bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Susan Jung

After Hong Kong's first Portuguese egg tart shop opened in Mongkok in December, the popularity of this rich, sweet and terribly fattening dessert has grown enormously.

 The small, homely looking tarts with their distinctive mottled burned tops have long been popular in Macau, where they are better known as pasteis de nata, but their fans in the SAR no longer need to take a ferry ride to the Portuguese enclave to satisfy their craving.

 In an attempt to find the ultimate egg tart, four of us spent an afternoon tasting them at several bakeries, and in the process, probably consumed enough calories to last a month.

 For the sake of our waistlines, we sampled only the original pasteis de nata, and not the variations, which included beer, egg white, 'summer' and chocolate tarts.

 Before starting off, we conferred on what constituted the perfect tart. We agreed it should be flavourful, crisp and creamy, with crust and custard that complemented each other.

 Our first stop was the Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet in Island Place in North Point. In May, KFC introduced the tarts to eight of its 23 outlets.

 Food writer Janine Stein and Jorge Smith, food and beverage manager of the Mandarin Oriental in Macau, thought these had a good balance of crust and filling, but Macau-based food writer, Annabel Jackson, and I thought the crust was too thick.

 The exterior was rather pale, and the filling was light, both in colour and taste. Mr Smith said that in Macau and Portugal, the tarts were sweeter, richer and creamier, and more caramelised on top; we wondered if the KFC tarts had been toned down to satisfy local tastes.

 Stein complained it left an oily feeling in her mouth, but overall, we were pleasantly surprised - we thought the tarts very good for a fast-food outlet. At $5 each, they were the cheapest of the ones we ate that day.

 Next, we went to the Macau Coloanne Bakery on Stanley Street in Central. The tarts were hot out of the oven, so we decided to take them away to give them time to cool.

 On the way to the Central MTR, we visited Watson's Wine Cellar, and had an inspiration. We persuaded the accommodating and knowledgable wine salesman, Ross Chan, to let us eat the tarts in the store. He even poured glasses of a Chateau de Sours rose, which was light and refreshing. Unfortunately, the tarts were exceedingly disappointing, with soggy, underbaked pastry and a flavourless filling. 'It tastes like the custard powder my mum used to use,' Jackson said, but Mr Chan, who had gobbled up one sample, said: 'That's the best tart I've ever tasted!'  We advised him to stick to wine.

 We were hot and tired by the time we arrived in Tsim Sha Tsui, so we decided to buy all the tarts, and take them some place cool to eat them. We went to Lord Stow's on Peking Road and the Lisboa Bakery on Haiphong Street, and brought the tarts to the Hyatt Regency, where the manager of the Cafe let us conduct our tasting, since we were also there to sample the hotel's version.

 Lisboa Bakery received full points for the attractive white and blue box: beautifully designed, with small air-vents that allowed the steam to escape, which prevents hot tarts from getting soggy.

 The tarts were heavier and deeper than any of the others we sampled, with a thick, dark brown crust. The filling did not have much flavour and looked curdled - like scrambled eggs, as Stein put it. The crust was tender and nicely crisp, but overall, it was innocuous - inoffensive, but nothing outstanding. Mr Smith summed it up perfectly: 'The whole is less than the sum of the individual parts.'  As soon as we tasted the Lord Stow's tart, we knew this was it. The flaky, buttery, golden crust and rich, creamy filling had their individual identities, but were at the same time integrated; together they were perfection.

 We all agreed with Jackson's observation: 'This is the first one where I'd want to eat the whole thing.' Stein added: 'It's not greasy; you feel like you can kiss someone after eating this.'  The Hyatt's tart was very good. The custard was paler than any of the others, but it was flavourful. My sample was a little underbaked, but the edges were crisp, with a slight chewiness the other crusts did not have.

 It was unanimous. Lord Stow's was the clear winner, followed by the Hyatt's. KFC's came in a surprising third, then Lisboa, and far behind came the one from the Macau Coloanne Bakery.

 With the exception of KFC's, the tarts were $6 each. At the Hyatt, they are also available on the tea and dessert buffets.



Oh that luscious tart