Yu-E Cake + Cafe    如意餅店  

It was my grandma’s birthday and I would like to give her a surprise. I thought the cake from Yu-E is extremely suitable for people who are in older age as the cakes all filled with “Chinese” style. Originally I planned to order a Chocolate cake from the shop, but when I wrote down the wordings for the cake was ready to pay the bill, I was given some advice. Instead of the Chocolate cake in brown color, I was recommended the Strawberry mousse cake. The strawberry cake was in pink color, and it definitely looks nicer than the Chocolate cake, it was a perfect match with the “Chinese flowers” instead. Eventually, I changed my mind and ordered the Strawberry cake. My family liked the cake very much, they kept praising and taking photos of it. It was not only the appearance worth praising, but also the taste. The Strawberry was actually consisted of strawberry mousse and cheesecake. However, the cheesecake was not as ‘cheese’ as expected, it was actually hard to taste the cheese, which makes it become acceptable to most older age people like my grandma. It was a really nice cake, but the location of the cake shop is a bit far away to me, I would like to try some more tiny cakes when I past by in the future.

Passion -- Not everyone has it, but when he/she does, it's a beautiful thing, a perfect driving force that brings out the best in some people. Those with passion exert extra efforts to get something done, or get them exactly right, if not going an extra lengths to reach perfection, by not only the trade's standards but also their own. It is crucial to have passion in whatever you do, and when you do, the work that turns out cannot be anything short of fantastic -- because we have the dedication for it, no matter how hard. Ye bu-E takes up a space in Tin Hau, on a not-so convenient location not the most remote of places. The purple and grey decor has a sense of understated grace, with hanging paintings of peach blossoms.

Meet Maxi and Michael, brother and sister team who opened Yu-E a while back. Maxi works at the shop's front while Michael has extensive experiences making cakes-- for birthdays and for weddings. One look into the design portfolio of his will reveal the creativity of 3-dimensional designs without the tacky ruffle-dress on toy doll idea. Yu-E needed no princesses,as it has flowers -- lots of them. Flower-shaped birthday cakes are sold here at Yu-E. It comes in Passion Fruit Cheese Mousse and Mango Mousse at the time the above photos were taken. As for the peach blossoms, every design has been carefully constructed on paper before each fragile twig or blooming blossom is softly dabbed and skillfully crafted on the cake's surface. The result is a lovely artpiece that signifies dedication.

On two occasions I purchased birthday cakes for the ladies in my family-- the mother and the granny. The passion fruit cheese mousse is of a lighter shade of beige, with a uniform creaminess all the way through. White-Chocolate Painted petals surrounded the sides, while the mastery skills of cake decoration was presented at the top, ever so technical as the flowers and branches are quickly outlined down to the detail of flower buds. Seeing Michael bending over the kitchen counter, with both hands holding a parchment paper formed cone holding the chocolate 'paint', each flower bud is carefully 'painted' onto the blank canvas of a cake surface. The cake itself is of a lighter quality -- Passion Fruit is blended into a mousse made with cream cheese and cream so fluffy and light that the sponge cake seemed heavier, in comparison to the feathery light mousse whose sharp fruity tang of passion fruit coincides with buttery creaminess within.

Mango Mousse Cake is another favorite, with a bigger size this time, so did the flowers, as they turned from smaller flowers into magnificent blossoms the colours of the deepest crimson, perfectly setting atop the golden hue of mango mousse. The fruity mousse filling is lightly whipped, and the cake is yet so light it doesn't sit heavily on the stomach. Seeing the master baker carefully paint the outline of the cake, constructing blooming buds and petals along the side, with the smallest petals the size of a sweat bead on his forehead. His hands did not shake for one second through his inspired construction process, as Michael lets his creativity flares to create the flamboyance of the blooming beauty built entirely on a cake, as opposed to a blank canvas with paint.

Cakes at Yu-E are on the sweeter side, not purely on the flavours, which are lighter than most conventional cakes, but the taste of passion that brings the best out of our abilities. It proves to all of us who dare to dream big, and want to make the best we can to create something big -- even bigger than our dreams. The dedication, efforts, and determination one must have to take one step further on. While I may not be the best person to judge on cakes, I'd like to think of myself as someone who has a passion on food, and like many who write and read here, the taste of passion is often more complex than the food itself.

Note: The price per person is an average of the two cakes combined.

Very stressed and wanna stay at home for the projects ... turned out to be watching sevens and having a refreshment tea at this venue.

No one was there at 4-ish.

Both of us shared a tea as I just craved for a hot coffee. We had the opera and mocha, as my dear could not have sth too mousse-y and creamy *but want cakes lol*

Very nice in presentation with chocolate sauced blossom pattern next by the Opera. And my cup of mocha was topped with a hearty coffee art.

The opera was not bad, not too rich. Layers identified, strong chocolate flavor. Just the side sauce was sooooo sweet. It was average overall, while mostly came from the presentation of the dish.

My mocha was a super rich one, no sugar was needed. It was soupy ... having the mocha itself was enough for tea.

