Macau Street - Monterey Park (Closed)

Despite its name, there really aren't that many Macanese dishes. But this is where I go to eat "other parts" of various animals. What parts you may ask? Chicken knees. Not chicken feet like at dim sum. Chicken knees. Now say that out loud really fast and someone else will think it's a new "ethnic" dish.


The chicken knees barbecued are served on skewers with a light hoisin sauce. What are chicken knees? They're the tendon/cartilage bit between the thigh and the drumstick.

The house special shrimp is the plate behind the chicken knees. The shrimp are fried with a sweetly tart tamarind glaze.

The duck tongue (the menu lists them as duck chins) was fried with finely chopped lemongrass in the batter. It was very reminiscent of fried frog legs. On this particular occasion though, it was obvious the oil the duck chins were fried in was rather old and that flavor overpowered the flavor of the lemongrass.


We also ordered goose intestines with soy sauce. The intestines were sliced lengthwise so that they looked like chow fun noodles. The intestines were served over a bed of bean sprouts. The texture was slightly chewy. There was no gameyness to the goose intestine but I thought the overall flavor of the dish was rather bland and unremarkable.


Another house specialty is sauteed milk with vegetables. The sauteed milk resembled egg whites. I'm not sure how to saute milk and Google was unhelpful with this one. I'm assuming it's allowed to curdle to thicken first? Unless there are egg whites tossed in, in which case, sauteed milk isn't that special. Tastes just like egg whites to me but with a more delicate flavor because of the milk. Just think of it as fried rice without the rice. There were thin vermicelli noodles used to bind the egg/milk mixture together.


There are the standard vegetable, noodle, and rice dishes. But if you're gonna go to Macau Street, use the opportunity to expand your horizons a bit. The dinner menu includes daily hot pot specials with exotic meats such as alligator and frog. You can opt not to get the soup hot pot, and get those same ingredients on top of rice instead.

This is the frog with Chinese sausage rice pot for $5.95. It's served with a small saucer of soy sauce. Notice how the rice has a nice burnt crust. Mmm.


Everything on the menu is under $10, including the house special crab. For $8.95, you get a large crab, lightly breaded with fried garlic and chili peppers. If it's Dungeness crab season and you're lucky to get one, the meat is succulent, lightly crispy on the outside. Otherwise, you get a rock crab like I did. Not nearly the same, but still a good deal.


For dessert, Macau Street does excellent egg tarts that aren't too eggy. The tart is lightly flaky and served warm. I'd also recommend the barbecued pork neck for the honey flavor that comes through the Char Siu (Chinese Barbecued Pork) marinade.

November 13, 2008: Macau Street is now closed. :(

Macau Street
429 W. Garvey Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91754
626-288-3568