Honolulu Cafe and Egg Tarts

Restaurant Review!

Honolulu Café l Central l Hong Kong

If it hasn’t become obvious in my reviews yet, let me tell you now that I have a great fondness for eggs. I love them in sauces, custards, on their own, and in any recipe imaginable. It should be now surprise at all to find out that I’ve had an ongoing love affair with egg tarts.

Egg tarts came to Hong Kong the way of Portuguese traders and the nearby Portuguese colony of Macau. The locals quickly accepted it and it’s been served in dim sum restaurants and tea shops ever since. Now, people will extol the virtues of “Portuguese” style egg tarts where they will broil them and caramelize the top. It leads to a browned custard and crispy crust. Lies! What you end up with is a custard that’s lumpy and a crust that’s gummy. The higher temperature never lets the custard set evenly and the pastry never develops that proper flakiness.

Honolulu Café (no affiliation with the one in Vancouver) has been baking the epitome of the egg tart for years. There are a number of locations throughout Hong Kong but for some reason, the location in Central is far superior. The custard is perfectly set with a smoothness that lies tantalizingly between solid and runny. The pastry is buttery with a flakiness that explodes when you bite into it. The whole package is the type of gastronomic magic you only get when you take two such complementary extremes and take them to their highest levels. Sort of like fried chicken and waffles but that’s another review all together.

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