Mixing Bowl Cafe - what's missing?

Mixing Bowl 剛開始的時候是以舉辦烘焙課程為主，例如macarons、tarts、西式麵包、cinnamon buns或puffs等等。後來還開了Mixing Bowl Cafe，當然也是位於soho區。聽閒有好咖啡喝，我便找了一個星期六和DZ來。

Cafe位於善慶街，即勝香園前一個小街口轉左行上樓梯。店子的面積比想像中大，一邊牆有寫上menu的大版子。Mixing Bowl Cafe提供的都是輕食，應該大部份都是在收銀部旁的小型開放式廚房準備。食物的選擇也不是太多，例如有Muesli Bowl、Porridge、Eggs and Toasts、Pancakes及大家都很喜愛的scones。

Originally, Mixing Bowl was about holding baking classes such as macarons, tarts, bread, cinnamon buns or puff etc. Mixing Bowl Cafe came to the scene later, situated in the soho area. I heard the Cafe serves great coffee, so DZ and I decided to try.

Mixing Bowl Cafe is at Shin Hing Street. When you see the famed Sing Heung Yuen, just keep walking and turn left and climb up the stairs. The Cafe was bigger than I expected. You can find a huge blackboard menu on  a side of the wall. Here light brunch options are served and I think most of them are prepared in the little open kitchen right next to the cashier. The food options are quite limited including Muesli Bowl, Porridge, Eggs and Toasts, Pancakes and the popular scones.

Cappuccino ($36) - 二話不說的先來一杯cappuccino，很喜歡這副白色的茶杯及碟，非常簡單的感覺。這杯咖啡很夠熱度，亦十分順滑。
Cappuccino ($36) - Cappuccino again for me, of course. I really like this set of white cup and saucer, because it looked so simple. The coffee was hot and silky smooth.

Cocotte - Not Sure How I Feel About This One

用google translate將Cocotte這法文翻譯成英文是casserole，立刻明白。Casserole就是陶瓷或玻璃製而又可以放進焗爐的煮食用具。用Casserole煮的食物也會叫 作casserole，例如chicken casserole, Sweet Potato casserole或 Lentil casserole等等。Casserole也是常用來做frittatas, lasagna macaroni甚至baked french toast 等等。用途真的非常廣泛。

用Cocotte作為店名，應該有不少casserole菜式吧。(但看了看dinner menu又好像不是。。。)

Having no clue as to what "cocotte" means, I used google translate. It's casserole in English, which is like a pot used for cooking as well as the name for dishes cooked in it like chicken casserole, sweet potato casserole or lentil casserole. It can also be used to make frittatas, lasagna macaroni or even baked french toast etc. Truly multi-functional!

Having the name as Cocotte means they've got lots of casserole dishes? (not really judging from the dinner menu)

這天來是吃早午餐的，有數個禮拜沒有吃brunch了，心癮又起。想起之前在報章上看到對Cocotte早午餐的介紹便決定來試試。因為網上好像找不到對於它的早午餐的評語，所以來之前也就沒有什麼期望之類的，純平常心。

Due to the lack of brunch in the past few weeks, I decided to try Cocotte after reading about it in some magazines. I couldn't really find any review online on the brunch here and therefore I didn't have any idea what it served nor did I have any kind of expectation about it.

在歌賦街附近的善慶街，不算難找。店子不太大，星期六大約下午一時半左右來是大概80%滿。有梳化位，而且梳化不會太低，很舒服。

Cocotte is located on Shin Hing Street, just next to Gough Street and not hard to find at all. The restaurant is not huge. On a Saturday afternoon around 13:30 it's about 80% full. They have comfortable sofa seats.

Eggs En "Cocotte" (HK$118) - 先來一客用casserole的菜式。賣相不錯吧，但份量超少。請注意，這一道本身是有pancetta的，但我們要求除去。逐款談談。首先那片麵包其實是多士，很脆，沒有味道。另外主要的材料為炒菇、炒菠菜、一旁呈波浪形很美的薯蓉及最底的前蛋。我估計菇及菠菜是先炒好，薯蓉也是已經準備好。那麼廚師只需在這casserole上煎好蛋，就可以把其餘材料放上蛋上。
Eggs En "Cocotte" (HK$118) - First dish to arrive was the casserole dish. Looked pretty great huh? Sadly the portion was super tiny. Take note that this dish normally comes with pancetta which was requested to be taken out by us. The little toast on the right hand side was very crispy but with not much flavour. The wild mushrooms and baby spinach were pan-fried, next to it was mashed potato and underneath them all was a thin piece of fried egg.

VEYGO-Way to Go, oh wait, it's more than that

好吧，我是被這家cafe的人流而吸引進來的。話說有一個星期六的下午時候經過上環的Veygo Coffee，在門前看到cafe內坐滿了食客，有很多人在吃burger，加上食物賣相挺好的，便決定有空時拜訪。

Alright, I was attracted to this cafe since it has become quite popular lately. It was a normal Saturday when I walked past Veygo Coffee and saw the little cafe full of people, many of them with burgers. 

