ABC Wednesdays | E - Egg Tarts

When one mentions "Egg Tarts," first to come to mind would be this episode on Korean soap opera, "Boys Over Flowers."


It really was the first time I learned such food (yeah, sad...), and because this particular version of the story (Taiwan and Japan have their own versions) is the one I loved the most, I was also influenced to savor some of the food featured in the story. However, it was many years after that I finally was able to taste Egg Tarts.

Last year, when we celebrated mom's birthday, she wanted us to visit the Bonifacio Global City. We were on our way back to EDSA when mom spotted BreadTalk (a bread and pastry shop), and asked us to enter it so she could buy some Pork Floss Buns (her favorite bread she discovered in Singapore). Of course, that also meant us buying whatever bread we wanted, and one of the pastries sister placed in her tray are these egg tarts:

BreadTalk Egg Tarts

Very different from the egg tarts I saw from the TV show, but at that time sister just wanted to try and taste if this is indeed good. The crust was flaky and puffy - kinda like eating croissant, but this one's much softer - and the egg filling reminded me of egg pie. It has a very delicate sweetness to it, which didn't satisfy my sister that much, maybe because she expected this to be a sweet pastry. If you ask me, I did like it, but not something I'd crave. My favorite BreadTalk product will always be the spicy Pork Floss Bun.

That same day, when I saw sister placed the egg tarts on her tray, I decided not to buy anything from BreadTalk (mom bought a lot of the pork floss buns anyway), because right next to it is Lord Stow's Bakery, home of the famous Portuguese Egg Tarts. I told mom and sis I'd try Lord Stow's egg tarts as well, since it's not often for us to go to this side of the Metro.

Lord Stow's Bakery Egg Tarts

As soon as we entered the shop, we already saw a familiar looking egg tarts! Though not the same shop featured at the soap opera, I believe the most famous of all the egg tarts has got to be Lord Stow's. Quoting some excerpts from their main website, "It was in the late 1980s when Andrew Stow went to Portugal  and became familiar with Pasteis de Nata. He wanted to serve the same kind of pastry at his own bake shop in Macau and through experimentation, came up with his own version of it. This said egg tart made him and his bake shop very popular, and has been one of the must try food when visiting Macau."

Well, no need for me to travel to Macau to taste this as they have some branches here in the Philippines, but I read a blog that nothing would compare to the original ones sold in Macau. I guess I will just have to wait for that time when I can taste authentic Macau-baked egg tarts.

Tasting Lord Stow's egg tarts became one of my favorite foodie memory of 2012. It was delicious and very comforting! The crust is flaky yet a little thicker compared to BreadTalk's, giving it more body. The egg custard filling was very soft and slightly sweeter and combining two textures together (the thick, crispy yet soft crust and the soft filling) resulted in one food-gasmic experience! Eating this one made me say to myself that whenever I'd see a Lord Stow's Bakery, I'd buy at least four egg tarts, one for me and one for each of my family members.

Oh... while reading literature about the egg tarts, I found out there are two types - the Hong Kong Cuisine and the Portuguese Cuisine versions. Could it be BreadTalk's tarts are the Hong Kong Cuisine version? Maybe, that's why both egg tarts are quite different despite being similar.