Honolulu Coffee Shop     檀島咖啡餅店  

i have almost forgotten how an egg custard tart actually tastes like for i, a health nut, have not put one into my mouth for over a year. i have always considered local 'snacks' like tartlets, french toasts and pineapple buns as 'unhealthy' food due to the fat content they carry. As a result, i have painfully quantitated myself from these lovely local food.

Yet today my family and i did not have a proper lunch and thus felt a little hungry after walking around in wanchai, we walked into honolulu for a quick fix before going home at two something.

my dad ordered an egg custard tart to share, while i had an iced horlick with bran. i put a small bit of tart into my mouth with hesitation and thought the egg custard was undoubtedly smooth and sweet-no wonder its loved by so many people across the globe! the creator of this snack was clever and creative enough to give the quiche a local twist. the tarts served at honolulu was exceptionally good for its crust was extremely crispy-nevermind the amount of butter used to give its many layers. it was a lil burnt due to overcookness, yet i am a fan of black toasts and therefore did not mind-matter of fact the burntness gave the tart a lovely aroma!

as for the iced horlick with bran, i asked for a long spoon(those ppl use with iced lemon tea) to scoop the coagulated bran and ice out to eat. it was a little too sweet and i should have asked for 'siu tim', it was still good. horlick went very well with the bran-and i thought perhaps people could consider putting the bran into other 'cha chan tang' drinks like iced milk tea. other more-special drinks like iced milk tea with red beans and chocolate milk tea are also offered-perhaps i will try these when i pay a visit to honolulu next time.

My name is Credit Card. I lodged a complaint against Honolulu Coffee Shop (檀島咖啡餅店) at G/F – M/F Hennessy Road, Wan Chai. My two friends and I patronized this restaurant on 7th January 2010 at about 4:15 PM. It was about 90 percent full on that day. We ordered three tea sets including drinks at HK$32- each.
My two friends ordered hot milk tea, the order was take by a waiter of about 45-year-old, also he brought the tea to us, and my friends started to sip it at once. Both of them pulled poker faces, they looked each other and said “It’s Cold, What’s wrong”. We made a complaint immediately. The surly 45-year-old waiter murmured “Maybe the weather is cold outside, when the milk is poured in the tea, then it gets colder. I cannot exchange them for you, but if you don’t mind, I can put them in micro-wave to reheat”. We lodged a same complaint to other staff with same response.
I thought that did he know what quality services means? Or he has never see the ad from hot celebrity Mr. Andy Lau? My two friends born in the 60s and 80s have been drinking hot milk tea since infancy. HK$32- for each tea set cannot describe as CHEAP today, reasonable services should be provided instead of ‘Hooliganism’ type services.
Honolulu Coffee Shop is well-known typical tea restaurant in Hong Kong, but is now out-dated by it’s management, rude and ancient waiters. It has infamous the images of late mid-fifties labor class and damaged the reputation of the HONG KONG TRADITIONAL TEA RESTAURANTS. Also, this restaurant has granted much negative comment in relating their waiters’ attitudes and food quality in the Open Rice discussion forum.

As an egg tart lover, I wouldn't mind tucking in tonnes of egg tarts just to satisfy my hunger pangs. As I'd written in my earlier review about Tai Cheong Bakery which I visited in the morning, I continued with my food hunt all the way from Central to Wanchai. Boarded a tram to reach Honolulu Coffee Shop but alighted at the wrong spot. I was miles away from Honolulu. Thought of giving up but the craving was far too strong and that motivated me to drag my exhausted feet to look for my ultimate destination - Honolulu Coffee Shop! If I had to leave Hong Kong without trying the infamous egg tart from Honolulu, I'd curse myself till death. After searching high and low for the neon signboard of Honolulu, I finally stood right in front of the shop. Mum dashed forward to the counter to inquire about the availability of egg tarts but was mistakenly told that they were all sold out. Being frustrated, I raised my voice and asked the sales lady once again. I was relieved when I saw a new batch of tarts being delivered to the front desk. Wow! Those tarts with swelling up custard looked so tempting. I immediately grabbed one and took a great bite into it under the risk of scalding my lips.
Oh my God! It's so delicious! I just couldn't find words to describe the wonderful tarts that simply melted in my mouth and gave a soothing sensation to my palate... They are
definitely the tarts to die for. I'll definitely come back for these tarts in my next visit to HK.

