Sift  

First time to write an openrice review. Start to write one because Sift's cupcakes are worth trying!

Environment

Cosy, small restaurant. Sift has an open area and we've booked it. Unfortunately, it rained so heavily today so we didn't sit outside.

Service

Waiter helped us to refill hot water into tea pot. As there are not many customers today, food came fast =]

Food

Of coz, the most important part is the afternoon tea! When I was looking in the past open rice review, I could only see people ordered a few cupcakes or a the chocolate lava cake. The afternnoon tea at Sift is really a hidden GEM!

At a price of $ 300 without service charge, you can have an afternoon tea for two. That means it is just $150 per head.
It covers a pot of tea at your own choice, chocolate pavlova, lemon tart, caramel banana cake, 4 mini-cup cakes and 2 normal cupcakes for take away.

The chocolate pavlova is very sweet! The strawberry became tasteless because the chocolate pavlova is very sugary . The lemon tarts are so adorable with the decoration! It is refreshing and not too sweet!

The vanilla ice-cream is perfect match of the banana cake! But it melted quickly so better to eat fast heheeThe 4 mini cupcakes are included in the afternoon tea set! The cupcakes offered today is dark chocolate, milk chocolate, caramel and carrot cake. My favorite is the carrot cupcake! I think it is better than those in SEVVA. The icing is creamy and sweet.

2 cupcakes at your own choiceI shared the green tea cupcakes with my family when i returned home. It is basically some green tea mousse on top of a chocolate cake. The chocolate cake is similar to chiffon cake but the chocolate is very rich. Not too sweet. My mum likes it very much!

Sift meant "cupcakes!" to me (like how cupcakes meant "red velvet").

After several failed attempts to try out this "dessert bar" of Sift after my Friday night dinners in Soho, I pretty much gave up (it was normally packed with a "waiting list" running).

The first day of work for the grand year of 2012 was (unfortunately) depressing. Soho was exceptionally quiet and peaceful after the celebration season of the end of year. After having some mussels, a nice plate of al dente pasta and several glass of red elsewhere, my friend and I decided to head to Sift once again.

The gem was almost empty apart from a pair of couple. We took the table near the door facing the very steep Graham Street and studied the menu relaxly as bright headlamps of cars and taxis flashed by. The decor was simple and the light was dim; it felt so cozy. And with so few customers (more "airy" surrounding), I actually smelt sweetness in the air – some sort of milk chocolate mixed with maple syrup with a hint of vanilla (for a moment, I thought it was still the very romantic Christmas season). The waitress was courteous and promptly brought us two glasses of water after we were seated. Later on, my friend asked for warm water and that was brought forward additionally with smile.



Sift Chocolate Cake The signature cake – the Sift Chocolate Cake. The presentation was nice; served on a long plate with a gracious trail of chocolate sauce and a generous amount of praline crunch. Heartful layers of chocolate ganache, jivara cremeux, praline crunch and chocolate fudge cake. Carefully chosen praline crunch instead of chocolate crunch to avoid being "too chocolatey"; carefully chosen jivara cremeux (jivara, for those of you do not know, is milk chocolate consisting of around 40% cocoa with some malt and makes the chocolate much more velvety than usual) to maximise the creaminess of the cake. The texture was art. The crunchy and crispy praline crunch gave life to the soft fudge cake and velvety chocolate cream (ahh.. romance). This may sound weird, but the cake had the perfect temperature too! Yes, and I meant it was cold enough to give me this chill when the forkful of chocolate cake met my tongue, but WITHOUT ruining the creaminess. HEAVENLY! It was NOT overwhelmingly chocolatey/sweet/heavy, it was overwhelmingly GOOD.

Maple and Mascarpone Cheesecake I love cheesecakes, and I have a preference for really thick, heavy, creamy ones (more of an American cheesecake lover). This did not fall within my general "yes I love you cheesecake" category, but it was oh-so-very enjoyable!! The maple and mascarpone cheesecake was showered with the maple cream reduction, with a small little plate with 2 pieces of walnut shortbread beside. The cheesecake itself was good enough for hard-core cheesecake lovers who crave for strong and heavy cheesecakes. It had the perfect balance of taste, spot-on mix of mascarpone and maple; fresh and beautiful on its own by itself. Now gliding a bit more of the maple cream reduction shot a blink to my eyes; satisfying (yummm). Then having a bite of the walnut shortbread; comforting (bringing any excess sweetness away, if any). Finally, thinking back about my (indeed crap) day, nothing mattered more now. The time seemed to have frozen that very moment.



