Macau Series (2) - Portuguese Egg Tarts

Anyone who has been to Macau knows the Portuguese egg tarts from Lord Stow's Bakery are heavenly.  Despite the fact that his main bakery is in Coloane, the farthest island from Macau peninsula, which takes approximately 60 minutes by bus on a traffic-free day, it's the only bakery on earth that would make my lazy a$$ travel that far...  That's because the egg tarts do not taste the same unless you eat it while it is hot... (even the instruction on the box says you have to eat it within 6 hours after purchase and for best taste, you have to reheat them in an oven...)

The crust is flaky, with just the right amount of saltiness to balance the sweetness of the filling, and it's buttery.  The filling is sweet but not too sweet.  And whatever spices (I am guessing it's a blend of cinnamon and nutmeg) was used are not over-powering.  With a cup of English tea or coffee, it's one of the best afternoon tea one can dream of...

In Macau, anything beyond a 15-minute walking distance is considered far by locals... (ya... don't even...)  So the popularity of this little bakery really says something...  I recently went there with a friend and was estimating how much this little egg tart business is worth... (and counting how many eggs the pastry chefs go through a day... *grin*)

Based on our very conservative estimate...

• Each egg tart costs MOP$8 (side note: regular egg tart is ~MOP$3.2 - almost 3x more expensive here)
• On average, based on observation, 10 persons will buy egg tarts from this place every hour and each will buy approximately 6 egg tarts.
• Business hours at the main bakery is 7am to 10pm, 365 days a year.

Gross revenue for egg tarts at the main bakery is already MOP$2,628,000!!! (USD$328,500) OMG!!!  (there are other things sold at the bakery - the ham and cheese baguette and banana bread are also my favorites) and FYI - Lord Stow has 1 bakery and 4 cafes - all in the "remote" islands... I sincerely think that I picked the wrong profession and college is really over-rated...  (case in point - Lord Stow studied Pharmacy in college in UK... XD)