{Hong Kong} Of Egg Tarts and Egg Waffles
Egg Tarts and Egg Waffles! These are two of Hong Kong’s tastiest snack items, and thanks to Mrs. 4 Seas who commented on my Hong Kong itinerary post, I knew where to sample some of the best ones in the country during my recent trip there.
For the egg tarts, I took the Peak tramway all the way up to the Galleria mall to find the Tai Cheong Bakery on the second floor. I’ve had a number of egg tarts back in Southern California, mainly at Chinese restaurants from the dim sum carts. But I’d heard that Tai Cheong’s are considered by some to be the best in the world with a creamy custard filling tucked into a crumbly shortbread crust.
Even before M and I entered Tai Cheong, we spotted the egg tarts sitting in a glass case near the front of the store. They looked delicious! But before I could order one, we needed to find something for M to eat as he is not a fan of the egg tarts. Luckily there were plenty of other sweets to choose from and he decided to get a deep fried donut.
After paying for our egg tart and deep fried donut ($6 HK each), we found a bench nearby and sat down to eat our goodies. Since my egg tart experience is pretty limited, it might be a big premature to call Tai Cheong’s the best in the world, but it was definitely the best I’ve ever had! The crust was especially fabulous, I could have eaten a normal sized pie’s worth of that stuff without any filling. M took a small bite of it and even he admitted it was pretty good. The deep fried donut was very nice, nothing fancy but just sweet enough and satisfyingly crispy on the outside and soft and doughy on the inside.
Later that night, when we were at the Temple Street Night Market, I yet again had a yen for something sweet. I remembered that there was a popular egg waffle stall down Nathan Road, so as we walked back to our hotel I kept my eyes peeled for it. It turned out to be very small and I almost missed it until I saw a young couple on the corner sharing an egg waffle.
I’ve heard that this place gets crazy busy but, luckily for us, it must have been a slow night when we went. At the time, I didn’t even know the name of this place, but I later found out that it’s called Lee Keung Kee. If you are ever in HK in the Tsim Sha Tsui area, you will find it on Nathan Road directly across the street from the police station. Just look for the stall completely covered with pictures of Hong Kong celebrities.
I placed an order for an egg waffle and was expecting to have to wait a few minutes for it but the cashier handed me one immediately. I was worried it would be an older one that had been sitting around for a bit but it was piping hot (I almost dropped it because my hands were on fire!). After waiting a bit for it to cool down, I pulled off an “egg” and gobbled it up. It was wonderfully crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. I’m not sure if it was just my imagination but there was a faint taste of coconut to it. I don’t normally like coconut that much but it added just the right hint of sweetness to the egg waffle.
In addition to egg waffles, Lee Keung Kee also sells a variety of savory items. I would’ve liked to try some but unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), I chose to order another egg waffle! I was only in Hong Kong for two days after all and they do not sell such delicious egg waffles in my neck of the woods so I had to take advantage of this opportunity when I had the chance. Full as I was, the second egg waffle tasted just as good as the first one. Call it hyperbole, but these alone are worth making the trip back to Hong Kong someday!
ahhhhh I love the egg tarts in HK too! There are actually 2 types, puff pastry base or cookie base. Tai Cheong’s egg tart is cookie base and they got really famous because the ex governor of HK loves them. Honestly, I prefer the more traditional puff pastry base and you can find some really good ones in Kowloon City 🙂
I wish I could’ve tried the puff pastry base one. I’m not sure if I even saw that type when I was in HK. My trip was way too short (only 2 days). I need to go back someday for sure!
I loveeeeee egg tarts. They’re one of my favorite desserts in the world! That one looks quite scrumptious. I love the ones with a very flaky, light, multi layered crust. You’re making me hungry this morning!
That was definitely the best egg tart I ever ate! Granted, I haven’t eaten too many in my life. Just the ones from dim sum carts at Chinese restaurants in SoCal…..many of which weren’t all that great. It was wonderful to be able to eat the real deal in Hong Kong. Btw, thanks for recommending the Pure gummies to me. I got a bag of the grape ones and they were fabulous! I’ll definitely be trying more flavors while I’m in Japan!
The SoCal ones definitely don’t beat the ones from HK, but some of them aren’t bad! Better than nothing, eh? 🙂 I’m so glad that you like the Pure gummies!! They have all sorts of flavors here – peach, citrus, root beer, etc. My favorite is peach because the flavor is so intense!
Egg tarts are awesome! Hong Kong has really good snacks. Have you tried salted egg custard buns? They’re my favourite 🙂
No, I haven’t tried salted egg custard buns….they sound really good. I’ll look for them when I’m back in Southern California at a Chinese bakery. Thanks for telling me about them!
You can buy the molds for the egg waffles! It’s kinda heavy and bulky, but the recipe is very simple.
Really? I would get one but it sounds like bad news for my waistline lol! I wish they sold it at more places in Southern California. I’m going to have to look it up when I get home from this trip. Unfortunately, Japan doesn’t sell egg waffles!
Oh! I meant in Hong Kong since that’s where we got ours. But then I guess there must be places that sell it here in California too since shops like Quickly’s sells egg waffles, but I imagine it to be way more expensive here.
Ahhh, an egg tart! They look glossy & fab in your photo. I have to have one everytime I have dim sum. I’d never come across “egg waffle” until I read your blog! Is it like sponge cake? They look yummy (^-^)
How are the egg tarts over there? I’ve never really had a good one in Southern California so it was wonderful to get the real deal in HK. I never thought about it but egg waffles do look like sponge cake! They’re actually a lot like regular waffle but the egg pattern gives it a different texture. They’re very crispy on the outside with a slightly chewy inside. And I would say they’re sweeter than regular waffles since you won’t be adding any syrup to them. The one I had tasted slightly of coconut and condensed milk. Yes, it was very yummy!
