Xin Fa Bakery
“Service might be absolute garbage here, but the Portuguese egg tarts here are THE BEST in NYC.”
“This is a little gem hidden amongst many duplicated coffee shops on 8th avenue.”
“The filling is a custard-gel like consistency that tastes European and a perfectly browned crust that feels Chinese.”
Xin Fa Bakery
Take-out: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Price range.
$ Price range Inexpensive
8 reviews
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I heard about this place on You tube. After arriving in JFK and dropping off my luggage. I made a B-line straight here. I was not disappointed. The best egg tart outside of Macau!! I agree with the others, the construction of this egg tart is nothing sort of a beautiful creation. Buy the time I arrived, they had only a few left, and I took them all. You must call ahead and make your request in advance for these heavenly tarts. I only wish I lived in this area, but I'll be back.
I lived in Macau for 3 years, where the most famous and authentic Portuguese egg tart locates. After visiting Xin Fa, I have to say that their egg tart is one of my greatest finds in NYC! It tastes almost as the same as the one I had back in Macau! Just amazing! I still cannot believe that my crave for Portuguese egg tart is no longer a problem!
On my second visit, I tried their bread. I had cha siu bao and fried taro bao. I did not like either of them. Cha siu bao had a small filling of cha siu, and the cha siu tasted bad. Fried taro bao was okay. Taro tasted good but had an unnatural color(artificial purple). Probably will only buy egg tarts here.
5 stars for the egg tart
2 stars for the bread
The Portuguese egg tarts is the best i've ever had! After reading prior reviews about the long wait and to call in advance, I did what was suggested. I called in at 3pm and placed my order of 12 tarts. Since they were made to order,the lady said it would be ready by 4:20pm and took down my number. Upon arrival, I told the lady I had a reserved order and asked for my number. Total came out to be $15 (1.25 each). They quickly packed up my tarts in a nice box and off I went. They were bigger than the normal tarts. It was creamy eggy buttery and not too sweet. The crust was so flaky too! Definitely get a box of 12! Share them of course. You wont regret!
I came here one evening after my friend insisted that this place serves up one of the best Portuguese egg custards in town. This place is so popular that one would need to reserve their order of egg custards in advanced. It is also not uncommon for them to run out. Best of all, they're always fresh out of the oven so they're always warm and flaky when you order them.
Luckily when my friend and I went one Monday evening, there was only a 20 minute wait. We grabbed bubble tea in the area and came back 20 minutes later to pick up our custards. My friend ordered 6 and that came out to about $7-$8.
The consistency of the egg custard itself was light and went smoothly down your throat. The texture of the egg custard itself complemented the flaky and warm outer layer well.
Overall, I enjoyed my experience here and I will definitely be ordering in bulk the next time I'm here.
Freshly baked Portuguese egg tarts.
That is all you need to know or care about.
How fresh? You actually need to place an order with them and wait for the time it will be made. We ordered and were told to come back in an hour.
After an hour of wondering around 8th Ave. I was back.
The baker walk out of the kitchen with a very large tray of freshly baked Portuguese egg tarts.
They were still oven hot and made the hour wait worth it.
We also tried other bakery goodies and they were average to good.
Our trip from Queens was worth it!
Tip: parking in the area is a nightmare; expect to park several blocks away.
BTW- Xin Fa is aka Lilly Bloom Bakery
We came here on New Years Day 2016 to celebrate the new year with Portuguese Egg Tarts. Okay people are exaggerating about how big the Portuguese tarts are here. They are only slightly bigger than the other bakeries but only slightly! We put in an order for 8 of them and the lady behind the counter told us it'll be an hour. OMG. My boyfriend didn't want to say he didn't want to wait but I just told the lady, we'll be back in an hour. We hardly come to this area and there is no avoiding the wait at Xin Fa Bakery for their Portuguese Egg Tarts unless you call and order ahead like making reservations for Portuguese Tarts! WTF. The tarts are priced at $1.25 each and there is no discount anymore. No more free tart with every 5 you buy. It's just straight up $1.25 now.
While waiting we looked at the other bakery products and my boyfriend and I were pretty impressed because it's not a typical Chinese bakery. There were buns, cookies, etc, that we didn't recognize. Xin Fa definitely have their own creations. We ended up buying the Blueberry Custard buns that were $1.25 each and the beef curry bun also $1.25.
We ended up walking around the neighborhood while waiting for these tarts. I ended up at the bank while my BF went back to fetch these prized tarts. Both of us were thinking the same thing, these tarts better be worth it. He showed back up with the package in hand and both of us could barely hold it in our hands because the tarts were still nice and hot. I saw my BF take his first bite and he closed his eyes and got very quiet. haha. I think that means the tart is heavenly.
For me, the custard being so hot and yummy was the key. I just dug into the custard first with a spoon. That is how I eat egg tarts. Then I tried the crust which is not dry. There have been times with other egg tarts where I even skip the crust because to me it was too dry, too thick, too much or whatever. The highlight for me, before the Xin Fa tarts, has always been the custard. Now with Xin Fa tarts. I want to eat the crust as well as the custard both are delicious.
Now I am angry at Xin Fa!! I am angry for them being so far! I am angry at Xin Fa because they made waiting an hour for tarts to be so worth it! I am angry for the tarts being so good! Well, thank goodness that as I am writing this review, I reheated a tart in my toaster oven and am enjoying a tart now…thank you Xin Fa for making me hooked on your tarts! Grrrr I am angry for being hooked! I am angry for being lactose intolerant and angry that I need more diary pills so I can have Xin Fa Chinese tarts!
I am loving you Xin Fa, don't change your Portuguese tarts. They are the most delicious Chinese tarts I had in my life. Gee. It's all the way in Brooklyn. I live in Queens…I am angry again!
You don't know how real the struggle is. I live a couple blocks from the bakery and I've been coming by often to see if I can catch those stinky egg tarts. Every time I come, they're either reserved or they ran out. About the 7th attempt, I was able to score myself an egg tart. I was not disappointed. It's a little different than other egg tarts because their shell is a little bit thin and flaky like a croissant than a typical egg tart. The filling is very light and not sickening sweet.
Next time I come, I'll definitely call in advance and reserve 6 to satisfy my craving for these.
I was never a fan of Chinese bakeries and their many bao's in display cases growing up. However, there are always a few exceptions to things that you say and pineapple buns and egg tarts have made their way to my favorite things to get. Xin Fa is the egg tart king.
What makes Xin Fa's egg tarts supreme?
1. Crust – flaky, thick, buttery, and the perfect amount of it to contain the warm creamy custard inside of it.
2. Custard – SO AMAZING, it's creamy and perfectly caramelized on top. Smells ridiculously good and honestly the combination of the crust and custard composes of the best egg tart I've eaten in my life (and I've had my fill from chinatown bakeries as well).
3. Warmth & high turnover rate – These custards are no secret to the people who live in the neighborhood. Because people buy them frequently, it is baked frequently and therefore fresh. If the crust and custard don't entice you, maybe the heat waves coming out of the egg tarts will beckon you to purchase one.
Thankfully this place isn't an American bakery because I'm sure people will swarm in to buy their egg tarts and long lines will form. Whenever I'm in eighth ave, rather than buying tong sui, I make it my goal to score one… or five of these bad boys and make that my dessert cause it's cheaper.