Macau egg tart taste test — Lord Stow's vs the rest
The egg tart (pastel de nata in Portuguese, 蛋撻 in Cantonese) is the food most associated with Macau in the minds of Hong Kong and mainland Chinese visitors, and for good reason: Macau’s version — a direct Portuguese descendent rather than the Cantonese adaptation common in Hong Kong — has a specific character that makes it worth seeking out rather than just buying from the nearest bakery.
But the range is wide. Lord Stow’s in Coloane Village has genuine culinary history behind it. Margaret’s near Senado Square is the peninsular alternative. Every Koi Kei and Choi Heong Yuen franchise in Taipa Village and the ferry terminals sells its version. Casino hotel bakeries have their own interpretations.
This is the honest result of tasting systematically across several visits.
| Best overall | Lord Stow’s, Coloane Village — around MOP 11 / USD 1.37 |
| Best on the peninsula | Margaret’s Café e Nata, near Senado Square |
| Most convenient | Koi Kei (branches everywhere) |
| Eat it | Within 5 minutes of purchase, while still warm |
| Budget for a taste test | around MOP 40–50 / USD 5–6 for three bakeries |
What makes a Macau egg tart different
The Macau egg tart is descended from the Portuguese pastel de nata — a custard tart with origins in the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon, commercialised in the early 19th century. The distinguishing features: laminated (puff) pastry rather than shortcrust, a slightly caramelised, browned top from a very high oven temperature, and a custard that is set but slightly wobbly in the centre.
The Hong Kong egg tart (港式蛋撻) is usually shortcrust pastry with a smoother, more uniform custard — a different thing, adapted to Cantonese preferences.
The Macau version, when done well, has: flaky pastry that shatters when you bite it, a custard with more egg flavour and less sugar than the HK version, and a slightly smoky top from the high-heat baking. At room temperature, the pastry softens. Eat them hot.
Lord Stow’s Bakery, Coloane Village
Price: MOP 11 (USD 1.37) per tart. MOP 56 (USD 7) for a box of 6.
Andrew Stow, a British expat pharmacist, opened this bakery in Coloane Village in 1989. He had experimented with Portuguese custard tart recipes and developed the specific Macau-style tart that became the reference point for the entire category. Stow died in 2006, but the bakery continues under family management using the original recipe.
The Coloane Village location is the original. There are now Lord Stow’s branches in the Venetian and elsewhere, but the original is a different experience — the bakery is small, the seating is on a terrace outside the pastelaria, and the village setting is the antithesis of the casino environment.
The tart: The pastry is the best of all the options tested — genuinely laminated and airy, with distinct layers. The custard has real eggy depth and a moderately caramelised top. The balance of sweetness is lower than competitors, which makes the egg flavour dominant. Best eaten within 5 minutes of purchase.
Verdict: The original and still the best. The combination of the recipe, the freshness (they bake throughout the day), and the experience of eating it in a small Portuguese village that happens to be in China is unreplicable at any competitor.
Margaret’s Café e Nata
Price: MOP 10 (USD 1.25) per tart.
Margaret Stow, Andrew’s former wife, runs a separate operation after their split. Margaret’s Café e Nata has its main location near Senado Square — specifically around Rua do Almirante Costa Cabral — and is the most convenient option if you’re spending your time on the peninsula and can’t make it to Coloane.
The tart: Very close to Lord Stow’s in quality. The pastry is slightly less laminated — it holds together better at room temperature, which some people prefer — and the custard is slightly sweeter and smoother. The caramelisation is lighter than Lord Stow’s. Still excellent.
Verdict: Peninsula-dwellers’ best option. If you genuinely cannot get to Coloane, Margaret’s is not a compromise — it’s a legitimate product that stands alone. The debate between Lord Stow’s purists and Margaret’s supporters is ongoing and probably unresolvable.
Koi Kei Bakery
Price: MOP 8–10 (USD 1–1.25) per tart, lower in multi-packs.
Koi Kei is Macau’s largest local bakery chain, with branches near the ferry terminal, at most casino malls, and throughout Taipa Village. They also sell almond cookies, pork jerky, and other Macau souvenirs in tourist-sized quantities.
The tart: Noticeably different from Lord Stow’s and Margaret’s. The pastry is between puff and shortcrust — flaky but less layered, and it becomes soggy faster. The custard is smoother and more uniformly sweet. Less eggy depth. The caramelisation is inconsistent between batches.
Verdict: Convenient and inoffensive, which is the appropriate assessment. If you need an egg tart immediately at the ferry terminal, Koi Kei will satisfy that need. It’s not in the same tier as the two original recipes.
