Crema  

We got there at around 2:30pm on a Saturday and it was pretty packed, we scored a table in the middle of the store and was immediately handed a menu. They had a very simple menu with a variety of coffee, cakes on display and some mains like pasta and sandwiches. Prices were quite reasonable with afternoon tea sets for about $45HKD ($5.5AUD) you get a piece of cake or sandwich plus a coffee of your choice.Even though we didn’t expect the spaghetti to be top notch…we were quite disappointed by the pasta, it is quite obvious the sauce came out of a can and it had been diluted. The ham also had a weird ‘plasticy’ taste to me, thank gosh the pasta wasn’t overcooked if not it was have been an epic fail.Crema is known for their latte art Definitely impressed! I haven’t seen many places be able to produce such pretty lattes anywhere let alone HK ~ I wish I had known before and had asked for their famous ‘rabbit’, I saw it in other reviews that its extra cute! Mr Bao seemed to enjoy it and I had a sip and thought it was a pretty decent cup of coffee I wouldn’t say it was the more aromatic coffee I’ve had, but given the coffee standards here this was definitely at least an A ~I was so disappointed when my mocha came, I was expecting another amazing bear or rabbit…but nope because I ordered a mocha the barista didn’t think it was necessary to make it pretty. It tasted pretty good though ~ had a subtle coffee taste though not as strong as I like them.We started off with an Apple Pie Cake, basically large apple pie cut into cake slices ~ the tart crust was very thick and dry, quite hard for our fork to cut through. The filling was alright, quite sweet though even for me hahaha but Mr Bao and Mr T seemed to like it saying that it’s been a while since they’ve had an apple pie.I was quite surprised that this was a rather rich cheesecake, it had a thick digestive biscuit base, firm cream cheese layer then topped with a thin layer of sour cream ~ I’m pretty sure Crema don’t bake their own cake and get their cakes from a supplier and I’m certain I’ve had this cake before at another cafe lol it wasn’t the best cheesecake I’ve had, but for $38HK it was a decent piece of New York Cheesecake ~This was probably the most disappointing cake out of the three it had the same digestive biscuit cake base, then a layer of chocolate sponge cake, chocolate ganache another layer of sponge cake then the whole cake is covered in this hard chocolate ganache. The cake layers and ganache was so dry and hard that we couldn’t even pick it up with our forks. We didn’t even finish it…and that never happens I never waste cake >_<

Verdict – Definitely go for their coffees and maybe a piece of cake, but bear in mind they’re not all good and don’t have high expectations of their savoury foods~

I have not been back for a while as this little cafe has become too crowd. I am glad they moved to this new location which has more space & seats. Finding a seat is not a problem anymore even during rush hours. I hate to wait for seat in a cafe as it ruin the whole cafe experience. I can now walk in anytime like I own this place , get on-line and start to work.

I ordered my usual tall latte and it was brilliant as usual ( milk was velvety and sweet, temperature is just right, coffee is nice and strong without any bitterness). The latte is simply to die for.

One other thing I concerned about is Wi-Fi , this place offer free connection for customer. The connection seems to be better than before, I connected for hrs without disconnecting.
I have nothing more to ask for!