Now that I have tried this place on this quiet night – I have to say I would still give it a "pass" for bustling Friday nights. I will, however, definitely revisit during weeknights; for the sweetness in the air and for the superb dessert - which ought to be enjoyed cozily.

At the end, I did have a sweet start to this new year.

Found out from of a friend ... research has shown that a female's tummy expands once they hear the word "dessert". I guess that explains my second appetite for sweets. It probably also explains why there was not a single male customer even though this place was almost full! Had lunch with girls then decided to properly end our meal with dessert at Sift. I've read reviews and have always wanted to try this place. Since I had lunch in Central, I took this perfect opportunity to try it out!Entering the restaurant, couldn't help but swoon at the sweet smell of baked goods. Got a table at the actual bar where we could watch the chefs prepare all of our desserts. I really liked the concept of a dessert bar: it's quite rare to get one of these in HKG so its a new experience coming here. The sight of chefs gradually folding dark, rich chocolate into silky smooth cream was a beautiful sight

The menu isn't big, as they only serve drinks and desserts. There is a minimum charge of $65 per head, so it's probably best to order a dessert each! We ordered 3 desserts:Sift Chocolate Cake, $72: This was impressive! I really enjoyed the flavour, texture and presentation of this dessert. A combination of chocolate fudge cake, layered with chocolate ganache, jivara cremeux and praline crunch, it was so satisfying . The presentation is simple - the cake itself placed on one side of a long, narrow plate, topped with some crunch flakes. The other side of the place was simply a line of crunch flakes - simple, elegant, lovely! The excess flakes on the side was perfect, because I love them and it adds crunch to the cake. Now, the cake itself. It was very chocolately, very rich yet not overwhelmingly sweet. The temeperature was good, cold enough and the texture was heavenly. The smooth chocolate mousse was greatly contrasted with the dense, moist cake and crunch. Yum!!!!!! For all you chocolate lovers out there, this is a recommended!Chocolate and Strawberry Pavlova, $90: This was also a delight to look at from start to finish. A beautiful piece of chocolate pavlova covered with some whipped cream then a generous layer of strawberries and a final sprinkle of grated chocolate. This is served with a little glass of Chardonnay Jelly. This was good in contrast with the chocolate dessert because it was lighter and more refreshing. This dessert was great too. The chocolate pavlova was light and airy. Crispy on the outside, moist and chewy in the middle. Paired with the whipped cream and strawberries (you can't really go wrong with strawberries and cream!), it was a great summer dessert. The strawberries were a little sour, but that didn't really matter because the pavlova was sweet and chocolatey. The jelly wasn't really my thing, don't really like such strong alcoholic flavour in my desserts. For those who do, might like it - was cold and light, interesting contrast in flavour and texture with the pavlova itself. Molten Chocolate Cake, $85: Only had one bite of this one, but it was a nice, satisfying bite! The cake was warm and the inside definitely molten. It was rich, dense, moist and chocolatey. Topped with some ice cold vanilla ice cream and chocolate almond crunch it was very warming. It's heavier than the other two dessert, maybe also due to the fact that it is served warm. For me, that's fine ... it is dessert afterall !

The place itself is quite cosy, since we chose to sit at the bar, I couldn't tell if the tables were too close to each other. Atmosphere was nice, quite good for chilling with the girls. Service was fine too, the chef behind the bar was the one who took our orders and he was quite friendly. Great place it you have time for a nice dessert, especially to all those girls with a sweet tooth like me!

Likes: Sift Chocolate Cake
Dislikes: -
Come Again? Yes
Room for Improvement: Their menu (physically) because it didn't really give a good first impression when you sit down, open the menu and the paper is slightly crumpled with some stains. They can do much better! Other than this, really quite a unique place they've got.

Having had one of Sift's red velvet cupcakes previously (which are soooo good~) I have always wanted to visit their dessert bar to try their much talked about 'Sift chocolate cake'.

I got that opportunity last Friday and was it worth the hype?

