Simplylife Bakery Cafe   ( Relocated:  )

I first came to this restaurant because I heard from a friend that it was really good and that she came here on a regular basis. I had since been 2 more times and so far, it has had some inconsistencies that leave me ambivalent about how good it really is and how much I actually like it.

In my first visit, I ordered the beef burger and my friends ordered a carbonara and another pasta which was not memorable enough for either of us to remember what it was.
I am not a burger fan but this burger definitely opened my mind. The patty was really juicy and cooked exactly to my requested medium. I am also not quite a bacon-eater, so I don't have much to compare it to, but It seemed dry and overcooked for me and I could have done without it. The fries were dull, I didn't care for it. In fact, I did not even finish it.
I tasted my friend's carbonara which looked and tasted of nothing special, definitely overrated for its bloated reputation.
My other friend's pasta looked really dry (undersauced) and tasted that way too, also overrated.
The service was above average for Hong Kong. They seemed to be very diligent in filling your water really quickly. Makes me wonder if they had many previous complaints of it. Perhaps they should replace these small-volume glasses to larger ones.

In my second visit, we were given the chef's table which I did not mind trying out. I understand and did not mind the raised temperature, greased atmosphere and noises while I watched the operation of the kitchen brigade. However, it seemed a little forced that they placed a table there, It seemed awkwardly tight and the staff kept walking all around us squishing into tight gaps behind our seats throughout. Good thing they are moving to a much larger restaurant later this summer.
I was so impressed by the burger I had ordered before, I ordered it again. Nothing much was different, except that the beef patty was more medium-well than the medium that I requested. My friend ordered a seafood risotto which looked fantastic. The risotto was thick in its consistency and bland but the wait staff seemed so busy and never came around often enough for us to make any comments or to send it back, so my friend simply added the table salt and pepper and continued to eat it.

By my third visit, I was ambivalent about whether I wanted to come back or not, but my friend seemed excited to eat here so I went along. This time, I decided to order something different. I got the rib eye steak with rosemary butter and balsamic roasted vegetables. The rosemary butter was delightful, as I expected. The roasted vegetables were also very good. I ordered the steak at medium, which it was near the center, but was well done on one end, and raw on the other end (which my body quickly disliked and wanted to expel). My friend ordered a fresh crab meat salad. It looked very under-dressed. However, I was happy about the abundance of real crab meat to veggies ratio in the salad.
Something in this service horrified me. Bad enough it prompted me to come on here to write a review for the first time. My friend was eating at a quicker pace than I did and politely slowed down for me. He inadvertently placed his cutlery at the position to indicate he was finished, to which the waitress came to ask if she could take it away (understandably, because of the long lines outside). He politely replied that he was not yet finished. The waitress then proceeded to intrude into his personal space and 'fixed' his cutlery to a position to indicate that he was not ready for it to be taken away. I was horrified by this, I literally dropped my jaw and picked it up off the table. I found that to be so horrendously condescending and demeaning and that I was startled and so upset by her audacity. Need I mention, I did not leave a big tip.

At this moment I do not have strong feelings to return on my own will in the near future. I will visit again in their newer and larger store perhaps, if my friends suggested it. I don't dislike it enough to fight them over it because some of their food items makes up for it.

Had to grab something to eat in between my daughter's ballet practice while killing some time! Nothing beats a good old English brekki and again, it was delicious! My daughter went for her favorite Strawberry Danish, not too sweet, just right! A marvelous way to spend a Saturday morning! Another thing worth mentioning is that the waiters are most courteous and customer friendly which made me yet another thoroughly enjoyable experience!

Still don't have a reason why simplylife cafe is always the restaurant that people have to queue for a long time in order to get there
maybe the food the prices or the environment the style of this restaurant

the last time and the first when i was here was December 2011,
and i ordered a lunch set with beef burger.

After one and a half month, decided to go to simplylife again with my friend.
As usual, long queues and full of people inside the cafe, and after approximately 25 minutes we entered.The brunch set menu consists of three parts,
as usual soup/salad, the main course and the dessert.
The prices diversed.
and i ordered the set with just main course and the dessert.

THE DRINK - GRAPEFRUIT ICED TEAToday's iced tea was GRAPEFRUIT iced tea which was similar to the last time i was here (peach iced tea)
it's refreshing but a little bit bitter,
but after enjoying bits of burgers and the flavor of iced tea was better and the bitterness was not that obvious anymore.

Personally i am really fond of the iced tea here because the tea flavor is not really obvious. rather calling this a "GRAPEFRUIT drink".

THE MAIN COURSE - CLASSIC BURGER WITH BACONi would say i personally love the french fries because of the color,
because there french fries seem fresher, and than more home-made.
And for the taste, crunchy outside with soft texture n rich potato flavor which is quite mouth-watering and intriguing.
Soon i finished most of the fries and try the burger.

As usual, simplylife claims to be a bakery cafe as its bread is home-made coz you can see the bakers making the bread on the next side of the cafe.
So i do love the texture of the bread of its special softness,
but i don’t smell any flavor from the bread, probably because of the quality of the flavor, and that is little bit disappointing.

