Pop Bites

This homey euro-style café is conveniently located on Old Bailey Street in Central-however the entrance is so discreet people tend to miss it. Pop-Bites feels like a cool friend’s lofty living room. There are polished concrete floors, white exposed brick walls, works of art, and a DJ set-up in the back. They also sell music CDs and have European decorative accents on the walls and ceilings. The peaceful atmosphere is complimented by the big windows, which run along the side of the café. There’s a nice view of a large tree which is something quite uncommon in this concrete jungle.

They serve decent coffee, different teas and great desserts. They also have pastas and and all day breakfast with a few types of omelets to choose from. Sometimes there are DJs spinning and sometimes different artists will exhibit their works. The atmosphere is so comfy, you just feel like lounging there all day. Pop Bites is inexpensive hence you’ll see an arty, student crowd frequenting the place.

UG/F, 3-5 Old Bailey Street, SoHo
2525 4141

Full Cup Café

This eclectic café, with its retro Scandinavian-inspired decor, is a hidden gem in the depths of Mongkok. You would never find it unless someone takes you there or you make an effort to go there. Full Cup Café is in a tall skinny building and the café spans three floors. The original two floors has mismatched vintage chairs and resembles an eccentric Granny’s sitting room with red lights and miscellaneous bric-a-brac for decoration. The 4th floor has an outdoor terrace.

The coolest part of this café is the 5th and a half floor. How underground is that? you can’t even get there via the lift! Go to the 5th floor and walk though the back to the stairs, mount the stairs half a flight and let the waiter let you in through the unmarked door. This floor has polished concrete floors and ceilings, CDs on the walls, fabric curtains from the 60’s, vintage-kitsch collectibles lining the walls and on the tables (old orange rotary phones, an E.T. doll, an ashtray shaped like an ape’s head). The owner’s brother designed and made the retro furniture and it’s so cool! He’s going to start a furniture line soon- so people be able to buy his creations.

Full Cup Cafe has some Japanese snacks and some pasta. It’s a menu which appeals to the local Kowloon crowd. There are different types of teas and coffees but they do not serve alcohol at all. It’s a great place to unwind after you’ve been in Sham Shui Po/ladies market hunting for antiques, camera equipment, cheap clothes, or underground accessories which you are making yourself.

4-6/F, 36 Dundas St., Mong Kok
2771-7775

Café Lavande

This super chilled hangout on one of the most quiet and picturesque streets in Soho is a great place to take your dog and have a chat with friends. The inside of the café is reminiscent of a French café somewhere in the countryside. Everything is cream and neutral. Outside, there are round tables with rattan garden chairs flanked by potted plants. You can sit there for hours, watch the world go by or read a book over a latte or an English Tea. They also serve desserts, quiches and open-faced sandwiches. The atmosphere is really relaxing.

4 Prince's Terrace, Midlevels, Central
2537-7998

Classified Café

This stylish French café in Sheung Wan specializes in cheese, wine and coffee. In the daytime, Classified is a good place to go for coffee and light snacks. They have soups, sandwiches, various types of cold cuts and a la carte cheeses. There’s a wide array of cheeses to choose from and you can pick the cheese yourself in the fridge room on the second floor. At night, come for an apres dinner espresso and indulge in a cheese platter for dessert. Classified Café is also the perfect place to laze away a weekend afternoon and recover from your hangover (or to give yourself a new one). The venue has super high ceilings, floor to ceiling windows, a big communal rustic wooden table and a few garden-like benches outside which are flanked by greenery. There’s a room upstairs with a large wooden table where you can choose bottles of wine and enjoy more cheese platters! The crowd is as chic as the venue. Though we’ve never experienced it personally, there has been the occasional complaint about patchy or snobbish service.

108 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
2525-3444

Fuel

This café is a true coffee aficinionado’s haven in IFC. Sanjay Ponnapa, the founder, is a descendent of several generations of coffee planters in India. At Fuel, each cup of coffee is lovingly made an experienced barista with coffee beans sourced from around the world and roasted in Wellington New Zealand.
Fuel’s first coffee shop is in IFC mall and has a sexy dark wood espresso bar with jazz albums displayed above the counter. The décor perfectly suits the throngs of businessmen who need their caffeine to get them through the busy workday. It’s also a great place to get a boost when you’ve been shopping till you drop at IFC.

Espressos are the specialty here and they can make them really strong if you wish. They also have sandwiches, muffins and desserts. There is no kitchen or toaster here so come for the coffee and not for the snacks.

Shop 3023, IFC Mall, Central,
2295 3815

Starbucks on Duddell Street

Yes Starbucks is a chain but the branch on Duddell Street was decorated in collaboration with the groovy furniture shop GOD is the only one of it’s kind. This historical and tucked away location was the perfect place to pay homage to the bing sutt, a place where in the old days, people could get coffee, tea and iced beverages. It was also a place to get trendy western treats like soda-pop or ice cream. The bing sutt was a place to enjoy time with friends and symbolized East-meets-West modernization. This Starbucks is a commemoration of the bing sutt and a celebration Hong Kong’s roots and spirit. The place looks a bit like an old tenement flat from the 60’s. There are birdcages, small tiled floors, old radios and antique furniture. On weekends it’s full of young trendy Chinese people snapping away with their cameras!

