Cookies Quartet

Cookies Quartet is a bake shop located on the first floor of New Town Plaza. If you are taking the escalator down from the second floor, take a right and you should see the little store as you walk past Starbucks and the Spaghetti House.
One thing I really appreciate about Cookies Quarter is that they have jars of all the cookies they make out in the open for people to sample. I don’t just mean their latest bakes or whatever is on promotion — you can literally sample every kind of cookie they make! It’s sort of like a buffet table and there is no overbearing sales lady that hard sells you the cookies and makes you feel bad for trying them and then just walking away without buying. They’re able to attract a lot of curious (and hungry) customers this way.
Cookies Quarter specializes in palmiers — aka butterfly cookies. My mother really likes the original palmier cookies and she’s bought packs home before, and they’re very crunchy but still kind of loose. The reason she adores them is that she doesn’t really like things that are sweet, and their palmier cookies only have a very subtle sweetness to them. Personally, I don’t love them because they aren’t sweet enough for me! I prefer the other ones like the shredded coconut and black sesame palmier, and the black walnut palmier.
They also do other cookies if you’re not a fan of palmiers — the lace cookies are not bad, and I quite like the pistachio cookies too. Their box sets are packaged in a modest tin and make great gifts for friends. They even have boxed sets for their signature original palmiers, which my mother has bought (for herself!) before.
The next time you’re at New Town Plaza and have some time to kill, head down to Cookies Quartet. They’re no harm in just sampling a few of them, and who knows — you may just end up buying a pack or two home yourself!

There are two types of people in the world: some like cookies hard and crumbly while some like them soft. I am a strict believer of the latter; cookies have to be soft and chewy. I have even taken a step too far to «air-​moist» my oreo before eating them to make sure that they are soft. Only until recently when I get to know about this brand that specializes in cookies have I restored hope in the crumbly type.
I was not aware of this shop at first as the décor is somehow overly simplistic: there is just a counter and several benches where jars are placed. Without really looking up closely, one could not tell what exactly is inside the jar; nonetheless, once you step in the store, you will appreciate such an arrangement. The color tone of the interior is warm, more to yellow and beige; and the jars… ARE FILLED WITH COOKIES FOR PEOPLE TO TRY~~~ It’s very much like kids going into candy stores, the shop assistant will let you try as many flavors as you want. The reason for that, I guess, is that there are simply TOO MANY flavors available for customers to choose from; not just any ordinary flavors, the flavor combinations are rather unique and out of your normal expectation.
Let me just list a few of my favorites and I shall have you explore the shop on your own:
Sea salt and dark chocolate —
deep resonance of the cocoa flecked with bits of chocolate chips. When you bite into the cookie, you can feel the crunch of the coarse sea salt, it does not make the biscuit salty but simply adds to the depth of the flavor.
Early Grey and chocolate —
from the surface you can tell tealeaves are added into the batter. The flavor of the tea is pretty prominent but not overpowering; the chocolate is mere a sidekick here but gives an overall roundness to the experience. A delightful surprise would be the lemon zest added to the cookie, the fragrance of the citrus freshens up the buttery biscuit. There is also a slight tang to it which enables you to finish half a packet in one go unaware.
Cinnamon twist–
well…truth be told it is simply because I’m a cinnamon junky. Powdered cinnamon added to the cookie and dusted with cinnamon sugar after it is baked. Double the cinnamon, double the goodness. Since it is much thinner than other cookies, it is more crunchy than crumbly. Stick after stick and you will finish the entire bagful in no time.
Go perfectly well with both coffee and tea, this is a place for you to look for atypical cookies; very decent for souvenirs too~

I have long to find a place that serves nice palmier and I even tried to bake some but it is just way too difficult to get the ingredient right, the making of mine tends to be either to hard or too buttery. So I guess I should just go back and find a place that sells nice palmier. I was in luck that day to have come across Cookies Quartet in Sha tin. Later that day and my friend told me it just opened not long ago there, I guess I indeed was very lucky.
I am sure all of you have heard about Jenny’s Bakery where it takes you ages to buy anything there. And now I present to you the alternative. After sampling one I immediately bought a box set mainly because the palmiers are buttery, light and flaky but not too sugary. The design of the purple box is very elegant as well and in there you may find a little brochure that tells you the «secret» to keep the palmier crispy and fresh! One thing I know is that with the tin box, it definitely can last longer.
As for the cookies there, there is one flavor I also like apart from the original one is the cinnamon one. It goes so well with coffee so for coffee lovers out there — listen up! All in all, I am sure this place is a great place to buy gifts for your friends if you do not want to get in line for hours!