Hong Kong’s famous cha chaan teng Honolulu Cafe is opening in Singapore! Famous for its egg tarts with flaky pastry, it will open a 1,500 sq ft restaurant with 50 seats at The CentrePoint in Orchard Road at the end of April 2016. We will go out on a limb to say that Honolulu Cafe has the best egg tarts in Hong Kong.
Over the past years, we have seen several openings of successful Hong Kong food brands in Singapore.
Honolulu Cafe is a franchise brought in by a new company set up by Mr Lee Yuen Yong – the managing director of F&B company Asia Gourmet. For those who are unfamiliar with the name, it is the same company that brought in wonton noodle specialist Mak’s Noodle from Hong Kong. Unsurprisingly, it is opening Honululu Cafe at CentrePoint where Mak’s Noodle first debuted.
Here’s some background knowledge about Honolulu Cafe – it was founded in the 1940s by the late Mr Yeung Jin Hei. The cafe started out by selling Hong Kong-style coffee, tea and baked goods.
But over the past 20 years, it has gradually expanded its menu and added more dishes, and today you can find everything from noodle dishes to sandwiches, baked pastries and rice dishes. Honolulu Cafe in Hong Kong is now a full-fledge cha chaan teng, and whenever we are in the city, we find ourselves returning to Honolulu Cafe again and again for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
It currently has three shops in Beijing and one in Shanghai. Honolulu Cafe in Singapore will be its fifth overseas outlet and it will serve freshly baked egg tarts (S$1.70 each), along with the Hong Kong classic dishes such as macaroni noodle dishes and weekly specials.
And of course, when Honolulu Cafe hits our shores, the egg tart is what you must try, for it was what made Honolulu Cafe so famous today. Its signature flaky tarts boast a very buttery and mildly sweet light-coloured pastry shell, filled with a center of smooth, creamy egg custard.
Other than the amazing egg tarts, you should also save room for their Pineapple Buns (Bo Luo Bao).
We are the biggest fans of Honolulu Cafe and everyone knows that by now, so you bet we are most excited about their arrival in Singapore!
With Tai Cheong Bakery and Honolulu Cafe set to enter the Singapore market, would we see a new egg tart craze this year in 2016? We cannot wait to find out.
For more recommendations, read our guide to the top 11 Cha Chaan Teng in Hong Kong.