Best cafes to work from in Hong Kong #2

I have discovered a few cafes that are excellent to work from since my last post and I cannot wait to share. I have no intention to push for content though, hence the delay of this post. I have also uploaded the wifi speed information onto workfrom and updated the foursquare list. It would appear that NomadList has incorporated the workfrom data into their site too.

11. Open door + courtyard cafe

120 Connaught Road West, Sai Wan
Monday – Thursday: 8am – 8pm
Friday: 8am – 5pm
Saturday-Sunday: 9am – 5pm
www.facebook.com/opendoorcafehk

Getting to opendoor is much easier now that Sai Ying Pun MTR station has came into service. Don’t be fooled by the narrow door front, open door is actually very spacious, they have about 30 well-spaced apart seats for optimal privacy and good amounts of power outlets . I have came across people having business meetings in their muralled courtyard too so the work culture is rich here. On top of that, they are probably the only cafe in Hong Kong that has gluten free pastas and breads available (for an additional $15). Opendoor is one of the many cafes that doubles as an art gallery, so definitely try to spare a minute to appreciate their displays.

12. Why 50

27 Hillier Street, Sheung Wan
Monday – Sunday: 7:30am – 7:30pm
www.facebook.com/Why50hk/

Why50 claims to sell the best coffee in Sheung Wan! And I second that for they have got a shiny Slayer machine and a talented barista/co-founder. Apart from great coffee, they also offer french herbal teas, homemade cookies (served with milk) and even gluten-free cake! The staffs were cheerful and friendly, and good vibes filled the air. They have quite a few power outlets on the wall for charging too. The only complaint I have was that their speakers’ bass is a little too strong. Great playlists though.

 

13. Little Break Coffee & Kitchen

104 Jervois Street, Sheung Wan
Tuesday – Friday: 11am – 9pm
Saturday – Sunday: 9am – 6pm
Closed on Mondays
www.facebook.com/littlebreakcoffeeandkitchen/

Little break is owned by two young university graduates and they surely follow the trends and likings amongst our generation. This small shop can accommodate around 30 people and is located just around the corner from the Cupping Room in Sheung Wan, you will recognise them by their colourful storefront. It is rarely full here but the space is closed so the noise level can build up when it gets crowded. I would love to try their entire food menu, but my pick has got to be the homemade cake and specialty coffee deal for $48!  P.S. The picture above is their flagship store in Lai Chi Kok, don’t forget to check them out too!

14. Peace Square

146-146A Tung Lo Wan Road, Tai Hang
Monday – Sunday: 8am – 12am
www.facebook.com/peacesquare/

Tai Hang is a food hotspot that is home to dozens of diverse, independent restaurants. I’m really delighted to have stumbled upon this cosy wifi cafe within the area. Peace Square has an extensive food menu and plenty of dessert choices, so it can get busy during meal times. Peace Square is a Christian-influenced cafe as far as I can tell by their decorations, and they also put their faith into action by sponsoring kids through World Vision with their income. There is a minimum order of one drink/food per person (with no price limit), but really, who wouldn’t want to try their rose latte?

15. Veygo Coffee

24 Swatow Street, Wan Chai
Monday – Friday: 8am – 9pm
Saturday: 9am – 9pm
Sunday: 9am – 7pm
www.facebook.com/veygocoffee/

As their kiwi logo suggests, Veygo is a New Zealand style cafe that aims to make you feel at home. Their Sheung Wan shop just closed down so only the Wan Chai shop is left. There is no flashy store front, and the all brown furnishing a little too modest, but the excellence of their food and service requires no embellishment. Veygo puts a lot of effort in their food and presentation, especially their latte art, the barista tried to draw my face last time! I would complain that their tables are small and placed too closely together, but considering they are never that busy, Veygo remains one that I would always feel welcomed to visit.

16. Jam 相惜

7-11 Tai Wong Street East, Wan Chai
Monday: 12pm – 7pm
Tuesday – Friday: 12pm – 9pm
Saturday – Sunday: 10:30am – 8pm
www.facebook.com/Jam.I.See.You/

Jam is a gallery-cum-cafe located in the heart of Wan Chai, they also rent their venue for concerts and events for free occasionally. Jam seeks to be a platform where like-minded people meet and share creative works and experiences. Similar to Empress Cafe across the road, Jam is opened till late and always have seats to offer past lunch hours. Their coffees come in cute aluminium mugs and has great flavour. Their tables are a little small for two 13″ laptops but they do have 4 seats at the bar table by the entrance.

