Ok, so I am not a big coffee drinker, let alone a connoisseur. But I am totally in love with the idea of sitting for hours in a pretty little cafe reading a book while working slowly on a muffin/bagel/cake and sipping, well, tea or a juice. Unfortunately, after so many years in HK, I am yet to find that cozy place where one can spend hours doing nothing. To be fair, I haven't had the time to look really hard either. With super busy work weeks and action packed weekends, catching some down time in a cafe is typically not priority #1. However, with a much needed sabbatical on hand, I suddenly have a lot of free time on hand. So I thought, why not use some of it to try and find a cool, comfortable cafe where I would love to lounge my hours away. Hence starts the Great Hong Kong Cafe Hunt! The rules are pretty simple. The cafe I have in mind must:
- not be a one of the ubiquitous coffee conglomerates which have become synonymous with city life - sorry Starbucks, but I am looking for something beyond the mass produced
- not be a part of a mall - HK has too many of them around already and I don't want to spend any more money, words or time on them
- be comfortable, atmospheric and must have atleast a basic selection of coffees and snacks -- food is not the focus for sure, but something to munch on is absolutely required if I am spending more than two hours in the same place!.
It all started with a place called Java Java which we came across during one of our weekend ramblings on Hollywood road in Sheung Wan. 
The place looked quite chilled out with a few comfortable looking sofas lying around and what seemed like a half decent menu. Unfortunately, we couldn't go in because we were running late, but I decided to visit the place the next morning. They claimed to do breakfasts, so I landed up at 10 am for a bagel and a cuppa. I agree, a bit too late for a Tuesday morning breakfast but I am on a break too right! Unfortunately, the place was sold out of almost everything, including bagel and cream cheese. So my cafe hunt didn't really start on a very auspicious note. The place looked cozy enough, there were a lot of people, mostly expats, hanging around reading a book or surfing the net, only I am not sure what they were munching on! Anyway, since this hunt is not as much about the food as the ambiance and feel, I think I'll be back again to check it out. I just need to find the timing of their delivery truck!
The place looked quite chilled out with a few comfortable looking sofas lying around and what seemed like a half decent menu. Unfortunately, we couldn't go in because we were running late, but I decided to visit the place the next morning. They claimed to do breakfasts, so I landed up at 10 am for a bagel and a cuppa. I agree, a bit too late for a Tuesday morning breakfast but I am on a break too right! Unfortunately, the place was sold out of almost everything, including bagel and cream cheese. So my cafe hunt didn't really start on a very auspicious note. The place looked cozy enough, there were a lot of people, mostly expats, hanging around reading a book or surfing the net, only I am not sure what they were munching on! Anyway, since this hunt is not as much about the food as the ambiance and feel, I think I'll be back again to check it out. I just need to find the timing of their delivery truck! With an aborted first attempt, I had to resort to google to fish out a list of other possible contenders in the area. There were surprisingly quite a few articles dedicated to cafes in Hong Kong, which bodes really well for continuing my hunt, and I was able to zero in on one called Barista Jam on Jervois Street, near the Sheung Wan market. It was supposed to be a speciality coffee place but the reason I picked it was the name -- precise and different. On way to Jervois Street, I came across a place called Graze on Bonham Strand which claimed to do coffees and cocktails. 
Since I was quite grubby, there was an impromptu change of plans and I changed tracks. I did try a muffin and a coffee there and sat there long enough to finish my first blog. The place was nice enough, but seemed a bit too plastic to be memorable and there was construction going on next door which didn't help the cause either. However, there were quite a few people, both expat and local, lounging around and the coffee was decent (the muffin was strictly ok, one of the many frozen and toasted offerings you get all around HK). So will I be back? If I am in the area, most likely, but I don't see myself hoisting myself to Bonham Strand just for a few hours in Graze.
Since I was quite grubby, there was an impromptu change of plans and I changed tracks. I did try a muffin and a coffee there and sat there long enough to finish my first blog. The place was nice enough, but seemed a bit too plastic to be memorable and there was construction going on next door which didn't help the cause either. However, there were quite a few people, both expat and local, lounging around and the coffee was decent (the muffin was strictly ok, one of the many frozen and toasted offerings you get all around HK). So will I be back? If I am in the area, most likely, but I don't see myself hoisting myself to Bonham Strand just for a few hours in Graze.
As for Barista Jam - they might do very good coffee (I didn't get to try it out because I was over-caffeinated with my morning tea and the pit stop at Graze already) but the seating was not comfortable at all. Just plain benches and desks, meant to be shared between customers, so definitely not the place that I was looking for.
All in all, an interesting day in Sheung Wan, but I am nowhere closer to finding THE cafe. I am not even sure if I am on a chimera hunt or it will have an end, but there is only one way of finding out! I still have a few more days to go, so the hunt continues.. :)
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