If you're Chinese and/or well-versed in Chinese cuisine, you are probably familiar with these scrumptious treats. If not, they're often referred to as 蛋挞 (or dan taht). They're famous for 2 components: the crust and egg custard. The crust is often flaky, but may also come in the shortbread variety. The custard within must be smooth and sweet with a slight eggy flavor. They are available at Asian bakeries, but may appear in restaurants serving Dim Sum. For this article, we only included bakeries to save time.
We did some researching online and thinking about our favorite bakeries around town, and came up with a list of bakeries to check out. Hopping into Grace's car, we drove around town to pick up the pastries and reconvened to taste them all during a rainy Saturday afternoon. Luckily, most of the bakeries are situated on a one-mile stretch of Buford Hwy, and only one was located in Duluth. Unfortunately, a couple of popular Asian bakeries we stopped by did not offer egg tarts.
We ended up with 5 contenders for the title of "Best Egg Tart of Atlanta." The bakery addresses will be listed at the end of the blog post.
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| Who shall win? |
For each tart, we evaluated cost, appearance, crust quality, crust to custard ratio, and custard quality and taste.
CONTESTANT #1 - Sweet Hut
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| Sweet Hut Egg Tart Price: $1.30 |
Sweet Hut is a very popular Asian bakery that needs no introduction, so let's move on to the tart. As you can see, this tart exhibits beautiful browning of the custard. The crust was flaky and the custard was very pleasant - it was not overly sweet, was very smooth, and possessed a light eggy flavor.
Unfortunately, the crust to custard ratio was WAY off. When the pastry was cut in half, there was an overabundance of crust and a very scant amount of delicious custard. We estimated that it was about 2/3 crust and 1/3 custard. After eating, it left us wanting more custard and feeling disappointed. WE WANT CUSTARD!
Unfortunately, the crust to custard ratio was WAY off. When the pastry was cut in half, there was an overabundance of crust and a very scant amount of delicious custard. We estimated that it was about 2/3 crust and 1/3 custard. After eating, it left us wanting more custard and feeling disappointed. WE WANT CUSTARD!
CONTESTANT #2 - Honey Bits
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| Honey Bits Egg Tart Price: $1.19 |
Honey Bits is a quiet place tucked away on the opposite side of Buford Hwy and a very short distance from Sweet Hut. It is certainly less well known than other bakeries, but the quality of their baked goods are comparable to others around town. Luckily, we were able to grab the very last egg tart.
Out of all the tarts, this was the cheapest, BUT definitely did not taste or look "cheap." The appearance is more similar to the traditional egg tart with its yellow custard. In terms of size, it was the largest of the group. The crust was browned, with a spot that was slightly burnt, but was flaky. The custard was perfect - smooth, creamy, not overly sweet, and slightly eggy. Also, THERE WAS SO MUCH CUSTARD. We were ecstatic as we love us some custard. Definitely would recommend this one.
Out of all the tarts, this was the cheapest, BUT definitely did not taste or look "cheap." The appearance is more similar to the traditional egg tart with its yellow custard. In terms of size, it was the largest of the group. The crust was browned, with a spot that was slightly burnt, but was flaky. The custard was perfect - smooth, creamy, not overly sweet, and slightly eggy. Also, THERE WAS SO MUCH CUSTARD. We were ecstatic as we love us some custard. Definitely would recommend this one.
CONTESTANT #3 - 720 Bakery
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| 720 Bakery Egg Tart Price: $1.28 |
720 Bakery was our only contestant outside of the "Chinatown" area. Located in Duluth near Gwinnett Place Mall, this bakery has a lovely outdoor shaded patio for patrons to enjoy their delicious goodies. This place also sells other Asian snacks such as zongzi (sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves), which they allowed patrons to sample.
Similar to the Sweet Hut tart, the top of the tart is on the toasty brown side. The crust was of the flaky pastry kind, but was a bit soft and less flaky than the other competitors. However, it was a bit easier to eat and left less crumbs all over the the table and on our shirts. There was a satisfying amount of custard inside that was smooth and had the right amount of sweetness and egg flavor. Good job, 720 Bakery!