This morning, I suddenly craved for Crema Coffee, my favorite café in Hong Kong though I haven’t visited this place for a while. Slumbering but very hungry with no breakfast at almost lunch time, I made my way to Tsim Sha Tsui East and stood there flabbergasted with the sight in front of me. My fear finally comes true!
Early August this year, a coffee lover posted on the coffee enthusiast webboard, saying that Crema finally closed down for good. I was panicked at the time and made a call to the shop next morning and was glad to find out the shop is still in business. I visited Crema next weekend to make sure it was still there. Apart from Crema receiving phone calls about the issue, things were good. But now it’s the real thing in front of me! Walking closing I was happy I found a map to a new shop. Crema didn’t close down, just moving.. OMG!
The map, however, does not help; I almost walked back from Tsim Sha Tsui East to Tsim Sha Tsui. Low in sugar, confusing and in need of coffee, I finally gave up on the map and called the shop. It turned out I was actually passing it by all along but didn’t see the shop as it was underground, below Park ‘n Shop. It was funny when one thought back but it wasn’t funny at all for man needing coffee to wander around the area aimlessly looking for the shop… The map should add phone number or telling that it was under Park ‘n Shop and everybody won’t be hurt…
Finally, I found my Shangrila and familiar face of Terry working behind the counter. Everything looked more airy than the old shop though all the things including cake showcase, table/share and nice pictures on the wall joined the new shop here too.
Wait no more, I ordered my usual Capp and Croissant.
To me, Crema has the most luxurious milk drink in Hong Kong with velvety, rich, thick milk texture at the right temperature (need to tell Terry you want it warm) but a bit short of sweetness. The familiar chocolaty tone was still there in the capp.
Croissant is as flaky and good as it was so all my familiar things that made me fall in love with this café were still there.
This is a perfect pairing I suggest one tries it here.
My ristretto shot was meticulously prepared with test shots and the resulting cup was familiar and good. One good thing seemed to be the roast which was lighter though a bit less heavy hand with the coffee bean should give the bean back all the glory I had on the very first year I dropped by this place.
This time, I can sense a nice acidity which resembled grapefruit but not as bitter. A nice mouthfeel toward the end helped parting the cup difficult for me. So, I proceeded to order espresso here for the first time to see how its ‘standard’ drink was like.
The cup was much more subdue and less tasty overall than its ristretto. Nevertheless, the layers of taste in espresso was much clearer with a somewhat ashy first few sips, following by a clearer grapefruit like acidity and ending with a syrupy consistency. It’s quite nice and not acrid; the crema did not look that blond to me. However, previous ristrettos I had at Crema also exhibited this kind of layers/tasting note and was tastier so I prefer/recommend ristretto at Crema. Mind you that the waiter/waitress may not know ristretto so ordering this drink when Terry or Fiona is around.

Come to think about it, the coffee at Crema that I haven't been enjoyed all these years reminded me of Silly Monster blends at 18 Grams, ie the stabilized Silly Monster should take quite similar to Malabar Monsooned blend served since Crema opened its door in 2005, IIRC. Anyway, just my 2 cents.

To sum it up, I continued to say this is, again, the best espresso bar in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, I need to stress that its competitors are breathing on its neck now. With different style, Barista Jam could pass through this shop if they get the milk just as good as Crema but this is more of a nitpicking.!!!

Another comment on Cafe Crema, but this time strictly on its meals.

I wanted to go because of the coffee so we went to Crema for lunch. It turned out to be a decision worse than Lebron James' "The Decision".

We looked around the tables to see what others were ordering: egg salad with greens, pasta with veal and mushroom sauce, spaghetti cabonara and smoked ham and cheese panini. We saw all but the veal pasta and none were convincingly pleasant on the eye - the cabonara looked simply like spaghetti with ham and some white sauce. Since we didn't see the veal pasta, we ordered it along with roasted coffee and a latte.

During our wait we were told they had just run out of veal and asked if we wanted chicken in our pasta instead. We saw no harm (another bad decision) and said we didn't mind.

Out came the pastas. The pasta was disappointing. I tried the mushroom sauce and it was probably some canned mushroom soup thickened up to be a sauce of sorts - it was awfully salty. The pasta had some chew in it, which was alright, but the sauce and chicken were bad combinations. This pasta needed to go with red meat. We made the effort to tell the staff what we felt upon paying the bill, let's hope they'll take our comments seriously because it was really quite foul (and we're not that discerning either).

While I got a cute kitty cat on my latte art, the roast wasn't as aromatic as the one I had at the old store. They almost tasted like two different brews. Not impressed.

