Popular Madeleine’s Original Portuguese Egg Tarts Returns As Cha Chaan Teng Run By Gen Z Siblings
The beloved bakery, which closed after 25 years, is revived by a 18-year-old sister and her 22-year-old brother. Besides its iconic flaky egg tarts, the new café will also offer mod Macau-inspired dishes.
Madeleine’s Original Portuguese Egg Tarts is making a comeback, but not quite in the way longtime fans might remember.
Nearly two years after the Tanjong Katong bakery shuttered in August 2024, the homegrown brand is returning as a modern Macau cha chaan teng-inspired concept at Aperia Mall, serving its iconic flaky egg tarts alongside contemporary Macanese comfort dishes. Located on the ground floor near Cold Storage supermarket, the eatery is slated to open on June 21.
Madeleine’s young owners
Founded in 1998, the no-frills bakery closed after 25 years when its landlord sold the shophouse unit it occupied, prompting its husband-and-wife owners to retire.
Now, the brand is being revived by fans, SHATEC culinary graduate Benjamin Zachary Ong, 22, who prefers to be known as Zac, and his sister Vernice Olivia Ong, 18, a first-year psychology undergraduate at MDIS with a passion for baking.
The pair grew up eating Madeleine’s Portuguese egg tarts and later approached the original owners about bringing the brand back.
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Family runs Beutea chain in S’pore
Discussions about reviving Madeleine’s began before the bakery’s closure, after a fellow investor, who knew how much the siblings loved the brand, connected them with the former owners.
The investor and Zac’s parents are franchisees of Malaysian tea chain Beutea in Singapore. After graduating from SHATEC, Zac helped manage operations at the family’s Beutea business.
He will now run Madeleine’s full-time as chef, overseeing operations and the hot food side of the café, while Vernice juggles school with running the baking department.
“Our parents were initially sceptical and concerned [when they said they wanted to revive Madeleine’s] because they understood how challenging and demanding the F&B industry can be, especially for two young people,” they told 8days.sg.
“But after seeing how serious and passionate we were, they eventually decided to support and guide us through the journey.”
Original owners had no plans to revive Madeleine’s
The siblings first approached Madeleine’s retired owners about reviving the brand about a month before the bakery’s closure in 2024.
While the couple, who are in their 50s, had no plans to continue the business after retirement, they were initially “sceptical” about handing the brand over.
“The owners were naturally very protective of the Madeleine’s name and wanted to ensure that whoever took over genuinely cared about the quality, consistency and legacy of the brand, and not just treat it purely as a business opportunity,” the siblings shared.
At the same time, the couple were also “grateful that someone appreciated and was willing to take over the business”.
“I think what convinced them was our sincerity and genuine love for the brand,” said Zac. He declined to reveal the amount paid to the former owners as part of the arrangement.
Parents and partner invested six-figure sum into biz
“We grew up eating Madeleine’s egg tarts and understood why people loved them so much. We were also willing to learn directly from them and preserve the original recipe and methods instead of changing everything.”
The siblings, their parents and investor, who are co-owners in the business, invested a mid six-figure sum into the eatery.
Original owners serve as consultants in the new Madeleine’s
The siblings described the new concept as a “collaboration” with the original owners, who continue to serve as mentors and consultants to the pastry team for “as long as Madeleine’s stands”.
“The founders still want to be involved in the new chapter of Madeleine’s as it is a legacy they deeply cherish,” they said, adding that the couple do not have a stake in the business.
Vernice makes egg tarts from scratch daily
Despite being longtime fans of Madeleine’s, the siblings admitted that mastering the bakery’s iconic Portuguese egg tarts proved far more difficult than expected.
“It was a humbling experience,” they shared. “The recipe may look simple from the outside, but every detail matters, from the dough and layers to the custard, baking time and even how the tart looks when it comes out of the oven.”
Everything is still made in-house, just as the original owners did previously, with Vernice making all the egg tarts from scratch daily — at least for now.
It took her about a year to master the recipe and she is still “perfecting the tart moulding skill” as every tart is handmade.
When asked what the retired owners thought of Vernice’s version of the tart, the siblings said: "[They said the] taste is as good, but ugly looking,” adding that the young baker is working on improving the aesthetics.
Why turn Madeleine’s into a modern cha chaan teng?
Instead of simply reopening Madeleine’s as a takeaway bakery, Zac and Vernice decided to reinvent the brand as a modern Macau cha chaan teng with an expanded dine-in menu.
“We felt that if Madeleine’s was coming back, it needed to have both the heritage we grew up with and a future,” they explained. “We wanted to create a space where people could sit down, enjoy the egg tarts and also experience Macau-inspired comfort food.”
The original owners were initially surprised by the idea of turning the iconic bakery into a full-fledged café concept but eventually warmed to it.
“They were happy to see that the brand could evolve into something bigger and more modern, while still keeping its core identity and heritage intact,” they said.
Modern Macau comfort food with a twist
The new 24-seat café features a clean, minimalist space dressed in nostalgic cream and burgundy tones, complete with a refreshed logo and dedicated takeaway counter for egg tarts.
Besides the OG egg tarts, the menu includes contemporary spins on popular Macau dishes, such as bolo buns with flavoured butter and vanilla cream (right in pic above), beef stew capellini, and pork chop bun with mustard seed sauerkraut.
The café will also serve more unexpected offerings like truffle fries, fish and chips (pictured below), and salmon sashimi. Prices range from $2.50 for an egg tart — the same as the Tanjong Katong shop — to $15 for a whole pan-roasted quail.
There will be gula melaka Portuguese egg tarts too
Many of the new dishes were created by Zac and the café’s chef, drawing inspiration from his culinary training, food programmes and dining experiences.
“Zac wanted to create something that still feels rooted in traditional Macau flavours, but with a more modern and approachable twist for today’s diners,” they shared.
The café will also introduce gula melaka Portuguese egg tarts, the classic pastry infused with rich caramelised gula melaka for a local twist.
Fans hoping for the return of Madeleine’s Macau crispy puffs with winter melon or red bean filling, however, will have to wait a little longer. The team said they are open to bringing back the pastries in future if there is strong demand.
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Madeleine’s Original Portuguese Egg Tarts will open on June 21 at #01-54, Aperia Mall, 12 Kallang Ave, S339511. More info via Instagram.
Photos: Madeleine’s Original Portuguese Egg Tarts, CNA
No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.
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