It was actually pretty good... smooth, velvety chocolate mousse encasing layers of chocolate sponge cake accompanied with sprinkles of chocolate wafer. It was rich, but not overwhelmingly so unlike the other dessert ordered.The molten chocolate cake came out collapsed with its innards spilling everywhere so definitely not the most appealing in terms of presentation. Luckily it tasted much better than it looked... seriously chocolately, but became overly sweet after a few bites even with the vanilla ice-cream to cut through the richness.Despite the molten chocolate cake being so-so, I'm still coming back to try their other desserts~

We had read about sift and passed by many times but decided to make the leap and try it today.

At 8pm on a Thursday night, we were the only diners, although 2 people came in to pick up pre-orders. We were a bit full after dinner and decided to share a sift chocolate cake.

Verdict: Very tasty. A good mix of textures from the smooth chocolate ganache and crunchy flakes. The cake was not too sweet and would be perfect with an afternoon coffee. It wasn't cheap at $72+10%, but a nice treat to have once in a while.

this is my second visit.

first time i went, it was after dinner and we sat in the outside garden to enjoy sift's delectable desserts.

on this occasion, my aim was to go for their infamous cupcakes, however because it was quite late, they only had 1 left, carrot flavour =p

we decided to sit down for tea, although the place was empty, the service was slow. We ordered a camomile tea and hot chocolate and also their signature choco cake to share.

boy, were we impressed! the chocolate mousse soft, yet hard, complimented by the crispies. and although the whole cake was solely chocolate, was not too sweet at all!

will definitely come again to try all other desserts, although a bit pricy!

Sift Chocolate Cake~
Many different textures were combined in this small cake!
Chocolate mousse, ganache and chocolate crisps on the top, together with its cake base and hazelnut infusion, it was full of flavor! I will come for it again! =)

Chocolate Fantasie~ (Creme Brulee, Sorbet, Chocolate Tart, Napoleon)
I love the Chocolate tart the most! (it's hot and like 心太軟! So rich and tasty!)

雖然SERVICE麻麻~ 但覺得可能係藝術家既脾氣~ 哈哈~

Came to Sift since after eating dinner on Hollywood road with a few friends. Honestly, I've always just done takeout at their store in Wanchai and never actually sat down at their Central restaurant.

Environment - It was pouring tonight so everyone had to sit inside (looks like they might have outside seating out back). If you are not sitting at the bar the place is actually pretty cramped. When the 4 of us first got there there were no seats available so we waited 3-5 minutes inside (rain outside) but we were constantly getting in the way of the waitstaff since there was no room. Place is pretty clean looking but it's a shame the place is so cramped.

Service - It's not bad. The waitstaff wasn't unfriendly but I felt there were a little on the quiet/reserved side. Food did come out quickly and that's always nice.

Honestly, by the time dinner was done I was stuffed. I'm not even sure why I decided to order a chocolate cake...haha.

Sift Chocolate Cake - If you like chocolate this cake is for you. Really rich and full of flavor. I especially like how the chocolate crisps on top that provide an extra dimension to the texture. Really quite awesome and creamy inside. After about 5-6 bites I was stuffed and my friends were happy to devour the rest

My personal opinion is unless the Sift restaurant is relatively empty I still prefer to takeout since I'm not really a big fan of cramped places. I know dai pai dongs (大牌檔) are just as cramped but the turnover there (customer wise) is so much quicker while costumers at Sift (or coffee/dessert shops in general) want to sit a while and enjoy themselves. Chocolate cake as always was good.

This is my first time to Sift. It was recommended by friends that the chef studied in France. So, tonight we were a group of 4 waiting for our Bar table for 15 - 20 mins. Most of the customers were Chinese and Indians. So, we ordered 4 different dessert. And we saw the staff preparing them in front of us. It is clean and tidy.

However, I would say the dessert presentation is "trying too hard" to be French. And the taste is just so so. I ordered the one called Pistachio XXXX. It is like pistachio cream + cherries on 5 biscuits. It costs me $70-80. It seems no skills at all.

Overall, the service is good. the hygiene seems ok. But the most important is you can get a better dessert from a lot of SOHO restaurants.

===Summary
OK dessert, bad service (see many other supporting comments)

A great hangout for philistine yuppies

===Background:
I came by with a friend after a usual Soho Friday dinner. Instead of heading straight to the bars, we decided to walk downhill in search for desserts before the apres diner drinks .