This sad face

Lesson of the day: Just stick with coffee and cakes. Crema has earned the respect of many through its coffee but I agree with fellow commenters, saying that the joint's service and quality has taken a dive since moving to its newer, bigger premises. I am happy to stay away from here for a while, even though it means compromising my caffeine intake.

the Iris cream Latte is okay but not strong enough for me. the coffee art is very hae.

realli bad customer service. rushin customer to take order. collected plate, w/o checkin w/ the customer is the food is finish or not. the only smile i got was i paid. coffee house is suppose to b a relax place. if i wanna b rush, i would go to a fast food restaurant.

Just popped in this morning for a caffeine fix as I've always walked past this place without actually trying the coffee itself. I ordered a caramel latte as I had a sweet tooth and I didn't want to heap in spoonfuls of sugar to ruin the coffee (although some may argue adding flavour to the coffee is wrecking the original taste of coffee itself, but I'm not here to discuss the science of flavours).

The 8 oz. coffee was a good size for me as coffee is a pretty strong diuretic for me and I didn't fancy the thought of stopping to find the toilet every 15 minutes. Like many fellow foodies have mentioned, the latte artwork is interesting, with cute animals and shapes to complement the coffee that they serve. I was given a bunny rabbit this morning, which went very nicely with the sweet coffee.

Despite the coffee being sweet, however, the sugary flavour did not hide the fact that the roast had a bitter taste to it. The taste became more pronounced as I left the coffee sitting at the table for a good 20 minutes. I personally enjoy a bitter brew (especially when drinking black coffee), but since this was a caramel latte and I liked my coffee a bit more milky and sugary, I thought a milder roast would've gone better with the milk and sugar and caramel taste.

Also, having watched a mid-morning bunch of tourists and Japanese expats patronise the cafe, it was very nice to sit in the serene environs and enjoy the coffee whilst smelling it at the same time. The service was prompt and professional and hopefully the new location will allow for more seating capacity.

One thing to note, however, was that even though the joint said they had wi-fi, I had difficulty connecting to the system. My mobile phone picked up the signal, hooked up to the network but the network didn't allow me to access the internet. It didn't bother me much, however it would've been nice to try out the wi-fi network wherever possible - after all I do appreciate saving up my data services for times when there is no wi-fi coverage.

After reading about this place on Openrice, my friend and I picked this place to catch up. When we arrived the place, it was only half full and we quickly got a table. After scanning through the lunch sets, we ordered the chicken spaghetti and the tuna angel hair and we also upgraded the drinks to cappuccino.

The chicken spaghetti arrived fairly quickly; the proportion was just right and the flavor was not bad at all. As for the tuna angel hair, the flavor was quite a disappointment; the tuna tasted like it came straight out from the can and the sauce did not complement the angle hair. Well, we came here for the coffee, not the foods.

As for the cappuccinos, the arts were done beautifully and I was quite impressed. The amount of milk in the cappuccino was just right and the texture of the drink was very smooth. I'm not an expert coffee drinker but I did enjoy their drink better than the ones I had in the States.

For service, I wasn't very happy about this place because the staffs here were fairly reserved and they didn't even utter a simple welcome or thank you. I think friendlier service would make this place much more popular. Nevertheless, it's a good place to study, catch up with friends or simply enjoy a cup of coffee.

I went there with my friend.
It was a good place to have a drink but it is not wise to go there for lunch.
The lunch set was quite expansive. $48 for a pasta...
The service is not very good as only one or two people take order and deliver the food.

Btw, I like the latte art. That's why I went there again.

I know people come here for the coffee, but that does not mean you have to put up with the bad service. I for one will not return no matter how good the coffee is.
I ordered a regular coffee and was asked if I wanted milk to which I answered yes.
The coffee came with lots of cream in it, so rich that all I could taste was the cream.
I normaly have milk in my coffee, but cream is ok too if it is not excessive.
So I told the waitress there was way too much cream in it and asked her to give me another cup with milk instead of cream. You know what she said?
"i will give you some additional milk".
did she not understand what I was saying?? if I had too much cream in the coffee, would adding milk help????
I repeated, "i would like to have a new cup of coffee with milk, there was too much cream in this one".
she said "you didn't say when your ordered your coffee that you wanted milk".
at that point, I lost my patience "you didn't say either that you were going to put cream in my coffee instead of cream".
She then walked away without saying a word and reluctantly gave me a new cup of coffee with milk.
All I can say the attitude was bad and not acceptable.
I also ordered breakfast which I found disappointing. it was presented badly on the plate and i could get better quality at Maxims or Fairwood.

