Macao has a lot of Portuguese restaurants, some with local Cantonese cuisine, while others remain true to their Portuguese roots. One traditional Portuguese restaurant in particular, which opened back in 1918, has been managed after three generations, and although everything around it has changed, from the guests to the landscape, the menu has stayed the same.

A traditional Portuguese restaurant in the modern era of Macao.

In the old photos, we can see that this was the busiest street in Macao. But as time flew by, many shops have disappeared, leaving only this old traditional Portuguese restaurant on the corner. Despite the changes in the city, the old restaurant has barely changed its style after 96 years.

"We only had a few customers back then, most of them Portuguese and single men," said Lin Guolin, the owner of "Kun" Portuguese restaurant.

About a century ago, Lin Guolin's grandfather learned to cook tasty, authentic Portuguese cuisine in a Portuguese restaurant, and then opened one of his own. In the beginning, the business struggled, due to the lack of customers. When Lin's father took control, he was finally able to break even. Now, Lin and his brothers have taken charge, and the business finally started to see progress.

"I always come here with my friends, for me, it's another home for me," said a customer.Since Macao's return to China in 1999, the Lin brothers' restaurant became more and more popular, and nowadays customers sometimes have to line up to have a meal.

"Before Macao's return to China, 80% of our customers were Portuguese. But since the return, only 15 percent of guests are from Portugal. We have a lot of tourists from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. We used to only make about 50 thousand Macao Pataca, but now we can earn over 100 thousand MOP a month," said Lin Guolin, the owner of "Kun" Portuguese restaurant.

Diners have changed, and business is getting better every day, but "Kun" restaurant's old menu has kept to the traditional cuisine, with its classic signature dishes like, Satay fish, pork chops and chicken curry. For the older customers, the tastes of these dishes are like old memories.

The Lin brothers say they have no intention of expand the small restaurant, in terms of its size or menu, and they wish to hold on to the old taste, and keep things as simple as when it was opened, to preserve the link to old Macao.

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