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Hongkongers love a good cafe, which explains why our city streets are seemingly lined with coffee shops of all kinds. Forget Starbucks and its boring ilk – we’ve got pet-friendly cafes, record and vinyl cafes, bookstore-cafe hybrids, and so many other variations that are more worthy of your attention. The areas of Sheung Wan and Central are coffee hotspots, so here are six new cafes that have opened in the neighbourhood within the early part of 2025. From grab-and-go coffee spots to specialty indie cafes, there’s bound to be one to suit your mood.
香港人對咖啡店的喜愛有增無減,雖然開到成行成市,但各位咖啡從業越戰越勇,咖啡新店新主題一間接一間,cafe 熱潮從未間斷。中上環一向是香港咖啡店重地之一,今次我們精選六間2025上半年開業的中上環咖啡店,有主打上班族的 grab and go cafe、有迎合潮流的「早 C 晚 A」、有實現夢想熱血小店、還有異國風情體驗,總之各有特色,保證有一杯啱你口味!
繼續看:五間必試上環 cafe、最佳週末 Brunch 推介、香港最佳海邊餐廳、香港隱世咖啡店、本月必試新餐廳推介
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Thai Pai Dong is one of the latest restaurants to join the Ferry Point area in Jordan. Within a month of opening, this eatery has already become widely popular and regularly has crowds waiting outside its doors before they open for service. Though small in size, this restaurant is decked out in retro decor like vintage posters, train tickets, and an eye-catching LED sign on its façade. With so many Instagrammable spots throughout the venue, Thai Pai Dong breathes new life into this sleepy residential area. Even though I visited on a weeknight before dinner service began, there was already a queue outside the restaurant and I waited for 40 minutes before entering.Lots of Thai Pai Dong’s customers (myself included) willingly queue up to try the restaurant’s Wagyu beef boat noodles ($98). If that dish sounds familiar to you, it’s because Thai Pai Dong’s head chef used to work in the Wan Chai location of Samsen, another popular Thai eatery in Hong Kong that’s become famous for this noodle dish. Thai Pai Dong’s version sees the noodles served in a rich broth made with beef blood and various aromatics, giving it a deep colour and loads of flavour. Each bowl of boat noodles comes with delectable toppings like Australian Wagyu beef slices, beef balls, water spinach, and pork cracklings. Customers can choose between fresh rice noodles or egg noodles as a base; I opted for the first type, which was a good
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You’ve got to have a unique concept to stand out in Sheung Wan’s restaurant scene. Hoping to grab the attention of diners is Pasteako, an Italian steakhouse taking over Gustaci’s former venue in PMQ. This restaurant gets its name from mashing up the two dishes it offers: pasta and steak. More specifically, Pasteako specialises in handmade pasta that can be enjoyed free-flow, and 21-day dry-aged steak cuts like American sirloin and ribeye, as well as Australian M5 Wagyu. This restaurant’s dinner set menu includes an appetiser, a steak cut and pasta of choice, and a dessert from $388 and up – which is an absolute steal if you consider Pasteako’s location.
The restaurant’s interior is full of retro Italian flair, with red and white checkerboard floors, leather sofas, and black-and-white framed photos setting the mood. Before being shown to your table, you’ll get to choose a steak knife from a large display cabinet that provides information about eight different knives from countries like Italy, Japan, Germany, Turkey, Persia, and Mongolia. Unless you’re keen on reading about each knife, we think closing your eyes and randomly picking one will suffice.
Deciding what to eat here is a no-brainer, as this restaurant only offers concise set menus. Start by selecting your desired pasta shape and sauce, then choose your steak cut from options like striploin and ribeye, or upgrade to premium M5 Wagyu for a
Who would have thought that a shop bearing the name ‘electric company’ (路易奇電力公司) would actually be a yakiniku restaurant from Taiwan? Yakiniku Luigi is one of Taiwan’s top 10 Japanese yakiniku restaurants. It was established by Leo Wu Jun-jie, founder of hospitality group Luigi Restaurant Company, known for eateries such as The Other Floor by Luigi and Luigi’s Laundry Company. Currently, the yakiniku restaurant boasts more than 10 branches across Taiwan, each venue renowned for its high quality Japanese A5 wagyu offerings. Luigi’s first overseas branch is located in Wan Chai along Lockhart Road. The restaurant features a minimalist industrial design with a grey and white colour scheme.. With seating for just 28 diners, the venue provides ample space, including an open kitchen where diners can observe Luigi’s skilled staff expertly slicing cuts of meat by hand. We visited Luigi for dinner on a weekday, and there weren’t many guests dining at the restaurant, so we were able to comfortably enjoy our meal on a spacious table.