Floor M2, Baskerville House, 13 Duddell St, Central
2523-5685


Mido Cafe

The Mido Café in Kowloon is a institution which is a blast from Hong Kong’s historical past. Located right in the heart of the Temple Street market and across from the Tin Hau temple, this landmark ‘café’ opened its doors in 1950 and not much has changed. The original cash register is still there as are most of the signs, furniture and flooring.

More of a living museum rather than a place to grab coffee, Mido Café is decorated with small tiles on the floors and walls, a feature which was typical of that era. The 2nd floor is particularly atmospheric because of the hard bench seating, big windows, high ceilings and neon light filtering in from the sign just outside. It’s not a coincidence that so many movies and photoshoots were inspired by this place. In fact, the Duddell street Starbucks appears to be a disneyland version of this place.

At Mido Café, you will not find lattes made with fancy roasted coffee beans, rather you will find typical Cha Chaan Teng fare (Hong Kong style café food and snacks.) As far as beverages are concerned, Mido cafe is more well known for it’s milk tea rather than it’s espresso.

The specialty of the house is The Spare Ribs Baked Rice. It’s is an oven-baked dish of sweet and sour spare ribs with fried rice and eggs, topped with a homemade sauce make with fresh milk.
Also good is the Spicy Eggplant & Minced Pork with Fried Noodles and the Shredded Chicken Fried Noodles. Prices are very reasonable at around HK$ 50 -110 per person. They don't take credit cards.

The wait staff ranges from indifferent, to fed-up with people who are visiting the café for photo-taking to mildly curious and at times friendly. But who cares- at those prices and with such a unique atmosphere, a trip to Mido Café is still better than experiencing Hong Kong history in a museum setting. This place is the real deal!  

63, Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei,
2384-6402



Naturo Plus

Naturo Plus is a wholesome food café in the Star Street are that also sells organic products, condiments and wine. They are also one of the only places that imports yak cheese from the Himalyan region. It’s really delicious! Naturo is packed during the lunch rush as they serve quick and easy lunch sets along with Italian coffee. There are also some al fresco tables out on the quiet alley set amidst the trees and the Wanchai buildings in the distance.

Naturo Plus is a super chilled and quiet haven in the middle of the concrete jungle. The interior feels a bit like an organic log cabin with it’s wooden walls, framed photos of the village where the produce the yak cheese and big flower arrangements. The open kitchen also lends charm to the atmosphere.

Naturo also recently started serving a ‘fusion’ dinner menu as their chef used to live in Africa. Try the Nigerian spicy tomato chicken stew, the seafood laksa and the curry duck breast Thai style. For dessert, try the fried banana and apple spring roll with vanilla sauce.

G/F New Sun House, 6 Sun Street, Wanchai
2865-0088



Initial Café

This super hip cafe in TST is in a store but is still really cute nonetheless. Featuring high ceilings, polished concrete floors and an ecelctic array of vintage looking-chairs in earth tones, this cafe is a soothing place to escape from the hectic streets of TST. Bring your laptop, order a coffee, pasta or dessert and enjoy the free wireless connection.

48 Cameron Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui,
2311-4223




Pacific Coffee at the Peak

We wouldn’t bother mentioning Pacific Coffee Company since it’s such a prolific chain, it seems there’s one on every corner. However, the one at Victoria Peak is particularly noteworthy due to the gorgeous front-row view of the skyline! There’s a small alfresco terrace that overlooks the city and my, is it breathtaking! It’s a fantastic place to go during off times (not on weekends and during work hours) otherwise it tends to be packed with tourists. We do like the coffee at Pacific coffee and the bagels are probably the best in town. There are also decent sandwiches, paninis and quiches as well.

Unit G10, Level G, The Peak Tower, 128 Peak Road
2849-6608




Simply Life

This café in IFC is chic, modern, French-inspired with it’s round café tables and bistro style chairs. It has a simple black, white stainless steel and cream color scheme. They serve good coffee in fancy French coffee cups with thin rims and they also serve salads, snacks, pastas and freshly baked takeaway bread. Simply life is a nice place to pause if you’re shopping in IFC or if you work in the building. There’s a decent view of the harbor as well.

IFC Mall, Central
2234-7356



Caffe Habitu

This Italian coffee chain has a few stylish venues that are decorated in an elegant loft style with a nod to the 1920’s. There are leather couches, wooden tables and funky chairs. We like the branches at Pacific Place 3 and at Leighton Center. They serve paninis, soups, pastas and light savories as well as good Italian coffee.
http://www.caffehabitu.com/