Honolulu Café (Westgate)

Had to see what the hype was all about.

Essentially a hefty tart loaded with lightly sweetened taro paste (didn’t taste of milk or cream), Honolulu’s Handmade Taro Crispy Tart ($3.90) was just like the real deal - pure mashed yam. The cottony-soft, smooth bite of the filling was right up my alley and the orh nee to pastry ratio was very satisfying, especially for a taro fan such as myself. The crust lacked a little oomph as the texture was not all that crisp or flakey and could definitely be a tad more buttery. However, I appreciate how thin the base was and it didn’t take away from the natural earthiness of the piped yam.

A decent bake from Honolulu and would have been my go-to if not for the fact that the creamy chicken pie, polo egg tart and charsiew polo pau completely outshone this good ol’ traditional favourite.

Sliced beef sauteed with onions, capsicum, sous vide egg with demi glaze on English muffins with feta cheese and argula salad

This is by far the prettiest open-faced sandwich that I’ve seen thus far. Not to be mistaken for the good ol’ traditional eggs benny, this was simply an artsy open-faced sandwich on toasted panini. The marinated steak shreds were sufficiently umami, with mild sweetness and crunch from the red capsicums. Tasting this with eyes closed, this could well be mistaken for a chinese wok-fry beef shreds. The sous vide egg did a great job and ‘glueing’ up the shredded beef and panini muffins. Overall, a pleasantly satiating dish. Served with a side salad

I can’t rave enough about the polo egg tart! I was apprehensive when my sister told me she’d bought 9 (yes, 9!) polo egg tarts from Honolulu because they were ‘darn good’. Well, I could only say that it’s true and not at all overrated. The polo dome was buttery and in some ways, flaky and yet solid at the same time - there isn’t too much of a mess when you bite into the egg tart. I like how the buttery polo dome was so aromatic and not too dense. Within the golden dome lies the creamy, custardy egg custard. My mother could stop raving about the egg custard, citing how ‘smooth’ it is. Compared to open-faced egg tarts, the extra creaminess of the egg custard is likely due to the polo dome that ‘sheltered’ the egg custard from the heat during the baking process. This is certainly not the cheapest egg tart around town but definitely worth every penny - just think of the amount of labour that goes into perfecting the dome and baking! This makes the perfect breakfast with a cup of hot milk tea

Yet another one of the best sellers, this is also a must-try. Best served heated! I popped this into the air fryer for a quick heat-up and the short wait was rewarded with a crusty, golden polo shell. I can’t quite decide to call this a meal, or a post meal dessert. The crusty polo shell was extremely flaky (well, after some heat treatment from the oven) and drops all over with each bite. So eat with caution! I like how the polo bun was not at all dense and in fact, light and fluffy - you’ll know what I’m talking about if you’ve been disappointed biting into thiccc doughy bread - ‘polo charsiew bread’ from no-fuss, neighbourhood bakeries. I can only say, you pay for what you get! The charsiew here is pretty legit too! Pretty chunky charsiew bits in red hues - some may say that it’s all colouring but oh well - I’m not too fuss about it.

The scallion is nice and comes through even though overall it's quite mild. The homestyle scrambled egg was very oily tho, even tho it's otherwise okay

The polo bun's crispy layer was too thin to be satisfying and drops off very easily when you pick it up, making it difficult to eat