Luigi’s menu is spread across two pages, offering diners a choice of three yakiniku sets, with over 80 percent of the selections featuring premium cuts of A5 Wagyu beef directly imported from Japan. The restaurant’s yakiniku sets consist of 10 to 12 courses priced at $958, $1,278, and $1,758, respectively; and Luigi’s adept staff skillfully grill your dishes right at your table. Customers who prefer to enjoy their items without assistance from the staff can
Popular Incheon-based cafe, Sips;;lban, has opened its first location in Hong Kong at Harbour City. Pronounced as sip-sil-bahn, the cafe gets its name from the Korean idiom which literally translates to ‘ten spoons, one rice’. Referring to how ten spoons of rice make up a whole bowl of rice, the idiom alludes to how every bit of effort counts to get something done. The cafe’s venue is decorated with retro-inspired furniture and incorporates beachy elements to create a relaxing atmosphere, making it an ideal spot to kick back and grab a meal with your friends. We visited Sips;;lban at noon on a weekend, which to our surprise wasn’t completely full, and we were able to get a table in a photogenic corner. This Korean cafe is well known for their cakes and bingsu (Korean shaved ice), but their menu also offers a variety of savoury dishes too. We begin with a range of appetisers and entrees, such as the sous-vide chicken thigh salad ($92) which came in a generous portion. The whole chicken thigh was tender and flavourful, and the salad came mixed beforehand in a vinaigrette, making for fuss-free eating. Sips;;lban has four gimbap (rice with various ingredients, wrapped in dried seaweed) variations on their menu, and we opt for the recommended option which was the beef gimbap ($88). Aside from being filled to the brim with eight kinds of ingredients like carrots, pickled radish, as well as beef; we like how delicate these gimbap tasted.
For more filling options, be sure to try out
Check out our experience at Dong Baek below:
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Busan's popular barbecue restaurant, Dong Baek, has finally opened its first location in Hong Kong. To avoid long queues, we made online reservations and arrived at 6pm on a Monday. The seating process went smoothly, and the staff informed us that we had two hours to enjoy our meal. As we entered the restaurant, we noticed that Dong Baek's dining area was well-lit and comprised of spacious booths separated by wooden screens. The dining environment seamlessly combined traditional Korean elements with a modern design style, creating a cosy and comfortable space. Dong Baek offers a high-quality Korean barbecue experience featuring carefully selected ingredients from around the world and unique cuts of meat. With no time to waste, we eagerly ordered a variety of barbecued meats and entrees. Our barbecue grill was divided into two sides: one with a kimchi omelette batter and the other with corn and shredded cheese. Both sides could be replenished throughout the meal. Additionally, we were served a delightful assortment of homemade Korean pickles, including radish, kimchi, bean sprouts, spinach, baby Chinese cabbage, and mashed pumpkin. These delectable pickles were available for an additional $40.We tried Dong Baek's signature flower pork belly ($188/half portion) prepared in thin slices, which cooked quickly and had a flavourful, slightly swee
Over the last few years, celebrity chef Ken Lau, from local food and beverage group Lubuds with over three decades of culinary experience, has consistently opened several restaurants. These include the French fusion venue Pano in West Kowloon, the Italian fine dining restaurant Palco Ristorante, and the Italian-Japanese fusion eatery Pleka. Joining this collection of sister restaurants is Penna, a homestyle Italian restaurant that offers a warm and comforting environment in Tai Koo's Cityplaza.We had made a reservation for an early dinner at Penna on a Sunday evening. Fortunately, there weren’t many customers, so we were able to enjoy our meal comfortably. Penna’s menu is concise and offers a decent selection of appetizers, snacks, side dishes, soups, pastas, risottos, meat and seafood dishes, desserts, and plenty of authentic Italian delicacies. Before placing our order, a waiter brought us a plate of Italian crispy flatbreads, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. For starters, we decided to try the deep-fried beef tripe ($118), which is braised before coated in an ultra-thin batter and fried until it turns golden brown. The fried tripe has a subtle aromatic flavour that pairs wonderfully with Penna’s homemade tartare sauce. After that, we ordered a portion of Italian escargot ($98 for six pieces), generously coated in garlic, onions, herbs, butter, and brandy before being baked. The escargots were delightfully chewy and full of flavour; we couldn’t help but order a portion of b
Cafe-bar Barcode is back! After a short absence, the bar has relocated from its previous home on Glenealy Street to a brand-new location on Cochrane Street underneath the Mid-Levels Escalator. The new cafe space offers ample indoor seating, doing away with the small outdoor porch compared to the old venue. Inside, Barcode maintains its signature colour scheme of white, complemented by blue accents on their sofas, and sheer cream-coloured curtains. Their large windows allow plenty of natural sunlight to flood in, creating a relaxed atmosphere that transports you away from the bustling city. The brains behind the cafe-bar is tea-cocktail connoisseur and Tell Camellia’s co-founder Gagan Gurung. Barcode still adheres to their previous philosophy of merging bar, coffee, and dessert cultures. However, unlike their previous location where the bar was concealed, the new venue integrates the cafe and bar areas into a single space.Barcode’s food menu offers a modest variety of options. In the morning, diners can enjoy a small selection of pastries, while during the day they can choose from entrees such as sandwiches, pastas, and burgers. As for the cafe’s coffee selection, their specialty lies in espressos and offer a medium-dark roasted espresso blend that combines Colombian, Latin American, and Ethiopian coffee beans. We ordered a New Black ($55), which sees a thick layer of cream dusted with cocoa powder, placed over brewed coffee. We recommend not stirring the drink initially to fu
The quiet stretch of Oi Kwan Road has lit up recently with the arrival of a neon sign showing two monkeys. Depicted in chef uniforms and wielding strands of noodle and slabs of beef, these novel creatures are the mascots of Mashi No Mashi, the first wagyu tsukemen restaurant in town. This new spot boasts serious street cred, being co-opened by the same team behind neighbouring Wagyumafia (aka the creators of the world’s most expensive beef sandwich) as well as La Rambla and Elephant Grounds.
