I know, for a fact, where to get my Canto-style egg tart fix in San Francisco, and I think I now know where to get my egg tart fix in Manhattan.
But what of Los Angeles (and Orange County). I’m sort of at a loss. Lots of places I can go to, and do go to, but nowhere I’ve been, or know of, that makes an egg tart worthy of an extended 20 minute session of Level 15 on the StairMaster.
JJ Bakery is good, and might be my favorite right now, but sometimes the crust can be a bit dense, not flaky.
Kee Wah might be a 1A (or maybe a 1), but their custard sometimes comes out too hard; like sweet scrambled eggs.
Jim’s is second place on my list cuz I think their ratio of egg custard to tart is a bit off. Too much tart, not enough custard; otherwise, good shit.
Lucky Deli has maybe the cheapest egg tarts I’ve seen in LA, and there’s a good reason for that cheapness.
Diamond Bakery lacks that eggy-ness you need and crave in a proper egg tart. A good dash of MSG might help, or maybe stop using shelf-stable powdered egg powder?
85C makes a mochi egg tart, which (even if you like mochi) I would not recommend.
In the clearly “I would much rather eat mooncakes” category are places like Fortune, Cathy’s, and Wonder.
I’ve heard some rumblings about Fun on Food (in Chinatown) but have yet to try them. Any intel here? @chandavkl?
And no, I don’t want to go to a restaurant (like SNo.1, Sea Harbour, Elite, etc.) for an egg tart. Bakeries please. I hate the evil-eye I get from the hostess every time I walk in and ask for an order of egg tarts to go. #SMH
Help me out here, my fellow LAFTs (that’s Los Angeles Food Talkers for you newbies). Where in LA/OC do you go to get your favorite quintessential Canto-style* egg tart?
*Canto-style egg tarts only please, cuz we all know where to get the best Portuguese egg tarts in SoCal, right?.
Best is Shanghai No. 1 Seafood Village. It’s hot and almost liquid. Barely custard form. The crust is as flakey as any French pastry. I am even tempted to say best in town but obviously haven’t tried them all.
I’m not a fan of desserts at dim sum but I make an exception…usually twice for this.
After eating the egg tart at Tai Cheong in Hong Kong I have no interest in any traditional egg tarts over here. Not even at Golden Gate Bakery on Grant Ave.
It’s the whole thing. Nice cookie type crust, flavorful egg custard filling. Plus the main location in Central Hong Kong does so much business that they’re always hot out of the oven, which adds to the deliciousness.
As David cites, it doesn’t get much better than Tai Cheong or a few other places in Canton namely Guangdong.
But in the U.S., we’ve never had better than ABC Bakery in South Sacramento. If you don’t order of get there by 10am on weekdays (9am on weekends), fuhgetaboutit! Between living in LA, SF, and HK, in the US it’s absolutely, the best.
Please tell me where to get the best Macau/Portugese style egg tarts. Thanks!