17. Common Ground

19 Shing Wong Street
Monday, Wednesday – Sunday: 11am – 7pm
Closed on Tuesdays
www.facebook.com/pages/Common-Ground/125581330942271

Common Ground is not an unfamiliar name to us cafe dwellers. Not only is Common Ground famous for their coffee, they are also popular as a location for photoshoots because of the laid back and hipster atmosphere along those steps from Soho to Caine Road. Every corner of the shop is tactfully decorated to create an earthy, rustic feel. The fashion accessories created by the owners themselves also adds an authentic touch to the cafe. The outdoor terrace is a favourite spot to chill for many, you will find couples reading novels, entrepreneurs working on their balance sheets, the strong sense of community spirit has definitely convinced people to return. I could not think of anything short of Common Ground except their high popularity, they can be very busy on weekends but weekdays are generally fine.

18. Madera Café

23 Shau Kei Wan Main Street East, Shau Kei Wan
Monday – Thursday: 8am – 7pm
Friday – Sunday: 8am – 9:30pm
www.maderacafe.com.hk

Despite its location at the base of luxury apartment Le Riviera, Madera is actually just as down to earth and welcoming as its neighbours on Shau Kei Wan Main Street East. The warm decór in Madera accompanied by soothing background music and ample natural light creates a pleasant environment to work at. The stepped lounge seating is an unusual implementation that would please those who like to sit with their shoes off or perhaps with their legs crossed. Food at Madera is worth mentioning because they cooperate with many local companies like Happy Cow and Moonzen. Interesting fact: The abundance of sesame and cinnamon on their menu is due to Madera’s owner’s roots as a spice trader back in the 1930s.

19. My Little Coffee: Coffeehouse & Roasters

G/F Habour Crystal Centre, 100 Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Monday – Sunday: 10:30am – 8:30pm
www.facebook.com/My-Little-Coffee-coffeehouse-roasters-370830866441743/

My Little Coffee started off as a bean importer and have an existing community presence in the coffee scene. They have received a lot of press attention recently as they are offering KONO drip coffee exclusively in Hong Kong. All of their food are homemade and often created from specially sourced ingredients like Fukuoka strawberries and Tasmanian cherries. Little Coffee is not exactly spacious, but they did fit in a communal table and a secluded corner with sofa chairs, offering about 25 seats indoors. I would say it is best to avoid meal times and weekends although it is not impossible to secure a seat.

20. Blue Place Cafe

93-95 Belcher Street, Kennedy Town
Monday – Sunday: 10am – 9pm
www.facebook.com/blueplacehk

Blue Place is disguised as sportswear shop on the outside, but their cafe is actually through the shop and up on the second floor. In heavy contrast to the shop front, the cafe is filled with rustic and nature elements. The greatest thing about Blue Place is that it is very spacious and quiet, you could stay undisturbed here all day. They also have a food menu catering mainly pastas and sandwiches and reviews have been good. However, one fatal drawback of this place is their router does not seem to be compatible with OS X devices, so if you are working on a Macbook, you might have trouble connecting to their wifi (It works fine on iOS).

Near Misses

Cafe Deadend – Busy even on weekdays, could be okay at off peak times

La Station – Lovely place with great coffee but very limited seats available

C.O.O. bakery and cafe – It was more like a restaurant with cutlery laid out on the table and wifi was not functional

Coffee Roastery Lab – Spacious on second floor but wifi does not work

Allegretto – Wifi times out every hour and was very slow

Teakha – Nice neighbourhood but too busy

 

Is your favourite café on the list? Let me know!

Best cafes to work from in Hong Kong #1

Who needs an office? As businesses go digital, more and more companies are going remote, and the freelancer, entrepreneur and digital nomad communities are growing. If you don’t like paying for a co-working space or drinking awful coffee, you might want to work from a café instead. In Hong Kong, the coffee culture is spreading and boutique cafés are springing up at the most unexpected locations. However in a city where you are constantly competing for oxygen with at least another hundred people, finding a space where you could occupy for a quarter of a day could be difficult. Platforms like workfrom.co are a real convenience, it also creates a mutually beneficial relationship between venue owners and remote workers, but Hong Kong is not yet on their list.