Had to make a slight voice last time - mainly because I had brought 4 different groups of people to have coffee here previously (as our 1st choice too) and whilst everyone who ordered Espressos were very impressed, those who ordered some milk coffees were less than impressed with the execution and taste, the latter I also found to be a problem with inconsistencies.

GLAD TO SAY, THIS DOES NOT SEEM TO BE A PROBLEM ANYMORE - ITS BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER! I THINK NO ONE WOULD ARGUE, that CREMA definitely serves one of the best coffees in town! Definitely one of the Top 1 coffee shops locally, if not the best.

- The Espresso/Ristrettos are still as great as before. Its really amazing. 5/5

- The Caps and Lattes still have the best Latte Art graphics. Nowadays it seems to taste a little bit more creamier and naturally sweeter, yet somehow bolder as well consistently. Looks 5/5. Taste around 4-4.5/5 (However like someone said, it can be a little bit bitter. I guess still within acceptable range?)

If it remains this consistent, me and my friends would be very happy and in heaven indeed! Wished the food was somehow a little bit more interesting though, especially with the cakes selection.

Dreaming about a visit despite the hot weather!

I have a meeting with my client at 10am. I arrived at 9 and asked the staff where I could plug in my computer, she led me to a table near a socket.
I have a breakfast set with cappuccino which cost $43. The portion is big ( 2 eggs, 1 sausage, 2 hams, tomato & sweet corns, grain toast). It not very special but I have nothing to complain. The Cap was great which remind of the good old days when I was studying in Australia. The coffee taste fresh and the texture of the milk is very smooth. ( I probably will upgrade to a larger size next time as it's a bit small for me)

The environment is nice and quiet which is good for me to prepare for my meeting. It's already 12pm after my meeting. The lunch crowd started to come and I was told the wifi would be shut down during the rush hrs. One bad thing about this little cafe is it don't have it's own washroom. I need to run to the washroom after I leave which is pretty desperate!

I’ve been visiting this café on a regular basis over the past two years or so and consider this café the best espresso bar in Hong Kong, bar none! This is a café that one should go out of their way to try it out once.

What’s good: Coffee, of course

·Probably the best ristretto in HK. I use ristretto, a shorter shot (less volume), to judge the quality of bean and barista.
oAs a general rule, don’t expect too much for coffee from café that has never heard of ristretto (lots of them) or suggests, god forbid, AGAINST ristretto.

·Its bean is freshly roasted “on-site” which guaranteed bean freshness, one of the most important factors in enjoying the coffee

·Bean choices: Its Malabar Gold bean is mild but complex. Delicious!

What could be improved:

·The temperature of its milk drink: The default temperature is too hot to please local palate. Nevertheless, the high temp milk drink continues to maintain its thick, rich and velvety texture. However, it’s best to ask for “warm” cappuccino or latte to appreciate its velvety milk texture.

·Food: its western offerings were mostly dominated by the taste of HK Chinese western restaurant food. It will fit some but not me.

Crema Coffee is “famous” world over, particularly among coffee enthusiasts which led me to this café two years ago. The shop is run by a couple, Terry and Fiona, till now, has no website of its own so words of mouth is what make this restaurant famous.

Between the two, I prefer Fiona’s shot to Terry. Fiona’s ristretto was rather smooth with a bit of acidity and sported a syrupy body and chocolate aftertaste. Terry’s shot shared the same style but was a bit more forward and a tiny bit hotter than Fiona’s. Still, his is significantly better than most café in Hong Kong, IMHO. While their schedule changes, I typically had Fiona’s shots mostly in the morning from 8-10+AM.