As for the bacon, which is too dry and seemed over-grilled, that is really unsatisfactory.
And the final part - the beef, i won’t say it’s good because it implies that i would have to pay more for this set already, tenderness is okay but a little bit not firm enough. probably it’s just minced beef. Altogether the burger is okay, but it does not really explain the long queues.

THE DESSERT - LEMON CHEESECAKE AND CHOCOLATE BROWNIEthe lemon cheesecake is really tasty.
Cubic shape, slightly sour in flavor but the cheese is quite smooth.
As for the brownie, it's soft and the chocolate moouse is smooth enough! Great with dry peaches!

Overall, i still couldn't find the answers why people would spend 25-30 minutes to get in.
The food is okay but not especially intriguing.
But still, in a lack of western restaurants for brunch, this could still be a great and reasonable choice.
Within my priced-range, and i would pay more for the french fries and the bread.
Maybe there is just a lack of restaurants in a simple and fresh design and the tastes of food that makes this outstanding.

其實target左好多間tiramisu要食: pizza express$55, pacific coffee$29, caffe habitu$38, al dente$49...etc, 但是食完呢間野的brownie同expresso蛋糕之後又太想試她們的mixed berry cheesecake$25啦banoffi pie$35啦同有吉士汁的bread pudding$25~﹗來到的時候驚喜地發現餅櫃有main menu上賣貴$13的tiramisu﹐於是立即要左呢件。no cheese flavor in cheese layer,just like that over sweet macau pudding.another white layer was just whipped cream but soaked with wine and coffee.cocoa powder was not enough,i would suggest them to add real chocolate pieces like their expresso cake.sponge cake was very very wet so the wine was too choking which made me feel sick after having the cake.

去親又一城都覺得無啖好食﹐次次都上來排隊食all day breakfast仲要叫埋同樣的那個spinach egg benedicts餐﹐今次終於儲到兩次新野寫食評喇。the brownie was with too much walnut, but the crispy top and moist soft center were super satisfying, not over sweet like mrs. field cookies.expresso cake was very surprising, not only the packing was nice.though the chocolate decoration on top was too sweet and thick, the cream well lowered the full feeling and sweetness of the whole cake.coffee taste was very strong, but the whole cake just taste super similar with their truffle cake i've tasted long long time ago.but this was much better by not being as 飽漏 as that one, i was able to finish this by my own but absolutely not that one.the most amazing thing was that salty butter cookie base combined much better than chocolate sponge cake used in their truffle cake, bring crunchiness and some saltiness to balance the strong mocha taste, very good~!

My friend and I wait for about 15 min to got a table. We ordered a green pea soup, Seabass brown rice, linguine lamb shank.My colleagues said the green pea soup was creamy and taste good. We tried the toast with butter, it was fine. On the main course, we were surprised about the portion size. the portion was like a appetizer, I am not happy with this size if they charge at this amount. My friend said maybe the rental charge on Kowloon Tong was a bit high, so the size was vary. The linguine was soft and have a strong taste of lamb, but I only got a very small piece of lamb shank. I am not satisfied with this portion. My friend have a seabass and a piece of fennel served over the rice. I only tried the seabass which was very soft.

As I don't feel full after the main course, I suggested to order a dessert for share. We ordered a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice-cream and hazelnut pavlova. Two of the dessert was superb, the brownie was rich in chocolate. The hazelnut pavolva was made by meringue, fruits, cream with hazelnut base. It was crunchy and lovely. I really feel full after the dessert.

A great place to chill and have lunch with friends and family. Unlike many restaurants in Hong Kong this place allows you to sit and enjoy your food and the staff do not pester you or turn the air conditioning up high to get you out of the door. The gentle lull of chatter and the smell of fresh bakery makes this place all the more relaxing. This place is busy busy busy so get there earlier to save the waiting (hence why I only waited 10 minutes). The food is not wow, but it is definitely pleasing to the palate and presentable, you won't be disappointed for the price that you're paying. Although I would only recommend the lunch, the dinner needs an extra something in choice and value to make it more of an evening haunt.

ps try out the strawberry danish yum

relaxing tea wif beloved fdss after watching film 很豐富的 english breakfast chicken hamburger , i luv potato chipssss >< , but the burger is not taste gd ... i think McDxxxx may be better tim...

Had a lazy afternoon tea at SimplylifeThe croissant was very nice, soft , crunchy and buttery! The smoked salmon filling was ok but would be better with heavier smoke flavor.
Fat chips are also nice

The ice coffee was just normal... could be better with stronger coffee flavor

Overall its a good experience! Really relaxing atmosphere

Haven't been in HK for a couple of years and recently heard some good reviews of this restaurant so went with one of my friends yesterday.

The brunch comes with drinks and we both ordered the Apple Tea – which did NOT taste like apple at all…I ordered an Egg Benedict (poached eggs with smoked salmon) – the bread was so burnt that I could barely ate; eggs were cold and the hollandaise sauce was also cold and very sour. It is by far the worst egg benedict I have ever tried – huge disappointment.