So... the tea was a heavy one. And it was $75 incl 10% service charge, my stomach was very full, just like having lunch. Hope to try their signature cake when my dear was getting better

Both the café and the coffee were much better than I expect… However,…

Yu E served local roaster Glory Coffee’s Parisian blend. Somehow, the blend reminded me of Coco Espresso which shares the same Sydney root. Its espresso was quite good, beginning with a nice acidity and end with a syrupy consistency but I couldn’t detect its licorice finish per Glory’s tasting note. Blame it on me then.

Also, I didn’t feel any hint of Robusta in the blend. The body was like any other all arabica blend, ie no so big, in-your-face things like most Robusta (Zambra and Segafredo came to my mind for the Robusta kick/monster). However, the lingering effect of caffeine cast some doubt on me all day which, at first, I thought I didn’t have enough rest. Until I looked up on Glory’s website.

In fact, it is a very nice job and I prefer this blend to what was served at Zambra. However, if I have a choice, I would avoid any blend with robusta at all costs due to its lingering high caffeine effects (I believe the amount is about double of that in arabica) as I don’t drink coffee for its caffeine.

Cappuccino has cocoa powder in there and I cannot order another one without the powder as I’m in a rush. So, I could only tell about texture and temp. The texture was similar to that at Fuel, ie better than Coco but nowhere as velvety as Crema, the best in Hong Kong, IMHO. The temp was just within the high end of the acceptable range but I did tell the barista I like my Capp warm. So, I guess the modus operandi of this café is similar to others in term of highest possible temp for hot drinks to fit local taste. To be on the safe side, order your drink warm here.

The chocolate mousse cake was good but nothing’s fantastic. All cakes were saliently boast of homemade/inhouse. It went well with its coffee though but that’s about as far as I will go with its chocolate mousse. Mind you I’m not a cake expert and, in general, I don’t like almost all cake in Hong Kong.

With all above, I though to myself I could recommend this café. However, I was totally flabbergasted by the bill. My tiny piece of cake cost me HK$32 and the whole bill came in at HK$116 with 10% service charge. This means that each coffee costs me about HK$30-40, extremely steep for the location. I could have about the same level of coffee and cake at Fuel or a much friendlier café like Coco or much better coffee overall at Crema, the latter two at much lower prices. I really wonder who will come across town for this place and pay IFC’s price with the similar product so it amazed me who the café thought of as a target customer.

So drop by if you’re in the area and don’t mind to pay $$$. Its set lunch was around HK$200+ and its dinner set even goes higher.

Came to take a look at their Cakes. To the naked eye, the Display Fridge shows a few pieces of cakes with questional execution and finish - a bit rough on the edges, a bit creasy and 'dry', a bit too expensive at nearly $40. In the end I only tried their Coffees. Purported to be made by a good Barista according to the familiar faced Lady Boss, she ensured me her coffee maker was 'poached' from another shop and really great before I even asked, and he can even draw pretty Latte Art..... I politely said COOL, WHY NOT! to her and placed my order - except their coffee prices aren't printed on the menu...... (it will come back to bite me later, trust me!)

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ESPRESSO -
This was made on a good WEGA machine and freshly grinded to order, but ultimately served in too big a cup for an Espresso with flat base. Upon questioning them, they assuremed me they will buy new demitasse cups later, so apparently its only a new opening's gremlin waiting to be sorted.

This Espresso was quite alive, with an amber-red hue Crema, albeit slightly thin bodied roundness than its true potential. Purely a barista rather than coffee bean issue as far as I can tell! With a salted caramelly yet floral like aroma, it carried slight red fruit sourness in the cup in a good way. The caramel aroma lingered on even after finishing the drink. A really fresh Kenya Bean, perfectly roasted by local roaster GLORY.
SCORE: '3.8/5'

CAFFE LATTE -
This was abnormally too Cold, luckily I like coffees this way. Unfortunately, the amount of foam in the cup was around 5cm too high for a true Caffe Latte. I'm surprised that despite a highly aerated-foam a small 'tree' was still drawn on the surface! This Caffe Latte was slightly too weak and I would imagine it'll turn even weaker if it had more milk-to-foam portion. For this cup size, it needs a bigger espresso base. Nevertheless, it was acceptable but not as good as the Espresso.
SCORE: '3.0/5'

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AND HERE CAME THE "STICKER SHOCK" - THE ESPRESSO, WOULD COST ME $38 + 10%. MAKE THAT EXACTLY DOUBLE WITH MY 2nd CAFFE LATTE!

I couldn't help give the lady boss a look of reproach on my face as I was handed the bill... afterall she was who recommended me to try them. Her excuse that she uses a better quality bean than Starbucks turned out to be a 'lame gag' that made my day! But having seen the Da Domenico's $55 Espresso price tag, should I not be bewildered by opportunistic shop owners? Nope - I still think its outrageously priced.

As a side note, seeing that I'll probably never write a Review on GLORY coffee on Openrice, as they're more of a wholesaler and roaster than a true Cafe just like many other coffee roasters (HKCoffee, TATA, KITAMURA, etc) - from my experience of them so-far, they really can become a formidable force in the local coffee industry. They carry the right knowledge and education, perhaps also the mentality and equipment, to know how to source, roast and blend their beans quite well at international standards. I'm rather impressed! My coffees at YU-E were quite ok, so too was the Barista, but most of the credit must go to GLORY and their ability to churn out some lively and non-commercialised coffees!

YUE-E = Low - Mid '3'
GLORY COFFEE = High '4' - '5'