Thursday afternoon cafe stop with BB — Hong Kong-style cha chaan teng (tea restaurant) for the Valrhona 100% cocoa milk + honey pearl ($5.80) + egg tart ($2) + char siew polo bun ($2.80) trio. The full cha-chaan-teng nostalgia order.

We ordered:

Valrhona 100% cocoa milk + honey pearl — $5.80
Egg tart — $2
Char siew polo bun — $2.80

Total: $10.60 for the three.

The Valrhona cocoa milk was the headline. Valrhona is the French premium chocolate brand and using their 100% cocoa as the base means proper deep dark-chocolate flavour without the sugar that comes pre-mixed in most cocoa drinks. Fresh milk poured over the cocoa, with honey-pearls (brown-sugar-glazed tapioca pearls upgraded with a honey-infused syrup) at the bottom. The cocoa intensity comes through against the milk and the sweet pearls offer a chewy counterpoint with each sip.

The egg tart was the cha chaan teng classic. Crispy shortcrust pastry (the Hong Kong style rather than the Macau Portuguese-style flaky version), filled with a wobbly egg custard that’s still warm from the oven. The custard had the proper silky-smooth texture that says fresh-bake rather than display-case-aged. Cooked just right, with the centre still soft but set.

The char siew polo bun (pineapple bun with char siew filling) was the substantial item. The “pineapple” name doesn’t refer to pineapple-flavour — it’s the crackled, sweet, butter-cookie-style topping on the bun that resembles pineapple skin. Inside, a generous filling of sweet-soy char siew (Chinese barbecued pork). The hot sweet bun combined with the savoury filling is one of the better fusion combinations cha chaan teng culture has invented.

The whole order was the proper HK-style afternoon stop. We ate at a small table, drank slow.

Overall: 4.4 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Excellent HK-style cafe trio — would re-visit.

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