Cafe O   (Closed)

There are several comfort food spots that I will go whenever I feel down or disoriented in life; eating those simple yet hearty food such as thick toasts or a cup of yogurt brings me a strange feeling of comfort and i would in most cases feel instantly better. Cafe O along Bonham Road is certainly one of those places for its really near where I live and the large range of healthy and hearty (yet somewhat pricey) foods on its menu is both tasty and comforting.

This late afternoon, my stomach grumbled a little as i had not eaten since breakfast, after which I had a long walk along the tram rail in Sai Wan. I wanted not to go to far away places for a quick,light lunch, and the place that instantly came to my mind upon that thought was - Cafe O.

Oh, yes, of course, Cafe O. The food there is nice, the environment is quite comforty with the big windows that allow the sun to shine in, despite the somewhat display-window like design of the eating area that allows passer-bys to closely inspect what you are eating through the glass walls. But with the magazines, newspapers and free wifi at the spot, Cafe O is still a nice place to hang around, to work, to read, and just to 'hea' around Mid-Levels.

So i went, and ordered a Breakfast Trifle. Obtained 10% off as i paid with my O Card, a card which shares the characteristics with the Starbucks Card (which i actually collect). I sat down and soon after the freshly prepared food was served to me by a cheerful waitress. The thing is huge as its of the size of a large drink. There are alternative layers of greek yogurt and muesli in the cup, finally topped with slices of strawberries and some blueberries. They give me a small plate of honey to eat with the tarty yogurt as well.

The yogurt is the traditional one, quite sour in taste and is nothing near the now-so-popular frozen yogurts. Its also quite runny. As for the muesli its not as crunchy as the granola which i usually prefer, yet theres quite a lot of raisins and nuts which further enriched the texture. Its grainy and wheaty to taste - the perfect soul food for health nuts, providing the human body with fibre. I slowly eat the tall trifle away with a long spoon, enriching each bit I took with a drip of honey. Everything was so perfect, and i felt relieved of my heavy burdens on my back, and strangely, i felt like I was no longer in Hong Kong but somewhere in Europe, or in the States, or wherever.

Does the thing worth $50? I bet so. As frozen yogurt becomes more and more expensive (especially for those greedy ones), this has actually become a bargain and, given the ingredients they use for this trifle - the muesli they use costs $60 a box in the supermarkets, I have checked - its absolutely of the value.

The sandwiches and square pizzas are also delicious, so do try to grab one when you happen to pass by next time.

I'm never a coffee fan, but Flat White is the only type of coffee that I missed. When I was in Australia, I tasted some very natural Flat White made by high quality coffee beans, with equally milky texture on top of it. I can't find equally good coffee in the chain coffee shops in town. Cafe O now becomes my quick fix when I crave for this mysteriously addictive coffee.

Yogurt is my comfort food - i always go for a big cup of froyo for meal whenever i cannot think of anything else to eat. In this exceptionally tiring afternoon i left school with a physically tormented body and escaped to cafe o for a late lunch.

i did not feel like eating one of its pockets, which were really good - SSO and BRIO are a few of my usual choices. i could not finish a square pizza on my own, and i felt not like eating an all-day-breakfast - too much for me. the usually appealing granola bar could not excite me either. so in the end of the day i picked a rather expensive breakfast trifle to go with a single espresso for lunch.

i sat down and waited for quite a while until my lunch was served. the breakfast trifle was-huge! but it was served in a plastic take-away cup and i felt that was not bery environmentally friendly - they should have given me a glass instead. anyway, i poured the honey over and took a big spoonful. the yogurt was not as thick as greek yogurt but was sour enough to wake me up. layers of museli between the yogurts was full of texture, crunchy if i happened to have bit into the nuts and dried fruits, and chewy if i tasted the rolled oats. it was a very enjoyable lunch indeed.

if only i was a bit cheaper...i would have this for lunch a few times a week.

I had skipped lunch. At around 3pm on the way home I bought myself this late lunch at Cafe O.

Pretty frightening....the oil.

Pesto Penne with chicken, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese
I've tried this once. This time when I ate my meal, the penne was dry, but the inside was drenched in oil and melted cheese (which was NOT good because it was extremely filling). They were too soft. Not al dente. You could tell that they'd just microwaved it instead of cooking it afresh. Therefore it was very hot and very dry and very soft. Something you can't achieve if it's cooked right there and then.
Anyway. The pesto sauce was too cheesy, I think. Too much mozzy. Not enough basil. And it was very lumpy - didn't coat the penne well.
The chicken was chicken breast, therefore if not cooked perfectly, rough and dry and everything i want my chicken breast NOT to be. Was there a taste to the chicken? I don't think so. I couldn't even taste chicken. I think I tasted cardboard. Geez. Also very difficult to chew.
There were also bits of bacon and tomato halves in it. The bacon was as oily as hell. Oil OOZING out of it.

Good think I'd purchased a carton of Sour Cream&Onion Pringles beforehand from next door. Pringles are good. Pringles are always good. Yep.

You can see from the 3rd picture I uploaded how frightfully oily my whole meal was. I spent a lot of time trying to squeeze the oil and cheese out of the pieces of penne. I used 2 paper towels to soak up the grease. The 3 ladies sitting across the table must've though I'd gone completely nuts. I felt them peering at me through their thick gold-rimmed spectacles.

Conclusion
I don't think I'm coming back for pasta ever again. Next time I might come back for the pizza, which is supposed to be better.

a treat after exam.

had great expectations because the food looked so good from the window. but...slightly disappointing should I say?

Great stuff:
1. Friendly staff - I ordered a Chicken pesto penne, the waiter served up a tomato sauce penne, and I told him of the mistake - he quickly apologized and cooked up the pesto pasta.
2. Lots of health foods for sale - organic, oatmeal, coffee, couscous (or was it polenta? i forgot), bran flakes...
3. Environment - long, wide table, suitable for large parties, and spreading study material out on the surface. Quiet.
4. Other diners - everybody somehow adhered to the rules of propriety inside this quiet, clean little cafe - low voices, or quietly flipping through the news.

Food stuff:
1. The penne was a bit undercooked, not al dente. Pesto sauce was on the oily side. Could have added pine nuts.
Penne pasta with chicken: i like pesto, with pine nuts. They fried up some bacon and added that to the pasta, which is good. Chicken breast not my fav, but oh well, it's healthier than drumsticks. So it was slightly tough. ($48)

2. Mushroom pizza - i thought i ordered chicken and mushroom..? ($60)
Oh well, the crust was thin, crunchy on the sides, but soggy in the middle. I suppose that can't be helped...mushroom wasn't the expensive type, just plain old chinese mushrooms and button shrooms? Cheese was brie and mozarella i think. Slightly oily, but i soaked that up with a handkerchief.
On the whole, quite acceptable.

3. Blueberry yoghurt with oatmeal flake toppings
apparently the flakes weren't crisp, but on the whole it was alright.

4. Bran Muffin ($18)
This was quite alright! Piping hot when served. A healthy choice for dessert I'd say!