I Went Beyond The Unthinkable For Butter Cookies In HK

Forgive me Father for I have sinned. Many don’t mind queuing just to get their favorite food from popular food establishment. Not me. I swear I don’t do this back home. Or perhaps that time at myBurgerLab and also Village Park Nasi Lemak. “I am not that desperate“, that’s my usual line. But, not this time.  I wasn’t desperate, but …. *ashamed

In our last trip to Hong Kong, we saw long queue at Jenny Bakery 珍妮曲奇 at Sheung Wan. I asked around, and was told that Jenny Bakery is famed for their butter cookies. Pardon my ignorance. Jenny Bakery (the name is not that happening, no?) and Butter Cookies? Searching for more information later on, I found that the infamous cookies even fuel a black market. Black market for butter cookies? Come on .. you gotta be kidding me.

Curious cat (me) wants to know why?!

On the 1st day of January, 2016, I did the unthinkable. I was part of the ‘suckers‘ who lined up for the butter cookies. Yeah me. And him (thanks D). The line was soooo much shorter, compared to the one we saw in our previous trip. So, okay, let’s give it a go, I thought. Bf was supposed to wait for me at Starbucks, but luckily he did not. Each customer is limited to only 2 tins (1 big tin + 1 small tin, or 2 small tins), to discourage reselling in the black market. I needed his quota, in order to buy for his family too.

 

 

I even timed myself, just to know how long I had to queue.

• 15 minutes in the line, until we were given a number by an Aunty.
• Another 3-5 minutes or so for our turn inside the bakery and complete purchase.
• Total: 20 minutes of my life wasted spent on butter cookies. Perfect!

 

Co-incidentally, a friend was also in Hong Kong. She posted a photo, saying that she lined up for 30 minutes and it was indeed delicious.

Read in blogs that some people queued for 1-2 hours for the cookies. Xiao! (Crazy)

 

Whilst queuing, I overheard the customers behind us talking about a shop few doors away from Jenny Bakery. This shop resells Jenny Bakery’s cookies. How daring, to rub it in their face so close to home! A video was being shown about them being scolded by Jenny Bakery. Well, if you want to earn a quick buck, you can (but please don’t) resell the cookies at this shop, and they will pay HKD 20 per tin. These are then sold with HKD100+ mark-up. That’s what I heard lah.

 

These cookies are also being sold on Taobao, a Chinese website for online shopping in China by Alibaba Group. The price is doubled / tripled … hello people, just cookies, okay?

I took photos inside the shop, without realizing that cameras are not allowed. But, no one stopped me. So, here you go, photos from inside the bakery. Lots of warning about counterfeit cookies. Really?

 

We have just got back to Bangkok two days ago. The tins of butter cookies are sitting at our condo now, still untouched and yet to distribute to bf’s family. I shall savor it when “in the mood”.. it’s just a cookie, for heaven sake. Don’t think it’ll pull a runaway Gingerbread man.

 

Price:

Payment term: Cash only

Additional HKD 1 for plastic bag.

4 Mix Butter Cookies tin consists of:

• Shortbread Cookie
• Raisin Cookie
• Butter Cookie
• Coffee Flavored Butter Cookie

 

There are only 2 shops in HK:

Sheung Wan
15 Wing Wo Street, Sheung Wan Hong Kong

(+852) 2524.1988
Business Hour: 10AM – 7PM

MTR: Sheung Wan MTR Exit E2
opposite Sincere Department Store
Behind Grand Millenium Plaza

Tsim Sha Tsui
Shop 24 Ground Floor
Mirador Mansion
54-64B Nathan Road
Tsim Sha Tsui
Kowloon

(+852) 2311.8070
Business Hour: 9AM – 6:30PM

MTR: Tsim Sha Tsui Exit D2