Top 10 Coffee Shops in Hong Kong
As someone who has lived in San Francisco, Seattle and New York, I am a bit of a self-professed coffee snob and it was hard to find a decent cup of third wave coffee when I first moved back to Hong Kong 5 years ago. Luckily, we have a lot more choices in recent years as numerous quality roasters and coffee shops have popped up in the city more so than I can keep track. I'm a latte and flat white drinker so here's my top 10 favorite coffee shops to satisfy my caffeine addiction in Hong Kong!
The Cupping Room
My first encounter with The Cupping Room was at their original shop in Stanley a few years ago - this was before the coffee movement even took off in Hong Kong and they were one of the few independent coffee shops that served third wave coffee. Since then, the owner Derek Chiu has won 2nd place in the World Barista Championship and serves up a very good cup of flat white that reminds me of the coffee I had down under. The Melbourne style cafe also makes really good brekkie and the branch in Central even carries CRUFFINS (that's a croissant in the shape of a muffin which was made famous in San Francisco)!
Cafe Corridor is probably the granddaddy of them all as my first visit to this hidden gem was 10 years ago when I was still visiting Hong Kong as a tourist! Located across from Times Square, you have to walk along a long corridor to get to the cozy cafe (hence the name). The wait for the coffee may be long sometimes because the barista wants to ensure that the coffee is up to standards but the outstanding coffee is almost always worth the wait.
26A Russell Street, Causeway Bay
https://www.facebook.com/cafecorridor/
See more of my Top 10 Hong Kong series here:
Top 10 Fine Dining Restaurants in Hong Kong
Top 10 Dessert Spots in Hong Kong
Follow me on Facebook! www.facebook.com/supertastermel
Follow me on Instagram! www.instagram.com/supertastermel
The Cupping Room
My first encounter with The Cupping Room was at their original shop in Stanley a few years ago - this was before the coffee movement even took off in Hong Kong and they were one of the few independent coffee shops that served third wave coffee. Since then, the owner Derek Chiu has won 2nd place in the World Barista Championship and serves up a very good cup of flat white that reminds me of the coffee I had down under. The Melbourne style cafe also makes really good brekkie and the branch in Central even carries CRUFFINS (that's a croissant in the shape of a muffin which was made famous in San Francisco)!
32 Swatow Street, Wan Chai
18 Cochrane Street, Central
287-299 Queen's Road Central, Sheung Wan
http://www.facebook.com/Cuppingroomwanchai
Knockbox Coffee Company
I had heard about Knockbox Coffee from a coffee aficionado friend and it's definitely worth checking out if you are on the Kowloon side. They serve coffee a certain way (their way basically) with no different sizes, no decaf, no soy and no syrup to give good coffee the chance to speak for itself. You do get to choose between two types of coffee beans - fruity and aromatic or nutty - and as I opted for the former, my flat white was aromatic with some acidic undertones.
21 Hak Po Street, Mong Kok
http://knockboxcoffee.hk/
Coco Espresso
Coco Espresso is another cafe with an awarding-winning barista Kim Yeung who is stationed at the Wan Chai branch. I enjoy the quiet ambiance in the bigger Central location more so than the one in Wan Chai though which is tiny and rather noisy from the staff talking loudly among themselves, but the coffee is consistent and good enough to rise above it all.
197 Queen's Road Central, Sheung Wan
50 Stanley Street, Central
2 Anton Street, Wan Chai
http://cocobarista.com/eng/
I had heard about Knockbox Coffee from a coffee aficionado friend and it's definitely worth checking out if you are on the Kowloon side. They serve coffee a certain way (their way basically) with no different sizes, no decaf, no soy and no syrup to give good coffee the chance to speak for itself. You do get to choose between two types of coffee beans - fruity and aromatic or nutty - and as I opted for the former, my flat white was aromatic with some acidic undertones.
21 Hak Po Street, Mong Kok
http://knockboxcoffee.hk/
Coco Espresso
Coco Espresso is another cafe with an awarding-winning barista Kim Yeung who is stationed at the Wan Chai branch. I enjoy the quiet ambiance in the bigger Central location more so than the one in Wan Chai though which is tiny and rather noisy from the staff talking loudly among themselves, but the coffee is consistent and good enough to rise above it all.
197 Queen's Road Central, Sheung Wan
50 Stanley Street, Central
2 Anton Street, Wan Chai
http://cocobarista.com/eng/
Why 50
The intriguing name of Why 50 is supposed to represent the number of coffee beans that goes into one espresso shot and prompt customers to think about what they are consuming. They use a state of the art Slayer coffee machine (which costs 5 figures in USD!) and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the coffee here with strong flavors and smooth finish. I haven't tried the food here yet but have heard good things from many sources so I'll have to come back and check it out for brunch soon!
27 Hillier Street, Sheung Wan
https://www.facebook.com/Why50hk/
Cafe Deadend
Located in PoHo, Cafe Deadend takes quite a hike to get to but that doesn't stop the crowds from lining up for the cafe on the weekends. The drink that I love here is Dirty which is created by pouring a shot of hot espresso into cold milk. The result is like drinking a latte without the ice and with a much thicker and smoother finish. The food here is also amazingly good and the spiced apple tart is to die for!