We strolled by this place. No sign. No menu. Glass front and sparse seating. Only one table was occupied. We were interested in what this restaurant is about and went in to ask. The waiter tell us that this place serves dessert. We were in luck.

===Service:
We ordered the chocolate fantasies first, to see if this place was any good. Before we get to order, we were told the minimum charge on this place was $XX. It didn't matter much as 2 dessert orders would be over the amount anyhow.

It wasn't because of what was said but how he said it, we couldn't help but get the whiff of snobbishness from the waiter, which was strange because we were in Soho and usually the service is quite good. I brushed it off as being too sensitive and just asked what other dessert he would recommend and that also if this place was new. We didn't see any signs or menus outside. He looked away the whole time we were taking the order and rolled his eyes, saying this place has been around for 3 years and recommended the chocolate cake. There was no signs because the owners wanted it not to have one.

We were kind of ticked off by then. It wasn't expensive, but we didn't pay to be treated this way.

===Food:
The chocolate fantasy
Chocolate napoleon, chocolate crème brulée, warm chocolate tart, chocolate sorbet

This was great, with warm and cold sensations and very rich chocolate in varying textures. Although it sounds cliche, "the wafer part was crunchy, the soft part was silky" and it such basic things that many places seem to miss. This plate was able to maintain the contrasts, keep a toned presentation. Very nicely executed.

The sift chocolate cake
A disappointment. Some desserts deserve the term "Classic" and others deserves "Old." Apparently this was famous a few years back, but I guess in Hong Kong the dessert trend is a bit slow and also by now it has reached the ordinary populace. This just tastes average to me. The presentation is standard, and the hazelnut infusion gives me a "its been done" taste.

===Judgment
Dessert is average. Service is poor.

After reading the other comments on this restaurant, apparently MK people who studies 八掛雜誌 like to come here to see stars(追星癮). So if that's your cup of tea, but all means come by to see others of your type and suffer the consequences by your choice.

So that's a good thing about this place, is that if your date happens to fit into the notorious HKG type, its easy to get her all warmed up here. You know, throwing out those wine terms that you don't understand but knowing she doesn't either. Stuff like that. Go get your thing on! Its all good.

For those of you who don't find the chardonnay jelly or chocolate hazelnut grenache a novelty on your culinary checklist, you know I'm not coming back, ever. Feels like 翠華 at 4am without the comfort of its condense milk buns.

Just in case Openrice editors decides to put this comment off the point system because this is a complaint on bad service (I saw many many complaints on service being taken off the system), let it be known that I feel service is a big part of the dining experience. I know the Michellin people agree with me on this too.

I love chocolates very much but I never really believe the so-called belief or myth about how it can cure depression or unhappiness, maybe because I consider myself to be a fairly cheerful person in general most of the time so it never really works on me. What I do believe in is that sweets can put a smile on one's face and I am in need of one. Instead of going for Happy Hour drinks, my friend and I decided to head for some sweets at Sift.
We arrived around 6:30pm and we were the only customers, perfect!! Throughout our stay, we had the rare opportunity to be surrounded by the savoring scents of various desserts and sauces because the staff were busy preparing different items for the after dinner crowds.
(1) Sift Chocolate Cake
Very well done indeed. The mousse-like outer layer with the chocolate fudge cake inside were rich in flavor but not too strong at all. Together with the praline crunch / flakes, the cake combined 3 different textures in every bite. Soft layer, harder fudge cake base and the crunchy flakes, very good indeed. Two thumbs up! The long lost smile was on my face for a short period of time, a moment to treasure indeed.
(2) House Coffee
Coffee from a French press is supposed to be stronger already based on the way it is prepared and served; however the coffee served was very light and weak. It was actually at a bit watery in my opinion. Very disappointing coffee. The only nice touch from this order was the milk which was served warmed. I like my coffee black with some brown sugar but I still think the warmed milk was worth a note.
(3) Sticky Toffee Pudding
The presentation was very nice. Honestly, the so-called pudding was not how I imagined it, it looked more like a sliced loaf of cake. I guess there isn't a defined way of how a pudding should be made as long as it is rich in flavor and high in starch! With that definition in mind the rich toffee sauce together with the warmed pudding tasted very good to my surprise. With a bit of banana ice cream, the texture, flavor and contrast in temperature actually complimented each other very well. Another two thumbs up plus a little smile on my face.