When I told the waiter about the quality (or rather the lack of it) of the food, he simply said “ok, I am sorry”. (So you are not gonna do anything about it??!!) Fantastic customer service (!)

It costs about HK$102 each – what a rip off! I am definitely not returning by any chance and have warned everyone to stay away from this restaurant, which is trying way too hard to be western and fancy but failing so badly.

Chicken and Portobello mushroom burger
Not bad! The chicken patty seemed to be made from minced chicken, rather than an actual piece of chicken fillet, and was soft and well flavoured. There was much melted cheese, but I would prefer it to be stronger. The mushrooms were sliced, and there weren’t a lot, but I didn’t mind since a whole Portobello mushroom may have overwhelmed the chicken patty. The size of the burger was quite small, but not excessively small, and it would be ideal for those who like a clean, tidy burger that's easy to eat. Also good were the fries on the side, which were fresh and crispy.

Crab salad with peanut sauce
A sizeable portion, with sufficient crab meat, but I would have preferred more sauce.

Banana pie
This was quite big as well, with a thick top layer of cream and some toffee sauce amidst the bananas at the bottom. The biscuit base was not very buttery, which may be good or not depending on one’s taste.

Black forest cake
This was comparatively less satisfying for me, as the chocolate taste was weak, and the cream lacked smoothness. The cherries were big though, and the mildness of this cake was a good balance to the heavier banana pie.

Longing for my favourite British food, I persuaded my mom to have it with me. As I suddenly recalled there's brunch in simplylife, a high-class maxim concept dining, my mom took me to there. Though we saw a long queue, we didn't leave but just spent sometime waiting outside the restaurant. Actually I really loved this restaurant because it always reminded me of maxims, the most trusted restaurant/dining retail group in Hong Kong. So I decided to have a try again.
Having a seat, my mom and I each ordered a lunch set. There's plenty of choices so I had to better think twice before ordering it. I made up my mind to have an English breakfast and soup of the day (pumpkin soup). A drink (tea) was also included. Anyhow I thought that the drink used a concept called crossover- Chinese and Western culture. Okay, my order came.
First, the soup was very tasty, making me mad of the strong taste of pumpkin, though the bread was not that good. I mean crumby but too hard and nothing special. Therefore, I dipped it into the soup.
Then, my drink- tea. I did not really expect too much anyway, but it smelt good and oolong mixed with peach was not doubt a good combination.
After that, how' bout my English breakfast? Overall speaking, I believed that if more raisin bread was provided, it would be better. The sausage, bacon and egg were really heavy, so it's better to have more carbs.
As a whole, I would really like to try other brunches next time to fulfill my curiosity. Haha!

We chose the last slice of banana pie (should really be called banoffee pie, no?) out of bread pudding, cheesecakes, chocolate truffle and a black forest. I really only have had one other 'banoffee pie', from 798 Unit Co (TST branch) several months back, and was not impressed. Simply Life's version, moderately priced at $35 for a large slice (we took out, so no service charges) was really quite satisfying. We smartly shared it, since it was really filling after having had a full dinner.

There are five distinct layers - Whipped cream (white), Chocolate-banana mousse (brown), Fresh bananas (yellow), toffee (caramel), digestive cookie base (Mc Vities variety I believe). Chocolate shavings sat on top of the pie too.

My verdict? Compared to 798, this one rocked! A friend of mine has suggested Portobello's (Staunton st.) Banoffee Pie, so I have yet to try that.

Simply Life had many other cakes which I have yet to try too but will save that for my next visit to Festival Walk or IFC.

[original post see http://gastronomerr.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-first-proper-post.html]

During mid- autumn, me my sister and my parents went to eat lunch in simply life. It was really really good.
Pumpkin soup - it was creamy, and just the right taste. It was hot enough and had a really strong pumpkin flavour. The bread the came with it was very fresh, with a strong aromatic smell of brad, and the edge was very crispy and chewy.

raspberry iced tea - best served cold with ice as the sweetness is drawn away by the ice. Really refreshing and with a nice raspberry flavour.

grilled chicken breast with snake beans - really tender and juicy chicken breast, not stringy at all and has chicken flavour. The sauce really matches the chicken and the snake beans and mushroom are flavourful ( garlic ) and tender!

grilled prawn with tomato sauce angle hair pasta - really nice sauce, and the prawn is fresh. you can taste the charcoal taste! the angle hair is al dente and the sauce is perfect with small tomato bits!

chicken burger with portobello mushroom. - nice chicken burger with tender chicken and some herbs. topped with cheese, 2 slices of mushroom and the toasted bread. REALLY NICE. It is served with thick fries, grilled tomato and onion. there could be more mushrooms. i still prefer the beef burger more.

brownie - has dried mango bits in it. very chocolatey, so you might not like it if youre not a chocolate fan.
overall really good, and i always come here for lunch during the school holidays!

Wow.......this time tried take away bakery in Simply Life.....

Ordered Soft Cheese Bread.......

That's brilliant.......perhaps because it was freshly prepared (I saw the waitress took them out) Crispy at the surface and soft inside....though not a rich taste for cheese.....However overall the mix of the above is brilliant...........just love it..................