely go back, if not only to meet people at the bar. Anyone want to hit up Sway after?