Coloane Egg Tart Tradition

The Macanese egg tart was worked out in Coloane village in 1989 by an English pharmacist who had settled in Macao and set out to reproduce the pastéis de nata he had eaten in Portugal, adjusting the recipe with cream and a caramelised top. The bakery he opened on the village square is still there and still queued at, and the tart has since spread across East Asia under his name and in countless imitations.

What you actually see

• The original bakery - the shop on the village square where the recipe was worked out.
• The caramelised top - the scorched custard surface that distinguishes the version.
• The queue - the line that forms on the square through the afternoon.
• The village setting - the square and lanes the shop sits in.

When to go

Year round; tarts come out of the oven in batches through the day. Afternoons see the longest queues. Weekends are busiest.

Honest expectations

Queues at the original shop are long, especially at weekends. Tarts are best straight from the oven and less good later. Similar versions are sold across the city at lower prices.

Nearby

The Chapel of St Francis Xavier is on the square, and Tam Kung Temple is along the waterfront.