A special note to Honolulu: Your tarts are simply the best but is you would consider reducing the amount of sugar added into the custard, it would be the most perfectly done tarts in the world! Thanks for the great 'tarty' experience!

酥皮蛋撻: Ordered one of these 'eating in' from a fresh batch.
Have had much better 酥皮蛋撻 in other dim sim restaurants.
The external pastry skin -
Clumped together rather than genuinely flaky and 鬆化. It was quite oily during each bite, mainly of lard rather than butter in taste.
The egg custard -
Little or no taste of the eggs at all and in fact one could taste the custard powder. Looks nice and shiny but deceiving.

Also tried some of the other food such as French Toast and sandwiches on other occasions. Average food and average drinks. What's going on? Why all the hype?

Once was one of my favourites with its cripsy layers of pastry and not-too-sweet eggy filling, yet was greatly disappointed by its recent ones.

The distinctive texture was gone and made me comparable to the usual ones one may easily pick in bakery, and being sold at $5 @.....too much for present standard

I saw this cafe on OpenRice and read some good reviews about it, so I decided to give it a go while I was in Wan Chai
I know the reviews say the egg tarts are good, but on the day I didn't feel like one, so I ordered a french toast and 红豆冰 instead

I must be the only person to order it because the guy had to ask the cashier how much the food costs...anyway

FOOD: When the french toast arrived, it looked quite appetising, but unfortunately it only LOOKED appetising, once I bit into it, the toast was only lukewarm, and very oily; there was almost no peanut butter inside.

The 红豆冰 was even worse; maybe they ran out of vanilla icecream? They gave me strawberry ice cream and the flavours doesn't match at all...also I think the coconut milk/evaporated milk was so diluted I can't even tell what it was! The red bean was also tasteless and very hard...

SERVICE: Perhaps I look like a thief or something, but there's always a waiter staring at me, and walking around my table (I was sitting on the corner near the door). As soon as I put down the french toast syrup they whisked it away, what if I wanted more?!

The $46 dollars was definitely NOT well spent.

I recalled my last time going to a Honolulu was 4-5 years ago, where did not leave a good impression at all, so I didn't go again.

This time, I just fell in love with their egg tarts. The egg wasn't too hard or too soft. The crust is so fluffy which is my favorite!!! 2 thumbs up!! I like this type of egg tart!!

I also had a cup of milk tea, which is about the same thing I drank at other "Tea Restaurant"

Went there for afternoon tea. Drinks bad, food bad, service bad, and too pricy for what it worths. Totally disappointed.

My bf order a "japanese style" porkchop set, ice milktea and I order a toast and ice redbean.............waiting for around 15 mins...........(drink also !!!) and my bf set come with a common "chinese style" porkchop !!!!! and we ask the waiter why .........he said it's BUSY-TIME.....so do not have the japanese one !!!!! Ho~~~Ho! if they can't offer .... Please don't list it in the Menu !!!!

The set started from 11am !! and the time we were offered was 2pm !! About the ice RedBean !! Taste strange !!! and the milk ....???? not milk !!! just seems like dirty water ...just a little bit milk with water ! No milk taste ! No redbean taste ! and not sweet ! >>____<< Won't come to here (Wan Chai) anymore ar!!! But I like the one in CENTRAL !!!!!

I only tried the drink and the breads and cakes ... never try their main dishes. All those nice HK style pasteries are the best!!!

The egg tarts do not taste as good as before but the standard is still above average. Tea and spaghetti are quite good.
The bad thing is that it is not a big restaurant and is often crowded. The floor is a bit slippy.

It ie quite well kown in Hong kOng but I don't think that the food is delicious, the price is quite expensive comparing to others and the quality does not deserve such price!