#008, dcolonp, 210110

company: M
conversation: Guys, Rugby (hehe) and the restaurant.

Walking around Tsuen Wan trying to find this restaurant made me realise that this district has many different cuisines on offer. Food blog next? I think so!

When we entered the restaurant there were only two other tables occupied which meant that we beat the lunch rush. The restaurant was cozy to be fair but once the students arrived every seat was taken and a sense of urgency was felt within the shop. This was understandable due to the students only having approximately an hour to eat lunch before returning back to school so they were out of there even before our meals came! (We were obviously not their priority).

The interior was similar to that of S Square Cafe (bad memories) but instead of bare walls, they had placed mirrors to make the room appear larger than it actually was (that is what I have learnt from the many interior designing shows). The menu boasted 5 pages of drinks with different components to be added to them (tapioca bubbles, whipped cream with sprinkles). After browsing through the menu, M told me that the store was very similar to those in Taiwan with the items on the menu as well as the drinks that I had thought were very inventive. I felt like I was in another one of those 茶餐廳.


I had the 'A' lunch set (HKD$28) with an iced cappuccino (+HKD$6), HKD$34. She had the 'B' lunch set (HKD$28) with a Tiramisu 冰沙/frappuccino (+HKD$8), HKD$36.

They had a total of 2 set lunches, so obviously our choices were very limited. The waitress kindly told us that by adding charges we could change our drinks to special ones. The weather was hot and humid (I thought I had avoided this kind of Hong Kong weather from the summer) so I opted for an iced cappuccino instead of a hot one. On it's own, it would have been HKD$20, which I thought was very acceptable in comparison to the other coffees I have had.

The iced cappuccino reminded me of drinks a bartender would create with the different densities of the liquids (eg. the B-52), a layer of syrup had fallen to the bottom, espresso coffee in the middle, ice, cream and foam on the top. I will not lie: I actually thought this was awesome! Thinking the foam on the top was actually just whipped cream, I slurped it up but found myself exclaiming that "it's foam!" to M. Whilst taking photos, the cream started to cascade into the dark brown coffee. This is when I decided to finally stir all the components together.

The taste was bitter but a bitterness that I had tried before with the other more successful cappuccinos. Even with the syrup, there was only a slight hint of sweetness that appeared to bring out the taste of the coffee even more. The cream allowed the beverage to become smooth and be less strong, although the espresso coffee was obviously watered down to create a long black (a shot of espresso with water). Usually in these Hong Kong styled restaurants, they tend to fill your drink up with huge ice cubes so as to save money on the actual ingredients used to make the drink. Instead, they used chipped ice to allow the drink to become cool but avoided making the drink anymore watery than it already was.

Unfortunately, our food arrived before the drinks, this is usually not a problem for me although I do like to quench my thirst before anything. For my meal, I had a roasted duck breast with cheese sausages in soup ramen noodles. It was nothing spectacular with the simple ingredients and short cooking time needed. Not something to return for.

M's cream sauce chicken and mushroom rice was another easy and quick dish to prepare. Both of us could not finish.

Her Tiramisu 冰沙 (which I translated to a frappuccino) was a main focal point on Dcolonp's Open Rice page. Therefore, I got her to choose that one over the Oreo冰沙. After tasting, she said it was similar to a mocha frappuccino, which I guess is similar to a tiramisu. The extra sugary lady finger added to the presentation and texture-wise would have been the spongy layer in the middle of the tiramisu. Once it arrived, it spilt everywhere as the ice melted. It was messy.

Dcolonp's selling point is their drinks, with a vast amount to choose from and with inventive components (a coffee flavoured sugar pouch that will burst when you bite into it) that create different textures and additional flavours adds to its appeal. Whilst drinks are their specialty, their coffee is nothing special in contrast to others that I have tried. Obviously a cheap place for students, the interior design is not exactly somewhere to "hang out" afterschool. Although M and I stayed until we were the last people in the store, the general atmosphere drove us out before our conversation was over.

Having many branches around Hong Kong, I would not mind dropping by if I am thirsty to try their other drinks. However, I would not make an effort to find their other outlets. Dcolonp seems to be just a tick off my list rather than a recommendation I would make.

address: 荃灣路德圍40號地鋪
website: Dcolonp / phone: 2499 3138