Malaysia's Insanely Popular Baked Three-Cheese Tarts Land More Sydney Stores
Those coveted Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tarts are rolling into North Ryde and Burwood.
UPDATE JULY 8, 2017: To mark the opening of their Westfield Burwood store on Saturday, July 8, Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart is giving away a free tart to the first 100 customers that visit between 1–2pm. You just need to follow them on social media to redeem it.
We know. We've all done it. Home alone with a block of cheddar, a few scraps of brie and a lone Kraft Single. It all seemed so promising. When your mum/housemate/significant other returned, though, the truth became apparent. You'd made a cheese quagmire in your microwave, hadn't you? Hadn't you.
Fortunately, the guys behind PappaRich, the ST Group, have been helping us realise all of our cheese dreams without the weird kitchen smell three weeks later — bringing Malaysian chain Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart to Australia last year. With multiple stores in Kuala Lumpur and other areas of the country, the cheese tart connoisseurs have been opening Australian stores over the last year — they currently have five across Victoria, one in Sydney's World Square. Now, they're opening two more Sydney stores, launching one within Macquarie Centre on June 16 and a Burwood store inside Westfield opening Saturday, July 8.
Their namesake is the cornerstone of their offering: a savoury-sweet three-cheese situation encased in a shortcrust shell, designed to be eaten either hot or cold. The cheese, while made with local produce, is based on the distinct taste and texture of the dairy products of Hokkaido. The Japanese island is known for their dairy — it produces half of Japan's total milk and a huge 90 percent of their natural cheese — and HBCT have worked tirelessly to replicate it. Malaysia has gone nuts for it, and Australia has jumped firmly on board —people have been queuing out the door to get their hands on one (or 12). You'd better believe further expansion is planned for 2017 — they just announced plans to open inside Queensland's Pacific Fair in July too.
Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart is now open at World Square, George Street, Sydney and Macquarie Centre, Kiosk MQ17, Herring and Waterloo Road, North Ryde. They're set to open at Kiosk K1, Westfield Burwood on July 8. For more info and to look out for an opening date, keep an eye on their Facebook page.
Images: Tim Grey.