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Environment

It’s all about comfort. I would only work where I feel welcomed to focus for a couple of hours and not feel like I’m hogging others’ seats. Equally, we should all know our coffee shop etiquettes and respect other customers too.
Next, table space has to be sufficient so you could put your cup of coffee next to your laptop but not dangerously close. I don’t mind hard chairs, but sofa seats or cushions would be a plus! Of course, we need stable and non-dial-up-speed wifi, if I could watch a 720p video without lag, I’d say it’s okay. Power outlets can be important for those who drain their batteries quickly, but mine usually lasts long enough. Lastly, good lighting! It’s good for your eyes. Plus, natural light lifts your mood!

Location

Preferably of walking distance from MTR stations and preferably in a quiet area with elements of nature and fresh air. I live in Central and so my list probably radiates from Central and Sheung Wan.

Coffee & Food

I’m not actually a coffee critic but I do find coffee in cafés superior to the usual Starbucks. I usually order Espresso-based coffees, either Latte, Cappuccino or Mocha, (or Matcha Latte if they have it).
I usually go to coffee shops with my friend who is gluten-intolerant, so I would factor in the availability of gluten-free food options. So far I haven’t been able to find any cafés that do good gluten free cakes, which is a real shame because coffee with cake is simply divine.

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 1. COFFEE ACADEMICS

THE MORRISON, 225 WANCHAI ROAD, WANCHAI
MONDAY – SUNDAY 9AM – 9PM

35-45 johnston road, wan Chai
monday – thursday: 8am – 10pm
friday: 8am – 11pm
saturday: 9am – 11pm
sunday: 9am – 9pm

38 YIU WA STREET, CAUSEWAY BAY
MONDAY – THURSDAY: 9AM – 11PM
FRIDAY – SATURDAY: 9AM – 2AM
SUNDAY: 10AM – 9PM

About 10 minutes walk from the Wan Chai MTR, CA’s new outlet on Wan Chai Road is spacious and has plenty of natural light. It is also less crowded than other CA outlets. Outdoor seats are also available. There’s another CA outlet on Johnston Road where their Cupping Room for private tasting sessions is located. It can get a bit busy here and the air condition can sometimes be excessive, but they do have comfortable sofa seats.

Located just behind Times Square, the location of the Coffee Academics’ Flagship Outlet is prime. They have covered outdoors seats so you wouldn’t get wet even when it rains, the interior is pretty dim though. If you do not disapprove a cup of coffee late at night, this outlet opens until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays!

CA serves brilliant coffee, their house blend is rated 92/100 by the Coffee Review. They have their own roasting room and their baristas are highly skilled. They have a pretty extensive food menu including mains and desserts, gluten free options include blue corn nachos, curly fries, potato skins.

UPDATE (Feb 2016): Wifi access is limited to 120 minutes per session and max. 4 sessions per day.

2. The CUPPING ROOM

287-299 QUEEN’S ROAD CENTRAL, SHEUNG WAN
MONDAY – FRIDAY 8:00AM-5:00PM
SAT, SUN & PUBLIC HOLIDAYS 9:00AM-6:00PM

32 SWATOW STREET, WAN CHAI
MONDAY – FRIDAY 8:00AM-5:00PM
SAT, SUN & PUBLIC HOLIDAYS 9:00AM-6:00PM

Cupping Room in Sheung Wan is spacious and relaxed. They have bar chairs (with indents for your bum cheeks) and bench seats. Apart from serving coffee, Cupping Room also has a shelf of specialty coffee for sell. The two-storey Cupping Room in Wan Chai offers salmon quinoa salad and watermelon salad as gluten free food options. Their newly opened store on Cochrane Street in Central appears to be too busy however.

3. LOF10

1 U LAM TERRACE, SHEUNG WAN
MONDAY – SUNDAY: 10AM – 7PM

Lof10 is as its name suggests, lofty. With large wooden tables, minimalistic decor, a wide open door front and green surroundings, Lof10 keeps your mind clear and focused for work. The stair climb to Lof10 is pretty hefty but it’s well worth it. Their coffees are slightly more expensive than other cafés, it’s $58 for a 8oz latte. They also have food and dessert if you need something for the hungry stomach.