Similar to the Sweet Hut tart, the top of the tart is on the toasty brown side. The crust was of the flaky pastry kind, but was a bit soft and less flaky than the other competitors. However, it was a bit easier to eat and left less crumbs all over the the table and on our shirts. There was a satisfying amount of custard inside that was smooth and had the right amount of sweetness and egg flavor. Good job, 720 Bakery!
CONTESTANT #4 - Paris Baguette
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| Paris Baguette Egg Tart Price: $2.25 |
Both of us love this adorable bakery franchise specifically for their Velvet Ice Tea (which is absolutely delicious in case you were wondering). However, they surprised us with the most expensive tart out of all the places we visited. At $2.25 per tart, we certainly expected their tarts to be better than or at least comparable to the others. It was not.
Visually, it looked appetizing and appealing. It certainly contained enough custard and the custard was smooth, but the egg flavor was hardly detectable. The eggy-ness was overpowered by a very strong, strange flavor in the crust. We believe said flavor was that of a non-stick spray, like PAM. Maybe it was just this batch that we had, but the strong non-stick spray taste in the crust prevented us from enjoying the tart as a whole. This tart was shocking for all the wrong reasons - expensive price with depressing results. Lamesauce.
Visually, it looked appetizing and appealing. It certainly contained enough custard and the custard was smooth, but the egg flavor was hardly detectable. The eggy-ness was overpowered by a very strong, strange flavor in the crust. We believe said flavor was that of a non-stick spray, like PAM. Maybe it was just this batch that we had, but the strong non-stick spray taste in the crust prevented us from enjoying the tart as a whole. This tart was shocking for all the wrong reasons - expensive price with depressing results. Lamesauce.
CONTESTANT #5 - Hong Kong Bakery
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| Hong Kong Bakery Egg Tart Price: $1.39 |
Located in the same shopping center as Sweet Hut, Hong Kong bakery is an old school Asian bakery, without the unneeded bells and whistles of modern bakeries. It's the type of place where you run in, get your goods, and go without a hassle.
This tart is a perfect example of a traditional Asian egg tart that most people are familiar with. The smooth, very yellow custard and wavy pastry crust are textbook and reminded both of us the little custards being pushed around on Dim Sum carts. The crust was VERY flaky and there was a fair amount of custard within it. Although the custard was smooth and not very sweet, the egg flavor was VERY strong and a little too eggy for our taste.
AND OUR WINNER IS...
720 BAKERY!
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| YAY!!! |
After risking high cholesterol for the sake of this activity, we have determined that 720 Bakery had the most enjoyable egg tart experience. This tart is aesthetically pleasing, average-priced, convenient to eat, and delicious. For a bakery that neither of us had heard of before, we were pleasantly surprised. Honorable mention goes to Honey Bits, whose tart wowed us with value and taste.
We hope this post has given you all some insight into the egg tart scene. The results of our little competition threw us a curve-ball. Our favorite bakeries disappointed us in this category, whereas lesser known bakeries outshone them. So the moral of the story is: Don't be afraid to try new places or places that are not as popular, but also keep in mind that you shouldn't judge the quality of a food institution by one product on their menu. As for us, we've added a few new bakeries into our circuit. Well, we have got to go exercise a little of this cholesterol down. See y'all next time!
& 
LIST OF BAKERIES
Bakery
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Address
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Website
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Sweet Hut
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5150 Buford Hwy
Doraville, GA 30340
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Honey Bits
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5231 Buford Hwy NE,
Doraville, GA 30340
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720 Bakery
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3675 Satellite Blvd,
Duluth, GA 30096
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Paris Baguette
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5252 Buford Hwy
Doraville, GA 30340
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Hong Kong Bakery
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5150 Buford Hwy NE
Atlanta, GA 30340
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