Recently, Asia Tatler Dining put together a culinary itinerary for a fine dining-filled weekend in Hong Kong, so it seems only fair that there should also be one for our sister SAR, Macau.

Read our 48 Hours of Fine Dining in Hong Kong here.

While Macau is known for its flashy casinos, what many tourists may not know is that it is also a gourmand's heaven. Thanks to food enthusiast Alan Ho, the Lisboa hotels offer some of the best dining outlets in casino history, with three Michelin-starred restaurants under their roof. Macanese cuisine is also a reason to head over, as it not only delicious, but virtually impossible to get outside of Macau itself. Without further ado, Asia Tatler Dining presents our culinary itinerary to Macau.

Friday night:

8pm: Macau is home to some of the most impressive hotel chains in the world, with a Four Seasons, a Venetian, an MGM and a Wynn all within easy distance of each other. To truly get a feel of Macau's colonial heritage, however, we'd recommend checking into the Pousada de São Tiago. one of the few Relais & Châteaux properties in Asia. Located in a 17th century fortress built by the Portuguese to defend Macau against pirates and other colonisers, the boutique hotel is not only delightful to stay at, but we also love dining in its Spanish restaurant, La Paloma. Under the watch of executive chef Hector Costa Fernandez, the restaurant offers modern Catalan cuisine, serving not only generous portions of delicious tapas but also a wonderful baby suckling pig as a main. Seafood lovers will be delighted with their rich variety of fish and shellfish, including a bacalhau Catalan style and a signature sea bass with cepes and asparagus.

Avenida da Republica, Fortaleza de Sao Tiago de Barra, Macau. Tel: +853 2837-8111.

Saturday:

11am: There are many excellent Cantonese restaurants in Macau (The 8 at the Grand Lisboa, Canton at the Venetian and Imperial Court at MGM are just a few), but for a traditional dim sum brunch, we'd recommend Treasure Palace at the City of Dreams. The extensive dim sum menu spans three pages and we especially love the truffle and root vegetable dumpling, the deep-fried crab cake and the giant abalone chicken bun. For those with a larger appetite, try the Chinese barbecued char siu made with Iberico pork. Don't eat too much though, as you'll still need to save room for lunch.

Level 1, City of Dreams, The Boulevard, Estrada do Istmo, Cotai, Macau. Tel: +853 8868-6661.

1pm: A trip to Macau would not be complete without trying out the local Macanese cuisine, which blends Portuguese and Chinese culinary elements to create memorable dishes such as African chicken, Portuguese chicken and bacalhau (deep-fried balls of cod). Conveniently located near tourist attractions A-Ma Temple and the Maritime Museum is one of our favourite Macanese restaurants, A Lorcha. This cosy and colonial-Portuguese style restaurant is famous for its rustic dishes and we'd recommend starting the meal with a caldo verde (a green soup with potatoes and chorizo). Mains should include some of their excellent seafood dishes, such as crab in a pot or clams with tomato sauce. Finally, make sure to taste the African chicken, which comes with a healthy serving of fries, just in case you are still hungry.

289a, Rua do Alimrante Sergio, Macau. Tel: +853 2831-3193.

7pm: Thanks to Alan Ho, the Lisboa hotels are home to some of the best chefs and restaurants in the world. To start your Saturday night in style, we'd recommend trying one of the two fine dining restaurants: Don Alfonso 1890 or Robuchon a Galera. Don Alfonso 1890 is the Macau outlet of the same restaurant in southern Italy. Opened by chef Alfonso Iccarino, Don Alfonso 1890 specialises in serving fresh and light southern Italian fare. At this traditional restaurant, we'd recommend trying the most classic of Italian dishes, such as eggplant parmigiana, spaghetti Don Alfonso with San Marzano tomato and basil or linguine with lobster.

Read our feature on Alfonso Iccarino here.

3/F, Grand Lisboa, Avenida de Lisboa, Macau. Tel: +853 8803-7722.

For those that prefer French cuisine, Robuchon a Galera in the Lisboa Tower is an unmissable experience. One of the few truly fine dining and formal Robuchon restaurants in the world, Robuchon a Galera serves the highest quality French haute cuisine.

Read our interview with Joel Robuchon here.

While we would confidently recommend any item on the menu here, one of the best dishes is their signature Le Boeuf Kagoshima, a grilled sirloin with pomme soufflé and a grey shallot finish. Just be sure to save room for the cheese cart and the old-fashioned dessert trolley.

It is also worth noting that both Don Alfonso 1890 and Robuchon a Galera have access to the Lisboa wine cellar, one of the largest and most impressive wine cellars in Asia. The wine list has won Wine Spectator's Grand Award and lists nearly 70,000 wines on 322 pages. Both restaurants also now have their wine lists on iPads, making browsing and choosing a wine both easier and more fun.

3/F, Lisboa Tower, Hotel Lisboa, 2-4 Avenida de Lisboa, Macau. Tel: +853 8803-7878.

Note: Robuchon a Galera is closing and relocating to the Grand Lisboa at the beginning of May 2011, Asia Tatler Dining will keep you updated on the new opening.

Sunday:

Noon: After such a full day of fine dining on Saturday, start Sunday off gently with a meal at the famous tempura restaurant Tenmasa at the Altira Macau. Originating from Tokyo, Tenmasa has over 75 years of history and has served dignitaries including Gandhi and Charlie Chaplin. Yoshiaki Hashii, the grandson of founder Masaji Hashii, opened the first branch of the restaurant outside of Japan in Macau in 2007, where it has become a required destination for tempura lovers. Tenmasa uses sashimi-grade fish for its tempura and its must-try dishes include the signature whiting fish. We also love the tempura sea urchin wrapped in dried seaweed; the tenbara – a deep-fried cake made with abalone, prawn and vegetables; and caramelised sweet potato tempura with brandy for dessert.

1/F, Altira Macau, Avenida de Kwong Tung, Taipa. Tel: +853 8803-6611.

5pm: Not enough time for a full meal before your flight or ferry? One of the unique characteristics of Macau is that while most casinos in the world offer cheap and greasy fast-food as casual dining options, Macau's casinos have plenty of absolutely delicious casual outlets. The Noodle & Congee Corner at the Grand Lisboa, which serves an array of handmade noodles and dumplings, is one.

But the casual dining outlet we really love is 99 Noodles at the Wynn Macau. This casual eatery specialises in regional hand-pulled and cut noodles from northern China. We'd recommend whetting your appetite with some cold dishes such as marinated chilled duck tongue and tossed shredded chicken in hot chilli sauce. Moving onto the main event, you can create your own noodle dish by picking what type of noodle you'd prefer (choices include Beijing la mein, Shanxi knife-shaved noodles, pressed buckwheat noodles and handmade egg noodles), soup ( made from lamb, beef brisket, pork belly or mushroom) and garnishes (the traditional Beijing minced pork with yellow bean sauce and the homemade style hot minced pork are two of our favourites). For those who find the array of choice a bit too dizzying, there are also some tried-and-true specialities such as the spicy Sichuan dan dan noodles and the tossed cold noodles with shredded chicken, also from Sichuan.

G/F, Encore at Wynn Macau, Rua Cidade de Sintra, NAPE. Tel: +853 8986-3663.