Reviewed: Baked cheese tarts in KL

Packaging
Hokkaido goes for a cheery buttercup yellow and turquoise box with awkward rope handles.

Appearance
Pale (almost white) yellow, wobbly filling with minimal browning.

Crust
Thick, biscuit-like crust. Hokkaido features a smooth (somewhat pedestrian) crust instead of scalloped edges.

Filling
Extremely creamy. However, the taste of the crust overpowered the filling.

Verdict
If you like biscuits, get this.

Packaging
Tokyo Secret’s cheese tarts come in a sophisticated yellow and black paper box. Bonus: nice paper bag.

Appearance
The filling has a similar appearance to mashed potatoes. Slightly torched ones, that is.

Crust
Scalloped and deeply browned, this thin crust scored points with its crumbly and buttery texture. It was also warm from the oven.

Filling
The creamy cheese filling had a savoury note. A blind taster awarded points for having ‘nice depth’.

Verdict
We’re in it for the cheese, and Tokyo Secret emerges as the top cheese for its strong cheese flavours and light crust.

Packaging
Lavender features soft purple and yellow hues on the paper box which holds six tarts comfortably.

Appearance
Lavender sports a wider diameter and a very smooth, flat and evenly browned filling.

Crust
Shortbread biscuity crust that was a tad thicker than Tokyo Secret. For those who prefer a slightly higher crust-to-filling ratio.

Filling
Not too sweet, and we liked its light texture. It was almost like an egg tart though.

Verdict
For fans of egg tarts, this would make a good introduction to half-baked cheese tarts.

Packaging
This tiny bakery sells its cheese tarts in flat, rectangular boxes.

Appearance
Happy Happy’s cheese tarts have a glossy, mottled top that’s similar to a flattened Portuguese egg tart.

Crust
This was a wonderfully crumbly crust. Slightly too thick for the creamy filling though.

Filling
Being runnier than the others, this tart had impressive ooze-factor. Taste-wise, its mild flavours didn’t quite live up to the competition.

Verdict
Happy Happy makes excellent egg tarts, and it shows in its pastry. However, the cheese filling could do with some extra cheesiness.