To me, one of the pinnacle of the progressive café is its ability to source the specialty grade and offer freshly roasted bean, not just locally roasted one, for its customer. While one could manage the roasting by coordinating with local roasters, Crema has a roaster at the entrance of its café and roasts its own bean on the spot. This is a sure way to guarantee the freshness of the bean.

For its milk drink, make sure you tell barista, no matter who the person is, that you want a warm, not a default super hot temperature I once had and was told that it was catered to local palette.

My cappuccino always has a good balance of coffee and milk. Milk texture feels rich and luxuriously velvety though I've never get a decent sweetness in the milk drink from here vs. what I had at Café Corridor/Coffee Assembly and Café Zambra in Wan Chai.

Apart from the coffee, its croissant was not to be missed.

This is not an easy place to find from TST station. It's quite far to navigate even from the nearest exit. Having read these positive reviews and being a coffee fan myself, I decided to come out here with an afternoon tea and dessert.

Every one has reviewed the great coffee. I have no complaints here and will not go into details. I do wish it's a little thicker and stronger. Let me spend some time writing the other stuff other reviewers don't write about.....

Dessert was very disappointing. The chocolate truffle cake we were served was dry and crumbly and not the least bit living up to its name. I was expecting a chocolate truffle cake that would be moist, rich and absolutely chocolatey. It was either a very bad baker or the cake has been sitting there for some time. NY cheesecake is up to normal expectations but not as good as the ones even in Starbucks. The base crust was dry (again) and bland. The cheese flavor wasn't strong enough either.

Coffees and desserts go hand in hand. I think I won't be back because of the dessert quality but if I only had to get a takeaway coffee when I pass by, I probably would.

http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=1980523

I didn't agree with "Babedolphin" about Australian milk. The reason why so many cafes stopped using "PURA" is cost issue. Most of them (Pacifxx coffee, Starbucxx ......) start using "Green Field" .......

Go to supermarket to check the price difference.

Few starbucxx located in TST and Central are still using "PURA". Why? It is because does not lose those loyalty customers who really know how to taste coffee.

My comment about Crema is "not bad" and should be better than the two giants.

Despite my previous high recommendation of this Cafe and its coffee, I have to comment that subsequent visits have had slightly problems here and there.

One 1 day, me and a friend revisited here (on my recommendation, who's visited here before years ago but didn't particular enjoyed it). The barista making the latte/cappucino for us wasn't the boss or the short haired girl. My cappucino had no taste at all.

Another time, ordered a double ristretto and out came a double espresso pulled too long. Waitress and barista obviously had some miscommunication. Look, I'm not fussed, afterall, as long as it came from a larger portafiler basket with 2 tips and enough coffee beans, I'm not fussed. (I just can't stand espressp/ristrettos coming from anything below single shots of 9g of grinded cofffee, as its often not pulled right.) Yet, on this occasion, my cappucino had a really good flavour.

1 other time, had a double ristretto. GOD SHOT. Pulled perfectly by the lady boss, who obviously knew what she was doing. Probably the best Ristretto Espresso shot I've had in Hong Kong ever - full bodied but super fresh and fruity, dark red crema with lots of bubby crema, something that's usually pulled from a portafilter less group handle. Amazing. (Helped by the fact that most of its competitions are roasted overseas and not as fresh).

However, on the same day - another cappucino with a great latte art, had barely any coffee taste, plus, the PURA milk they use was 'so so dei' on this occasion and over-powered the base. For some reason, Australian milk recently aren't very suitable for making coffee, as its very 'so'. Don't ask me why, but I've noticed it at several Cafes using Aussie milk, even one place using HK milk. As the barista, I think they should be aware of this and adjust accordingly to limit the damages!

Next time, I think I'll order skim milk coffees as a 'precaution'.