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2010-04-11
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唔知有無人食過真正的葡國葡撻? 其實外表睇起上嚟, 差不多是一樣的.除非你落咗 Cinnamon 粉, 如果唔係肉眼很難分辮得出來的... Anyway the real Portuguese Tarts taste a lot more like custard tarts than egg tarts, and although there are variations - on average, real Portuguese tarts taste a lot less eggy but much more 'chewier' than one could imagine even within the custard itself. They're very 滯 as well and much more creamier. Macanised Portuguese Tarts vs Authentic Portuguese Tarts are failry different in my opinion. Lord Stow is well known to
除非你落咗 Cinnamon 粉, 如果唔係肉眼很難分辮得出來的...
Anyway the real Portuguese Tarts taste a lot more like custard tarts than egg tarts, and although there are variations - on average, real Portuguese tarts taste a lot less eggy but much more 'chewier' than one could imagine even within the custard itself. They're very 滯 as well and much more creamier. Macanised Portuguese Tarts vs Authentic Portuguese Tarts are failry different in my opinion. Lord Stow is well known to be the god father of Macanese Portuguese Tarts - surprising indeed as firstly, even though Macau was previously ruled by Portugal, it took a former Briton to figure out that Macau without any Pastel de Nata, isn't really a proper Portuguese colony! 2ndly, apparently Stow's portuguese tart is only a hybrid version between a British Egg Tart and a real Pastel de Nata. (HK's egg tart meanwhile is most probably a localised version of a British Egg Tart.)
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SERRADURAS -
This came with only 1 layer of biscuit saw-dust top. I thought this tasted good but not impressive. It needed a bit more of the biscuity crumbs! 3.5/5
MADELEINE -
This probably shouldn't be ordered at a Portuguese tart shop as it is actually from North-Eastern France, plus the size of this already suggests its not very authentic as its much bigger! However let's give it a try. The sponge like cake was ok, carrying some fake lemony essence. There was a lot of dusting of sugar on top however. Ultimately, this lacked a real, buttery-lemon taste and I actually thought this was quite localised in taste. 3/5
LORD STOW'S PORTUGUESE TART -
The 1st time I came here, I bought 2 for take-away but they were actually cold! So during the 2nd time I came again to re-try, I specifically requested the hottest available ones. The staff did not feel annoyed by my request, he used the back of his palm to check for steam coming off the batch from those in the shelf beneath him - they weren't warm enough - then he proceeded to the back of the shop and handed me 3 of the newly baked batch. There was certainly a delta in performance between the cold ones and fresher ones. (But fresh does not automatically guarantee it as being good either, I suppose!) 3.8/5
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Anyway what I find with Lord Stow's Portuguese tart is that, it is quite milky compared to HK Egg Tarts's Egginess, but it is not as doughy as an authentic Portuguese Tart with that very sweet and thick and chewy custard. However the texture, still to my surprise, is still more relatable to a Hong Kong egg tart than a British Egg tart as it was wobbly rather than more solid in the centre. My personal interpretation is that this is indeed a hybrid between 3 tart versions - paritally HK, British and Portuguese Tart, all at once. I think the Pastry crust here seems a bit more buttery moist and better than Margaret's dryer crispier version, plus the caramelisation on top is more even than the other shop's version. However, Margaret's version is much more eggier and stronger overallin taste - whereas the version here is more like a Milk Tart.
You can eat the same in Hong Kong's EXPRESSO under Excelsior anyway. The Macau headquarter's version is similar but slightly better than Expresso, but if you can, try to land yourself a hot, fresher version. Expresso's ones always seem a bit dry, probably due to lack of business turnover and it ultimately dries up in the warmer display before being sold. As a side note, Expresso's version are not reheated either, they're also baked fresh, its just that one hardly can get a fresh batch at Expresso to compare with Macau's version fairly. Personally however, I love the service here much more and there really isn't a big difference between Margaret's Tart and Lord Stow's Tart, but somehow I prefer the Margaret's version a little more due to its much smoother custard and egginess taste. The others who ate with me at both shops, for once, agreed on this. Yet, it seems other reviewers prefer Stow over Margaret - so do take this review with a grain of salt and treat it as only my personal opinion at best!
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