Guess what! Sift has it own blog !!!
Check it out ... http://siftdesserts.blogspot.com/
Likes:
* Great Ambiance (when we were the only table that is)
* Sift Chocolate Cake
* Sticky Toffee Pudding
Dislikes:
* Weak Coffee - disappointing
Original Blog: http://jason-bonvivant.blogspot.com/2009/08/sift-soho.html

This was my second visit to Sift. I first visited about a year ago and was very impressed by the desserts. In particular, the Sift chocolate cake, with its delicious crushed crispy crepes dentelles

I went back this week with some friends. We sat at the bar this time, where we could see the food being prepared (recommended as it's a fascinating process), but last time we sat outside, which is nice when the weather is cooler. It reminds me of New York.

The only question I would have is why the menu seemed almost exactly the same one year later. It would be good to keep the signature desserts (chocolate cake), but it would be nice to have some other choices beside chocolate and strawberries -- perhaps green tea, chestnuts, lavender, apricot, dates, almonds, pistachios...some more adventurous choices would be appreciated. Chocolate and berries are nice, but to be truly innovative, Sift has not yet shown that much creativity. Good presentation does not equal creativity.

因為有friend同我一樣失業
就有機會同like dessert既人一齊去這間Dessert House
3:15pm arrived, the table next to the window has been occupied by 4 Japanese and Honkie ladies. We were very suprised that someone was even earlier than us to arrive, cause you know the opening hour start from 3pm.......
This was the first time i have been there and found that the shop is really really tiny, like a shoe case. Only 3 tables and some bar seats, and a backyard (no idea how many seats will they have there).
The amtoshpere is not that good in the daytime, i don't think they have enough lighting system at all, very dark inside.....

Things that order:
Chocolate & Strawberry Pavlova - Me
I think it did a fantastic work for Choclate Pavlova. i liked the crunchy texture when i knocked it. It was fragile. When you put it into mouth, actually it melted. It was absolutely very sweet by it own, but it was balanced when having it with strawberries and cream.
Chardonnay Gelee, is not my food, i don't like bitter. After flavour of bitter, it changed to flavour of berry jam, sorry......

Variation on Strawberries - Friend
I tried his Strawberry Vanilla Panna Cotta. Very nice, very strong vanilla flavour but the surface was completely dry out when refrigerating it. Except the "dry out" surface, it was perfect. Other two items were just so-so.

If the weather is good, i prefer sitting outside, cause the room is very tiny and the "open kitchen" is just next to the customer, so it is very din always. it was one of the drawback.
One more thing disappointed me was they couldn't serve ice-cream due to the ice-cream machine was broken..sigh..cause i really wanted to try the Sticky Toffee Pudding which contains banana ice-cream on top.....Hope ice-cream can be served when i go there next time.

It is my favorite dessert place. Just that sometime I feel bummed out with the waiting and having to leave when you finish your dessert. Like what many other say, you can't just sit and chill with your friends, unless it's a quiet night.
But I have to say recently though their quality has slightly deteriorated.
Unlike the usual, the pavlova was not chewy inside, it was too crunchy. Is it cause they are too busy with managing so many stores now?
Hope the next time I go the pavlova will be as good as I always remember it to be

been here twice, 1st time we booked out whole place for a dessert party, 2nd time just walk in on a weekend after dinner.

given there was a very huge minimum spend for booking out the whole place, i've pretty much tried everything this place has to offer. most notable must try is the strawberry pavlova and the sift chocolate cake.

the sift chocolate cake was heavenly, really good mixture of ganache, crispy, cake. although all chocolate, still complex flavour and texture but at the same time not too sweet. so it was possible to finish the whole dessert oneself.

the strawberry pav was gorgeous as well, crunchy on the outside, chewy inside. named after a russian ballerina, my russian friend approved (tho it's NZ in origin). the champagne jelly was not that great though, if it is to clear one's pallet, it was a bit too bitter and dull, would be better if it had more strawberry/rasberry flavour.

the macaroons here are not bad. again still can't compare to laudree's gems but it'll suffice till my next trip to paris.

also had a birthday cake from here, forgot which one but it was also very good.

yes service here really sucks, and worse if the owner is there cuz the staff seem so nervous in front of her. so if u can ignore that then you'll enjoy the desserts here. sitting at the back outside might be a good idea then u don't get exposed to the bad service as much.