Frites Belgium on Tap brings Belgian soul and live music to Macau’s Grand Lisboa Palace
There’s a moment, just after 7.30pm, when the chandeliers begin to shimmer and the first chords of live music fill the room. The clink of glasses softens, heads turn toward the stage, and suddenly, Macau feels a little more like Brussels in the jazz age. This is Frites Belgium on Tap Macau, the newest and most ambitious chapter from Hong Kong’s beloved brasserie brand, now bringing Belgian conviviality and live music to the Grand Lisboa Palace Resort.
It’s a setting designed for theatre. Stained glass and a six-metre-high ceiling create an Art Deco dreamscape that channels the glamour of the 1920s while keeping the energy distinctly modern. There’s an easy confidence to it, the sense that this is where you start the evening, and quite possibly end the night.
From Hong Kong to Macau, Frites carries its signature conviviality across the water
Mihi Matshingana leads the house band, filling the room with smooth jazz and soulful rhythm
More than 30 Belgian craft beers, from Trappist ales to fruity whites, curated and flown in directly from Belgium.
Frites’ first-ever cocktail collection brings a Macau twist, mixing local ingredients into Belgian-inspired classics
Private dining with personality: two elegant rooms designed for business dinners or birthday toasts
For five nights a week, from Tuesday to Saturday, the house band transforms dinner into performance. Led by the captivating vocalist Mihi Matshingana, the five-piece ensemble of pianist, guitarist, drummer and bassist gives the space its pulse. The playlist swings between smooth jazz and soulful classics, matching the mood of the room as effortlessly as the pour of a good ale. It’s the kind of live music that invites you to stay for one more song, one more round.
Those rounds are part of the Frites’ story. Belgium’s beer culture, recognised by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage, finds a new home here through over 30 craft brews imported directly from Belgium, curated by the Frites team. The selection runs from monastic Trappist ales and amber-hued Abbeys to light fruit beers like Limburgse Witte and Pax Pils, each chosen for authenticity and freshness. For Macau, there’s a new chapter behind the bar: Frites’ first cocktail collection, a spirited debut that weaves local ingredients and Chinese inspirations into contemporary classics.
The signature moules-frites, made with ocean-fresh mussels, anchors the menu
The steak frites captures the brasserie’s balance of comfort and sophistication
The menu, meanwhile, keeps one foot firmly planted in tradition. At its heart is the moules-frites, Belgium’s national dish and a signature that defines Frites’ ocean-to-table philosophy. The mussels, Kinkawooka mussels from South Australia, arrive within 48 hours of harvest, their sweetness intact, their texture firm yet yielding. They’re served five ways: Provençale for the purists, Marinière for the romantics, Laksa and Peri Peri for spice seekers, and the brand’s signature cream sauce for anyone who believes comfort is best served with butter.
Other classics follow suit: steak frites made with USDA 1855 Black Angus beef, its char offset by golden frites; duck à l’orange done with modern restraint; and marinated tuna and salmon gravlax that bring freshness to balance the richness. The finale, because no evening should end without dessert, is a spectacle in itself. The Waffle Bomb Alaska, a tower of Liège waffles, meringue peaks and house-made ice cream, feels like something out of a cabaret dream, while the crème brûlée cheesecake delivers its quiet sweetness with Parisian poise.
Seared scallops with beurre blanc and golden frites highlight the brasserie’s refined comfort
Waffle Bomb Alaska is a theatrical tower of Liège waffles, meringue and house-made ice cream
For gatherings that call for privacy, Frites offers two elegant dining rooms seating eight to fourteen guests, each equipped with a sound system, large screen and plush seating. Whether for business or birthday toasts, the atmosphere remains comfortably elevated.
What Frites brings to Macau isn’t a reinvention of its formula but a refinement of it, a confidence built on the simple pleasures of good food, live music and the company that gathers around both. It’s Belgian at heart, cosmopolitan in spirit and unmistakably at home in a city that has always known how to make a night last a little longer.
Frites Belgium on TapAddress: Shop 123, Level 1. Grand Lisboa Palace (South Entrance) Rua do Tiro, Macau