72 Po Hing Fong, Sheung Wan
https://www.facebook.com/CafeDeadend/
The intriguing name of Why 50 is supposed to represent the number of coffee beans that goes into one espresso shot and prompt customers to think about what they are consuming. They use a state of the art Slayer coffee machine (which costs 5 figures in USD!) and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the coffee here with strong flavors and smooth finish. I haven't tried the food here yet but have heard good things from many sources so I'll have to come back and check it out for brunch soon!
27 Hillier Street, Sheung Wan
https://www.facebook.com/Why50hk/
Located in PoHo, Cafe Deadend takes quite a hike to get to but that doesn't stop the crowds from lining up for the cafe on the weekends. The drink that I love here is Dirty which is created by pouring a shot of hot espresso into cold milk. The result is like drinking a latte without the ice and with a much thicker and smoother finish. The food here is also amazingly good and the spiced apple tart is to die for!
72 Po Hing Fong, Sheung Wan
https://www.facebook.com/CafeDeadend/
Winstons Coffee
Coffee is the new black at this hipster coffee shop located right next to the Sai Ying Pun MTR which looks like an old school cinema on the outside. The Aussie-style coffee shop delivers solid coffee and pastries (yes that's a matcha egg tart in the picture) during the day and boozy cocktails at night!
213 Queen's Road West, Sai Ying Pun
https://www.facebook.com/winstonscoffeehk/
Coffee is the new black at this hipster coffee shop located right next to the Sai Ying Pun MTR which looks like an old school cinema on the outside. The Aussie-style coffee shop delivers solid coffee and pastries (yes that's a matcha egg tart in the picture) during the day and boozy cocktails at night!
213 Queen's Road West, Sai Ying Pun
https://www.facebook.com/winstonscoffeehk/
The Hideout Coffee House
As the name suggests, The Hideout is meant to be a relaxing place for people to enjoy their coffee. The 2-story coffee house is small and cramped though on the weekends with only a handful of seats on the inside so I'd rather enjoy my strong and creamy flat white in the outdoor patio area while doing some people watching.
63 Third Street, Sai Ying Pun
https://www.facebook.com/thehideoutcoffeehousehk/
NOC Coffee & Roaster
NOC stands for Not Only Coffee with 2011 HK Barista Champion Sum Chan at the helm. The cozy cafe has an industrial look with concrete walls and the location is the heart of the oldest wet market in the city. The flavors could have been stronger but I did liked the velvety smooth finish of my flat white.
34 Graham Street, Central
https://www.facebook.com/notonlycoffee/
As the name suggests, The Hideout is meant to be a relaxing place for people to enjoy their coffee. The 2-story coffee house is small and cramped though on the weekends with only a handful of seats on the inside so I'd rather enjoy my strong and creamy flat white in the outdoor patio area while doing some people watching.
63 Third Street, Sai Ying Pun
https://www.facebook.com/thehideoutcoffeehousehk/
NOC Coffee & Roaster
NOC stands for Not Only Coffee with 2011 HK Barista Champion Sum Chan at the helm. The cozy cafe has an industrial look with concrete walls and the location is the heart of the oldest wet market in the city. The flavors could have been stronger but I did liked the velvety smooth finish of my flat white.
34 Graham Street, Central
https://www.facebook.com/notonlycoffee/
Artisan Room
The first thing you will notice inside Artisan Room is the massive Gothicism slow-drip cold brewer from South Korea's Dutch Lab which is literally a piece of art itself with its intricate and ornate designs. The cafe is also the only one in Hong Kong which uses coffee beans from Costadoro - an Italian brand founded in 1890 that is known for its slow-roasting of coffee beans at low temperatures and air-cooling the roasted beans to minimize the moisture. I tried the Macchiato Latte with almond milk which were served separately on a customized copper plate and it turned out to be a heavenly combination of sweet and nutty flavors!
The first thing you will notice inside Artisan Room is the massive Gothicism slow-drip cold brewer from South Korea's Dutch Lab which is literally a piece of art itself with its intricate and ornate designs. The cafe is also the only one in Hong Kong which uses coffee beans from Costadoro - an Italian brand founded in 1890 that is known for its slow-roasting of coffee beans at low temperatures and air-cooling the roasted beans to minimize the moisture. I tried the Macchiato Latte with almond milk which were served separately on a customized copper plate and it turned out to be a heavenly combination of sweet and nutty flavors!
8-12 South Lane, Shek Tong Tsui
https://www.facebook.com/artisanroomhk/
Cafe Corridor
Cafe Corridor is probably the granddaddy of them all as my first visit to this hidden gem was 10 years ago when I was still visiting Hong Kong as a tourist! Located across from Times Square, you have to walk along a long corridor to get to the cozy cafe (hence the name). The wait for the coffee may be long sometimes because the barista wants to ensure that the coffee is up to standards but the outstanding coffee is almost always worth the wait.
26A Russell Street, Causeway Bay
https://www.facebook.com/cafecorridor/
See more of my Top 10 Hong Kong series here:
Top 10 Fine Dining Restaurants in Hong Kong
Top 10 Dessert Spots in Hong Kong
Follow me on Facebook! www.facebook.com/supertastermel
Follow me on Instagram! www.instagram.com/supertastermel
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