Egg Tarts @ Honolulu Coffee Shop, Wanchai

For our trip itinerary, please click here.

roaming the busy streets of Wanchai

I just came back from another fruitful trip to Hong Kong with my comrade,  Ivy. Fruitful in terms of shopping this time, more about that later! One of our many great finds was the egg tart from Honolulu Coffee Shop.

Honolulu Coffee Shop is a 40 years old establishment in Wanchai that serves up typical Cha Chan Teng fare. It is also a place where you can find people from all walks of life itching their scratch for milk tea, toasts and pork chop rice.

No, we are not coming here for the yee min, or peanut butter toast with thick slabs of butter and condensed milk (yum). We came here for the absolute piece de resistance – flaky crust egg tart (酥皮蛋撻) that boasts of 192 layers!

count the layers with me! 1,2,3,4………192!

Fresh from the oven, these egg tarts were still warm before we shoved them into our mouths. Flaky, crispy, and light pastry enclosing a velvety smooth wobbly egg custard. How could we resist these evil little morsels?

And the secrets to flaky crust? Lards! The resulting delicious flaky crust pastry is always worth the extra calories. Tong Kee Brothers Confectionery’s egg tart is definitely on par to Honolulu’s, but Honolulu’s pastry crust is more flaky and layer-y.

The ice milk tea too, was not too bad, full of black tea aroma but it’s just not smooth enough. Lan Fong Yuen’s version of milk tea is still one notch higher. So remember to make your milk tea pilgrimage to Lan Fong Yuen, Central.

We ordered the polo bun to fulfill the minimum spending requirement (HKD 17 per person). It was the worst decision made, ever! The bun was cold and stale, and as you bite into it, it sticks in your teeth, like how bread soaks too much in water. Nothing beats Polo Yao from Kam Wah Cafe at Prince Edward!

You should only choose the egg tarts…

And avoid the polo bun at all costs!

Various fresh bake of the day on display

Someone once told me that top three egg tarts in HK can be found at Honolulu Coffee Shop, Kam Fung Restaurant and Tai Cheong Bakery.

Since most reviews in Open Rice complain about the other typical char chan teng fare available in Honolulu Coffee Shop,  it is better to take away the egg tarts. As for Tai Cheong, give the egg tart a miss and go for the light as air sugary donut (沙翁). You won’t regret it! And if you have some time to spare, grab some bites at Kam Fung, Wanchai and tell me what you think about their egg tarts.

Excerpts from our Tai Cheong post:

“We got ourselves two egg tarts and another two of those much raved about donuts. In our humble opinion, while the wobbly egg centre was silky smooth, the short crust pastry shell was lackluster when compared to the flaky puff pastry version that is widely available in most dim sum joint.”

“But we found our new love at Tai Cheong bakery – the sugar coated donuts 沙翁! They were still warm before we shoved them into our mouths. Our eyes opened wide the moment after we took a bite of it. Unlike its light and fluffy western counterparts, Tai Cheong’s donuts were eggy, milky and creamy with crepe like layers beneath. You have to try it to tell the difference!”

Honolulu Coffee Shop
G/F & Mezz Floor, 176-178 Hennessy Rd., Wan Chai
灣仔軒尼詩道176-178號地下及閣樓
Tel: 2575 1823
Opens daily from 6am to 12am

Branches:
-G/F, 33 Stanley St,, Central
-Area A, East Point City, 8 Chung Wa Road, Tseung Kwan O

Open Rice Page here

Tai Cheong Bakery 泰昌餅家
35 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, Hong Kong
中環擺花街 35 號地下
Tel: 2544 3475
Opens daily 730am to 9pm

Open Rice page here

金鳳茶餐廳 Kam Fung Restaurant
G/F, Spring Garden Mansion, 41 Spring Garden Lane, Wan Chai
灣仔春園街41號春園大廈地下
Opens daily 6am to 7pm