4. BARISTA JAM

126-128 JERVOIS STREET, SHEUNG WAN
MONDAY AND SATURDAY: 10AM – 6PM
TUESDAY – FRIDAY: 8AM – 6PM
Sunday: 11am – 6pm
CLOSED ON PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

You know they are serious about coffee once you notice their proud display of specialty coffees and sophisticated coffee equipments in every corner.  The first floor is usually packed, but there is a large communal table on the second floor providing approximately 15 seats for more privacy and a quieter environment. The lighting of the entire café is on the dim side. You are welcomed to work amongst the others even though their wifi password is passive-aggressively, 20-mins-only! They serve salads, sandwiches, pastas, and some fancy desserts. The earl grey creme brûlée is really tempting.

5. HAZEL & HERSHEY

69 PEEL STREET, CENTRAL
MONDAY – SUNDAY: 10AM – 7PM

This oasis on the slopes on Peel Street is more than just a café. Not only do they serve roasted-on-site specialty coffees, but they also sell coffee gear and hold both professional and leisure coffee classes. I actually bought my Loveramics coffee cups there! Their indoor table is a bit too low in height , but they also have some bar tables and outdoor seats. There isn’t a whole lot of food options apart from some pastries and cakes.

6. EMPRESS CAFE

MING YAN LANE, ON HING MANSION, WAN CHAI
MONDAY – SATURDAY: 12AM – 9PM
SUNDAY: 12AM – 5:30PM

Hidden in an alley in Wan Chai is Empress Cafe. There are not a lot of seats in there but the atmosphere is welcoming and cosy. This little space features a book exchange and a postcard map. You get a free hot coffee if you send them a postcard! Their coffee is comprised of a blend of 8 beans, and complementary cartoon latte art. If you are up for something unusual, try their souffle coffee and their blueberry risotto, otherwise stick with the lattes and waffle.

7. ETHOS

93 HILL ROAD, KENNEDY TOWN
MONDAY – FRIDAY: 12PM – 10PM
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY: 11AM – 10PM

Ethos is a lifestyle platform which triples as a café, a retail store and an event space promoting minimalistic design. The full height class windows give the shop a spacious feeling and display the serene surrounding. Situated next to the Hong Kong University, Ethos can be flooded with students trying to do their homework sometimes. They are opened late until 10pm for the late night workers. Food choices include risottos, pastas and panini.

8. corner kitchen café

226 hollywood road, sheung wan
MONDAY, WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY: 9am – 6pm
CLOSED ON TUESDAYS

Characterised by brick wall tiles and a wide open store front, Corner Kitchen Café gives off a laid-back, weekend vibe. The tables on the first floor are a bit small but there are sofa seats with big tables on the second floor. They serve excellent wraps and burgers as well as some of the best cakes I’ve had in Hong Kong. Bowl of chilli with tortillas and sweet potato fries are good gluten free choices, but they sell really quickly on weekends!

9. CAFé YAWN

9 HAVEN STREET, CAUSEWAY BAY
MONDAY – SUNDAY: 12PM – 10PM

With positive, inspirational quotes written over the walls and a cup of coffee, you’ll be starting your day with productivity at Café Yawn. They have power outlets for customers so feel free to bring your cables and charge up. You might want to avoid lunch and dinner times however as seats are pretty limited and the bar tables aren’t ideal for laptops. Skillets or hotplates are their specialties here.

10. THE ROASTER, STEP BY STEP

26 UPPER LASCAR ROW, SHEUNG WAN
MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY: 11AM – 7PM
FRIDAY – SUNDAY: 10AM – 8PM
CLOSED ON TUESDAYS

You wouldn’t expect a café in the middle of the antiques bazaar on Upper Lascar Row (Cat Street). Although probably more known for its waffles, the Roaster SBS is pretty serious about their coffee too. They always have a variety of single origin hand dripped coffee as well as milk-based espresso drinks. They have colourful home-like décor with leather bench seats and plastic (maybe acrylic) chairs.

Is your favourite café on the list? Let me know!

And here’s a foursquare list of the above and more!