Casino hotel bakeries
The casino hotels — the Venetian, Galaxy, City of Dreams, and others — all have bakeries or food courts selling egg tarts. The quality is variable but generally in the Koi Kei tier or below: standardised, slightly sweet, pastry that doesn’t approach Lord Stow’s lamination.
The Lord Stow’s counter inside the Venetian Macao uses the same recipe but — based on repeated visits — the tarts are not always as freshly baked as the Coloane original. The turnover is high enough to make this less of an issue than you might fear, but if you’re specifically going for the Lord Stow’s experience, go to Coloane Village.
The Coloane Village pilgrimage
The egg tarts guide on this site covers the history in more depth. But the practical advice is simple: make the trip to Coloane. It’s 20 minutes by taxi from the central peninsula (MOP 60–80 / USD 7.50–10). The village has a few other things worth seeing — Lord Stow’s owns a café beside the bakery where you can sit with coffee, the village square has a small church, and the walk to Hac Sa beach (black sand, 10 minutes further) is pleasant.
An egg tart from Lord Stow’s, eaten at a table outside with a coffee, in a quiet Portuguese-Chinese village in southern Macau, is one of the better food experiences you can have in this part of the world for MOP 25 (USD 3.10) total.
If you’d rather have the egg tart pilgrimage folded into a wider food outing, a guided evening food tour covers several of the peninsula’s classic stalls and bakeries in one sitting, which suits visitors who don’t want to plan the route themselves.
How to run your own taste test
If you want to do this properly rather than take our word for it, the logistics are simple. Buy no more than two tarts per stop — they’re best eaten within minutes, so a box of six from one bakery defeats the purpose. Start at whichever bakery is furthest from your hotel and work your way back, so the last tart you eat is also the freshest. Bring a bottle of water; the sweetness compounds after three or four tarts in quick succession. A three-bakery comparison (Lord Stow’s, Margaret’s, Koi Kei) is achievable in a single day if you build it around the self-guided walking tour route, since Margaret’s and Koi Kei both sit near the peninsula heritage sites.
Bringing egg tarts home
Lord Stow’s and Koi Kei both sell boxed sets aimed at travellers, but egg tarts are not a good souvenir in the traditional sense — the pastry loses its lamination within a few hours and the custard is best eaten warm. If you’re catching a same-day ferry back to Hong Kong, a box bought right before departure will still be reasonable on arrival, but don’t expect it to survive a flight home. For a food souvenir that actually travels, Koi Kei’s almond cookies and pork jerky — sold at the same counters — hold up far better than the tarts do.
Prices and availability summary
| Location | Price per tart | Style | Accessibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lord Stow’s, Coloane Village | MOP 11 (USD 1.37) | Classic laminated | Taxi required from centre |
| Margaret’s Café e Nata | MOP 10 (USD 1.25) | Slightly smoother | Walking distance, Senado area |
| Koi Kei Bakery (chain) | MOP 8–10 (USD 1–1.25) | Standardised | Everywhere |
| Casino hotel bakeries | MOP 12–18 (USD 1.50–2.25) | Variable | In the resorts |
The Macau street food guide puts egg tarts in context alongside the other peninsula classics like pork chop buns, shrimp roe noodles, and Vietnamese-style coffee.
The verdict
For a first-time visitor with time: go to Lord Stow’s in Coloane. Plan the trip, make the journey, eat the tart fresh.
For visitors with limited time or on the peninsula: Margaret’s is genuinely excellent and not a significant step down.
For everyone else: the egg tart is one of the best food souvenirs from Macau, and most of the ones you encounter will be at least decent. The threshold for disappointment is low because the tart itself is a forgiving product — even a mediocre version of a well-made recipe is still a good custard tart.
Frequently asked questions about Macau
Which is better, Lord Stow’s or Margaret’s? Lord Stow’s in Coloane Village has a slight edge on pastry lamination and is the original recipe, but Margaret’s near Senado Square is close enough in quality that the choice mostly comes down to convenience — Margaret’s saves you the taxi trip to Coloane.
Are Macau egg tarts the same as Hong Kong egg tarts? No. Macau tarts use laminated puff pastry with a caramelised top, descended from the Portuguese pastel de nata. Hong Kong egg tarts typically use shortcrust pastry with a smoother, more uniform custard — a different style adapted to Cantonese preferences.
How many egg tarts should I try in one day? Two or three bakeries is a reasonable comparison without overdoing the sweetness — see the taste-test method above. Buying six from one place and eating them cold defeats the point.