Much like its slightly older sister restaurant next door, Mashi No Mashi is cool and minimalistic, with counter seating that only runs 12 chairs deep. The service is equally simple, with an automated ticket machine near the entrance from which guests place their orders. There are only three noodles to choose from – the regular tsukemen ($80), wagyu tsukemen ($130) and the tokusei wagyu tsukemen ($160). We go for the most expensive option, which comes with around 150g of noodles topped with a slice of Kobe beef, bamboo shoots, cabbage, nori and half a soft-boiled egg. The main attraction, of course, is the meat, which is the same Ozaki beef used at Wagyumafia. The brisket is used here, chosen especially for its balanced fat-to-meat ratio. It’s served as a large, thin sheet and, torched to our requested medium, melts like warm butter on the tongue.
Tokusei wagyu tsukemen
If wagyu is the star though, then the dipping sauce is the soul. At Mashi No Mashi, the complex and layered base is made
Up until now, Meter Chan’s enjoyed a pretty solid track record in the restaurant business. He co-founded Butao King in 2010 during the early days of the Hakata ramen craze, and after parting ways with the noodle bar-turned-chain, became a pioneer of the tsukemen trend, opening Kakurega Ramen Factory in Sham Shui Po. These restaurants succeeded because they focused on one thing and did it well. It’s a proven formula that Chan adopts once again for his latest venture, Munakata Beef House, which is dedicated to Japanese beef rice.Nestled on a quiet stretch of Tai Kok Tsui, the intimate restaurant only accepts walk-ins and seats a mere handful of customers at a time. Ample effort has been made to give the space an authentic Japanese feel, from the minimalistic décor to the custom-built, plain-wood counter that wraps around the kitchen like a sushi bar.As for the beef rice, it’s served in a smart lacquered box (known as ‘jubako’ in Japanese) instead of a round bowl à la the more typical gyudon preparation. The main draw is the meat, of course, which is sourced from Munakata in Japan’s southerly Fukuoka Prefecture. You can order the round steak from the outer thigh ($168), the sirloin ($368) or a combination of the two ($268). Whichever cut you go for, it’s all served in 160g portions over rice with miso soup, Japanese pickles and a touch of wasabi on the side.We try the lean thigh cut, which is slow-cooked until tender then sliced into thin, 2mm pieces. It’s wonderfully robust and
There’s no beating around the bush. This Mong Kok noodle joint serves, you guessed it, boat noodles. The restaurant wouldn’t look out of place in Thailand with its retro designs and wooden furnishings. But the spotlight is on its signature dish, which comes in almost 10 variations. We recommend going for the Angus beef with pad thai noodles ($68), where the soup comes with a gorgeous beef flavour with a hint of spiciness. The beef itself is seriously tender and tasty to boot, accompanied by chewy beef balls and brisket.
Ever since Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) launched its pet-friendly bus services, the response has been overwhelmingly positive in Hong Kong’s pet owners. After all, in a city where dogs are not allowed on public transportation and the only option for travelling with pets is to drive or order taxis and Ubers (which gets costly), an affordable bus alternative is a god-send. KMB has gamely added new routes to service more people, with stops now available in neighbourhoods like To Kwa Wan, Sham Tseng, Stanley, and more. Read on to find out more about week day pet bus routes, monthly tickets, and August-exclusive adventure buses.
What is KMB’s Pet-Friendly Island Day Trips event?
For three days in the month of August, KMB’s pet buses will run to the more far-flung locations of Cheung Sha Beach, Shek Pik Reservoir, and Tai O. Each of the ‘tour’ days will stop by different pick-up and drop-off points, such as Tung Chung, Yuen Long, and Science Park, to allow more pet owners around Hong Kong to experience the bus services. The day trips will last for around eight hours each with itineraries in place, so all you have to do is show up.
What are the schedules for KMB’s Pet-Friendly Island Day Trips?
KMB’s August 3 trip departing from Sheung Shui, Tai Po, and Tung Chung has already finished, but here are the schedules for the other two pet day trips this month.
August 24 trip: Departing from Yuen Long, Tuen Mun, and Tung Chung
Bus route:
9.10am pick-up at Long Ming Street in Yuen Long, 9.30am