2 of my favorite treats here in HK!
They were wonderful, I wish I could’ve stayed in Hong Kong longer and eaten more of everything. It’s definitely one of the food capitols of the world. Thanks so much for commenting!
You’ll have to return for another visit!
The egg tart looks so delicious. I’ve heard of Tai Cheong egg tarts, but never tried them. After seeing your pix, it’s a must try when I visit HK next time.
The egg tarts were wonderful, the best I’ve ever eaten. The custard was warm and creamy and the crust was out of this world delicious! I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did when you try them. Thanks so much for commenting!
Ohhhh I definetely need to go back to try these!
Yes, I could’ve lived on those egg waffles when I was in Hong Kong! They don’t have them in Southern California so I’ll be thinking about them until I go back to HK someday!
I LOVE EGG TARTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing!
I haven’t had an egg tart in ages! Really craving one now 😛 I haven’t really seen egg tarts in Japan – it will be my mission to find a bakery nearby and buy some!
Never knew about the egg tart thing! I do know that whenever my friend visits from Taiwan I demand pineapple cakes ><
I’d never heard of Taiwanese pineapple cakes before so I just looked them up on Google. Looks a bit like an oversized Fig Newton, yum!!!
Mmmm, they look mouthwateringly good 🙂
Now that I’m back in Southern California I’m going to have to do some research on the Chinese bakeries and find out which ones have the best egg tarts. It’ll probably be harder to find the egg waffles, I’ve never seen them in So Cal. I knew I should have eaten a third egg waffle when I was in Hong Kong!
This post brings back memories! Growing up I used to have an egg tart (cookie base) for breakfast everyday.. more like as part of my breakfast.. not so healthy but darn delicious!
Egg tarts for breakfast sounds delicious! I sometimes had pop tarts in the morning, kinda like the American equivalent of an egg tart lol. Your mentioning that the ones you had was a cookie base reminds me that I have yet to try the pastry based type. I didn’t even know that type existed until my post and other bloggers mentioned it to me.
Wow, I am usually not an egg tart person but your post makes it inviting.
I’m not really the biggest egg tart fan either but I think that’s because I had only tried it at restaurants here in So Cal from dim sum carts. The egg tart was usually cold by the time I got it so the filling was kind of bleh. But the one I had in Hong Kong was freshly baked and still warm. I think that makes a huge difference!
Agree, the tarts cannot be too cold nor too hot, the taste varies dramatically. I hope you will manage to find a good one in So Cal soon.
Thank you! And you’re right, temperature is a major factor in the tastiness of an egg tart. Hot egg tarts sound just as bad as cold ones!
Ahhh, I miss HK so much. I just had these egg puffs the other day, but they’re nothing like the ones back in HK which are not-sweet, crispy, light on the vanilla flavor, and just plain delicious. I hope you enjoyed your time in HK a lot!! I’m also glad you got to try out Tai Cheong Bakery’s dan tats, as when I was in HK a few months ago, I definitely thought it was a pretty high caliber one. Still, can find better ones, but still good. MORE HK POSTS!!
I had a great time in HK, can’t wait to go back again some day! Do you mean to tell me that you have egg puffs up in Northern CA? You’re so lucky, we don’t have any down here! Or at least, I haven’t been able to find them, not even in the Monterey Park/Alhambra areas. They only seem to be sold at certain Asian festivals/events. I thought the one I got from the 626 Night Market outside of Los Angeles was pretty good until I tried the one in HK. OMG, the one at 626 Night Market was like mush compared to the HK one which was so crispy!
Are egg tarts called dan tats in HK? Thanks for teaching me something new. You’ll definitely have to tell me where the better dan tats are before I go to HK again! I want to try the pastry based type that other bloggers have been mentioning, I don’t think I’ve seen those around Southern California. Or, more likely, I didn’t recognize it for what it was.
I’ll definitely be putting up more HK posts soon, loved hearing from you!
My aunt and cousin is in HK right now.
I told them to try the egg tart but I was having a hard time describing it. It did not cross my mind to Google it.
I wish I had seen this post on before Monday. L-O-L!
Thanks so much for your comment! Yeah, it is hard to describe an egg tart, I think I tell people it looks like a mini lemon meringue pie lol! I hope your aunt and cousin will get a chance to try it over in Hong Kong. But if not, there’s so much good food there that you can’t go wrong no matter what you get.
My aunt and cousin brought me 2 boxes of egg tarts. They are a bit cold so I just tossed them into the fridge. I hope they still taste great when re-heated! 😀
Oh lucky you! I’m sure they’ll be fabulous once you heat them up. I’m beyond envious!
I’ll have to try this place out next time I’m in Hong Kong
They really were the best egg tarts and egg waffles I ever had. The ones in Southern California are just sad in comparison.
Next time you come to HK, I will recommend you all the best snacks and food in town!
Thanks!! I can’t wait to go back to Hong Kong again someday. Next time I want to go in the cooler months so I can eat more. All the food was SO good but the humidity kind of killed my appetite.
I was told by my Chinese friend that egg tarts taste even better when left in the fridge overnight and eaten the next day.
Really? I will have to try this then. I usually only get them from the dim sum cart so I just eat them right then and there. It’s very hit and miss because sometimes the carts have been circling for quite a while and the egg tarts taste not so fresh.