#015, main st. cafe, 040210

company: M
conversation: Hockey, Wi-Fi (none) and Starbucks.

I had originally wanted to take M to another coffee store, but when we got there. It was closed! We concluded it to be because they might not get a lot of business during weekday lunchtimes, so we checked my list to see any other coffee stores in the area. We found two that were essentially next to each other and went on a little trek to find them. Once we found those, they were closed too! I don't understand! Why would they do this to me? Why?

We ended up settling with a little restaurant between the two closed coffee stores, and decided to hunt for another one afterwards. In the end, whilst walking within Langham Shopping Mall, we were both tired and not really in the mood to go coffee hunting. I had heard good reviews about Main St. Cafe (on the food court level of the mall) so we decided to check it out.

It was more of an open bar cafe as there was a little booth for you to order and pick up your drinks or food. Prices were cheap: Espresso coffees ranged between HKD$20 - $35 with hot and cold options available. Savoury foods such as hot dogs and sandwiches as well as cakes, scones and donuts are priced accordingly (we saw this super huge cheese cake for about $45 per slice, their selling point is their New York cheese cake). Seating approximately 30 (not including the bar seats and outside), the area is comfortable and a good place to relax with the general buzz of the shopping mall.


I had a cappuccino, medium/fit, HKD$28. She had a blueberry cioccolata, medium/fit, HKD$30.

First things first, I wanted my cappuccino in a ceramic cup because I wanted to take nice pictures with the store's logo, I saw the sizes of medium and large so when I asked them to see the small size, they said they didn't have any. So I had to get a medium, for the price, it seemed reasonable.

I watched them make it as I waited by the handoff counter. Using a high-tech coffee machine and grinder, they seemed at ease in making coffees in large quantities for many people (there was a little bit of a line). As I watched the barista steam the milk, he multi-tasked by pulling the shots for another persons double espresso. For me, it is always hard to multi-task because I get so frazzled when I think of all the people just waiting on me. Ahh. M's drink came soon after, looking rather small for the price she paid.

We sat down at a nice secluded spot next to a guy studying and on the other side, a lady sleeping. Scooping into my foam, I realised that there was a lot of foam and I mean, a lot of foam. Like, 5 cm deep worth of foam. Every sip that I took (I burnt my tongue! Too hot) I got a huge gulp of foam. As much as the foam was creamy, I felt a little over-indulgent after drinking such a large cup of milky coffee that was predominantly foam. Overall, the espresso was very strong but not as bitter as I had expected it to be (maybe the foam helped a bit).

No pictures of M's blueberry cioccolata which was thick and creamy but with a subtle hint of blueberry syrup. We were trying to figure out why there was such a distinct taste to her beverage and concluded with us figuring out that they probably use dark chocolate as their chocolate base. Makes sense. Maybe not something I would try again but hey, try new things!

Main St. Cafe reminds me of Starbucks, maybe apart from them foaming the milk themselves (Starbucks uses a machine that starts and stops accordingly). With more food options but less drink combinations available, the prices and seating of Main St. Cafe reflect Starbucks and Pacific Coffee Company greatly.

If you are maybe in the area, and are tired from shopping around in Langham Place. Maybe it's cold outside or too hot to be walking around too much. Then try it out. Although maybe if you're looking for specialty coffees (rather than food and coffee), I would recommend Caffe Pascucci instead.

address: Shop 13, Level 4A, Langham Place, 8 Argyle Street, Mong Kok.
旺角亞皆老街8 號朗豪坊4A樓13號舖
phone: 3514 9332

#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

#001, soulmate coffee, 070110

company: M
conversation: Life, guys , barista lessons and university.

Turns out M had no idea this coffee shop existed as it was tucked away in a little corridor surrounded by Hong Kong style restaurants. Seating only 7 people, the booth allowed conversation with the barista (Nigel Ng) and his girlfriend, Director Secretary (Heidi) but did not seem intrusive to conversations with any company.

We both had a toffee nut latte, large, approximately HKD$27.

The first coffee of this blog.

I have Starbucks to thank for introducing me to the toffee nut latte. Unfortunately, they ran out before I had the chance to drink my second tall cup (HKD$34). So you can guess how excited I was to find out that Soulmate Coffee made toffee nut flavoured lattes.

One of the things I have problems mastering is the frothing and steaming of milk. Whilst manipulating the milk to find a whirlpool I'd have beads of sweat running down my forehead as the noise it made was so obviously wrong and would disturb anyone's comfortable breakfast. Listening to Nigel steaming milk was, nothing. Literally. The art to smooth and velvety milk is to not be able to hear anything apart from the gurgle of incorporating the air into the milk and cleaning the steam wand afterwards.

Maybe after drinking Starbuck's version, which was sweeter, this cup was stronger in espresso and that was about it. I was surprised with the strong taste possibly because this was my first cup of coffee. The milk was smooth and silky and after a couple more sips, the toffee nut slowly made it's appearance (even if it wasn't much).

Soulmate Coffee, the name is actually the name of a fish when spoken with a Chinese tone: "sou mei", I don't know the name of the fish in English so you will just have to take my word for it. For me, it was an unlikely place to find this little gem, the friendliness of Nigel and Heidi was also unexpected in such an area because of the fast-paced restaurants surrounding it. Nigel and I started a conversation about the barista community and even gave me the number to a fellow barista that gives lessons!

I have yet to call up that person regarding lessons but I will be going back to Soulmate very soon. (I do realise these things are not related but English was never my forte.)

address: Shop C20, 2/F, Kwai Chung Plaza, 7 Kwai Foo Road, Kwai Fong.
葵芳葵富路7號葵涌廣場2樓C20舖
website: Soulmate Coffee Blog / phone: 6252 5551