Sino Cream Puffs & Egg Tarts — Restaurant in Cole Harbour

Here's to their continued success. Like others have touted, this is a rarity in the HRM. We've tried a lot of ethnic establishments, from Japanese, Vietnamese, Indian, etc. and the unfortunate truth is here in NS we're really lacking good ones.

When we got there on a Saturday around mid-afternoon, we felt the selection could've been better. I'm going to chalk it up to the fact that you probably want to get here early in case they sold out. We were coming from Digby, and we saw online they had a few other things we wanted to try but unfortunately they didn't have.

We bought the main stars - the cream puffs and the egg tarts (we tried the "Portuguese") style.

I really liked the cream puffs - the pastry is lighter, fluffy, and though not exactly the style I like, they were very good. They're not cheap, but for a scarce item, and the increasing costs of everything these days, I can't blame 'em. Where these puffs excel is the fact that they do not skimp on the cream filling. It's a light cream, and if I had my way, here's what would be better to me. The pastry would be very similar, but perhaps a bit more crisp/firm to hold the shape better. I'd love the internal structure to be a bit more dense, just so there's a bit more breadiness to it. The filling could be a bit more flavour intense, but I think the way they do it is good - it doesn't overpower your tastebuds. But the taste of the shell could've stood out a bit more. The ones my mom used to make had a bit more aromatic allure to them, you'd know the moment you opened up the container that smell of pastry puffs waiting to be filled with some custard. Don't change a thing, these are great! Hopefully with some economies of scale, the price can come down a bit. Don't make 'em smaller though!

The egg tarts were really interesting, more bite-sized than what you'd usually expect. The texture of both the pastry shell and custard were different than what I was expecting. Not crumbly or flakey, but almost a hybrid. The custard was similar, not silky like your traditional HK/Chinese dan tat, but also not rich and sweet like more traditional Portuguese tarts. Really interesting! Not bad, just different. I'd buy them again! Bonus, I heated mine up in the air fryer the day after, and I'd say they were better than when I had it fresh right out of the store.

Keep up...

Sino has nice cream puffs and other Asian desserts, and it's great to see a business thriving in Cole Harbour that isn't offering pizza and poutine. I think anyone who hasn't been should give them a try. However, i contest that their egg tarts are not authentic portuguese egg tarts, but a fusion between chinese Dan Taat, with the custard a bit more closely resembling a pastel de nata.

Unfortunately, the 'portuguese egg tarts' much more closely resemble a chinese Dan Taat pastry, which are good in their own right, but different in very important ways from a portuguese Pastel de Nata. 1: the shell is very different between the two, a pastel de nata in portuguese style is much flakier and crispier, and not chewy AT ALL. 2: the custard in a pastel de nata is very creamy and has a sweet/cinnamon taste that goes very well with the flaky pastry. the egg tarts here at sino have a custard more closely resembling the chinese (macanese) variation. 3: heat Traditional pastel de natas require a very hot oven to get cooked quickly enough not to dry out. I am not sure how hot the ovens are at Sino, but from the finished product, i assume they are not as hot as is used in a traditional...

I've been wanting to come try their eclairs for a while and I recently made the trip out. Honestly, no regrets and they make the best looking and tasting Asian style desserts/pastries I've seen in the city. I ordered one of each eclair (pistachio, almond, and chocolate) as well as a Portuguese egg tart. Everything was delicious and there was no skimping or disproportionate amounts of cream or pastry. I would absolutely love to order their cakes and other treats in the future 💖

They seem to bake a limited supply of fresh items on the shelf but I'm sure they have tons of other menu items that they'll make to order. Highly recommend giving this bakery your business, they know how to make...