(This venue is closed.) Maybe it's an American Chinese thing.
A year earlier I'd found the egg tart at Mon Kiang, in San Francisco, more golden and gooey than the pastry of the same name in Macau. That was simply a matter of Mon Kiang's style, I surmised, before encountering the egg tart above (90 cents). It too was golden and gooey (and good), just not what I remembered from the former Portuguese colony.
The business, I also noticed, bakes a "Portugee" that's the same size and shape but toastier on top and, it seems, not as soft in the gut. In early afternoon, however, Lunar New Year celebrants were crowding the display case, and I retreated out the door. On a quieter day, maybe I'll find a match for the egg tart from Macau, if not for the view.
On a previous evening, I ordered the red date honey drink (small, $1, also in ginger, citron, and lemon). It proved to be simply two spoonfuls of fruit concentrate, a drizzle of honey, and a cup of hot water, like a thinned-down version of a cough syrup I used to know, back in grade school.
Egg Custard King Cafe (briefly a.k.a. Nathalie Bakery)
271 Grand St. (at Forsyth St.), Manhattan
212-226-8882