正式再來的時候是一個閒日的中午時份，來吃午餐的上班一族也不少。店子不太大，裝潢走簡約路線。侍應們服務及態度都非常好，肯花不少時間回答客人的問題。打開餐牌還有點嚇了一跳，有很多的選擇呢，例如常見的brunch選擇如all day breakfast, egg benedicts，還有沙律、不同款式的burger等。

When I finally came here again it was a weekday afternoon and many office workers came for lunch. TC and I got in. The cafe is not very specious, yet cozy with a simplistic style. Service from waiters/waitresses was good and they were willing to answer questions in length. I was pleasantly surprised to see the cafe offers a good variety of brunch food like all day breakfast, egg benedicts, salad and burgers.

但很快對這家cafe的好感幻滅。

Well, the good impression disappeared as fast as the speed of light.

咖啡 - 先來杯咖啡。沒記錯的話，我的一杯是creme brulee cappuccino。我的印象是，嘩很甜！可能我一直都是在Cafe Habitu那裡喝creme brulee cappuccino，而Cafe Habitu 的是咖啡上有一薄片的焦糖，用匙羹按下去會把那片焦糖切碎，而且下面的咖啡一點都不甜。但在Veygo Coffee的是完全不同的！因為它的creme brulee原來是指creme brulee味的糖漿。。。唉，真的是有早知無乞衣。另想強調的是這杯咖啡真的很很很很甜。連鎖咖啡店的各式各樣下不同味道糖漿的咖啡也沒有這裡的甜。 

TC的那杯咖啡好像是Malt Latte或Malt Cappuccino，忘了是那款。但唯一記得的這杯甜得令人想反桌的味道！！對！又是非常非常甜的一杯！反正大家來的話就建議點最平凡的Latte、Cappuccino或Flat White，除非你嗜甜，那麼你可以點這些特式咖啡挑戰極限。

Coffee - First thing first, coffee. If I remember correctly, I ordered creme brulee cappuccino and it was so f**king sweet. I admit that my only other creme brulee cappuccino experience has always been with Cafe Habitu, which offers "real creme brulee", a thin piece of brunt caramel on top of the coffee, and the coffee is never sweet. The creme brulee cappuccino here is totally different. Creme brulee flavour syrup is used... I just wish to stress again that this coffee is really really sweet and be warned. It's even sweeter than the 'flavoured syrup coffee" you get from chain cafes.

What about TC's coffee? I remember it's either malt latte or malt cappuccino, I forget which but the only thing I can still remember vividly is the sweetness. It's so sweet that you wanna hit someone and go on a murder spree.

I strongly advise everyone to just order their normal latte, cappuccino or flat white etc unless you want to push the limit.

這是Cafe Habitu的，是名副其實的creme brulee。

The following is my definition of "creme brulee cappuccino", from Cafe Habitu.

IL CAFFE - Didn't expect I get something so nice

有一個星期一的下午，我和NK在結志街附近漫無目的的閑逛，逛來逛去在街市的一旁見到了一家毫不起眼的cafe，便走了進去。原來是一家面積頗細的咖啡店。但老土的一句，麻雀雖小，五臟俱全，而且凍櫃內的甜點蛋糕很吸引，再加上有我好奇的窩夫及香濃的咖啡香，我便決定一定要光顧！

One weekday afternoon NK and I were wandering around Gage Street and then we spotted a cafe tucked away in the wet market on Gage Street. We decided to have a try. It's a small cafe but you can see all the professional coffee equipment squeezing in this small yet cozy cafe. You can also see all the desserts to go with your coffee...

有一座懷舊的雪櫃，但不知是否可用的。

A vintage fridge, I wondered if it's still functioning.

The Cupping Room - Simple and delicious

嗯，另一間有贏得不同Barista獎項的Cafe。說起來，其實我第一次去The Cupping Room的時間，它仍然在赤柱那邊，後來搬到上環，赤柱那裡則變成另一個名字的cafe，不過不太清楚它們的關係。

Another cafe with various barista awards. Indeed, I had already been to The Cupping Room when it was still in Stanley. The original place is now occupied by another cafe with a different name but I am not sure the relationship between the two.

星期六的午飯時間去到很多人呢。整間cafe都是非常熱鬧。店內的裝潢走簡約風，用了很多木。食客可坐下點想吃的，吃完後到收銀處付錢。收銀的地方放了些酥點及甜點，有店方自製的。

Lunch hours on a Saturday was quite busy here. There is not much decoration inside the cafe. Customers can first order, finish their meal and walk to the cashier to pay before leaving. There are also some cakes and danish at the cashier, some of which are homemade.