Rubin Verebes is the managing editor of Foodie and is very opinionated. Transforming his hobby of eating and drinking into a career, he shares his account of Hong Kong’s F&B scene and the worldwide state of dining in Rubin’s Take, a monthly opinion column.
In an interview I published with Bakehouse founder Gregoire Michaud in mid-March 2025, I was dumbfounded to hear of how prevalent the bakery chain’s reach is within Hong Kong, specifically in the production of its signature sourdough egg tart.
The brand sells approximately 30,000 egg tarts daily across seven stores, with close to 11 million custardy pastries produced and devoured annually.
Now, as Hong Kong is steadfast to reclaim its former tourist glory, egg tarts, like those of Bakehouse, Tai Cheong, Queen Sophie, Hashtag B, Sun Wah, and other big names, have become a symbol of Hong Kong food. What better way to advertise our city’s attraction than with something gooey, sweet, and snacky.
Fear not Lisbon nor Macau, Hong Kong has become the world’s egg tart capital with an abundance of afforable French, Cantonese, Portuguese, and Macanese styles.
An import to the city in the mid-20th century by way of Guangzhou via the UK, the sheer popularity of the egg tart has now rendered it a quintessential taste of Hong Kong, even more so after the pandemic.
Today, Hong Kong has confidently morphed into an egg tart economy too, typified by shifting tourist and local consumer tastes towards quick, cheap, snackable, and brand-heavy meals.
Tourists are now inspired by viral posts on Instagram and Xiaohongshu, bookmarking egg tart shops for quick streetside food fixes. It is common to notice sweet, eggy smells wafting on the streets from passing visitors or boxes of egg tarts shuffled into restaurants for a dessert treat.
The edge of Hong Kong’s restaurant space in a pre-protest and COVID era, when reservations at sit-down fine-casual and fine-dining restaurants were snatched up by travelling tourists and businessmen, has now dwindled.
With a greater concentration of cheap street eats becoming the focus for many Hong Kongers and tourists alike, restaurant dining is becoming squeezed out of the conversation when such places are dying in a desperate search for survivability.
The changing budgets of visitors have affected a side of Hong Kong’s hospitality industry reliant on external money flowing through our border. Many tourists now enjoy the cheap side of the city when travelling here: egg tarts, bubble tea, egg waffles, cheung fun, roast meat with rice. And that’s not to place the blame on an ever-strong Hong Kong dollar.
Locally, the ongoing “Shenzhen” problem of Hong Kong residents chasing cheaper dining options north of the border has hurt the profit and status of restaurant dining.
The sentiment amongst visitors online shows that Hong Kong’s egg tarts hold a greater promotional role than many others have noticed. This local pastry staple is an essential part of many a weekend itinerary in Hong Kong.
I laud the mighty growth of our city’s egg tart capital, yet I also hope the economy that has propped up such a trend will correct itself to encourage the support and consumption of both flavoursome pastries and restaurant dining.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author’s and do not represent or reflect the views of Foodie.
