18 Grams  

and i quite like the combination of wood, brown and grey. pity it is in the basement, deprived of natural sunlight.

as i said i usually don't order eggs benedict. but i was attracted by previous reviews and pictures about the dish here so i thought: yeah, why not give it a try?

let's just say, when the food and drink arrived, i was instantly cheered up and forgot completely about the discontent i had with the service i received! eggs benedict made with toasted english muffin, spinach, ham, poached egg and the really special slightly sour creamy mayo-like paste - it was so yum!
love the spinach cos it made the dish seem so much healthier and... i love spinach. lol
the salad on the side was fresh, tinged with salad vinegar.

since i am doing coffee for lent, i ordered premium chocolate, which came together with the eggs benedict. it was too thin, but not bad. i really liked the layer of foam and the delightful crowned bear!

i will definitely be back to the place, to try the coffee and the all-day breakfast, and of course to refresh my loving relationship with this eggs benedict!

hmm. with good food in my stomach i feel that this is gonna be a beautiful day!

For food, I had a basic spaghetti meat sauce. It was good. The dish had a rich, meaty and gluey sauce though I would prefer spaghetti a bit more al dente. The dish also carried a ‘fusion’ tone, more western of a Chinese style western dish (Confused.. ). Still, it works fine and I like it.This is a cafe so let start with the coffee. What's so special about it is the return of the "Three Little Pig" blend to 18 Grams after a six month hiatus.Three Little Pig blend is Mexican, Guatemala and Nicaraguan and one get the clean, citrusy sweetness in the cup that works very well with milk and black coffees. The blend may not be outstanding in term of the body and aftertaste and carries a bit of the roasty and peanut tone that I don't really like but it is a signature of Glory Coffee. However, what's in the cup more than makes up of all the weaknesses and what it does not have. Ristretto below is even more interesting. It has a flowery fragrance note, followed by acidity (citrusy to be more exact) Nevertheless, the body could be much better but it's a nitpicking here. I prefer espresso as my default drink at 18 grams. Even in the empty cup, the honey and citrusy fragrance of its black coffee were so salient I kept on smelling the empty cup for a long while.This time, the TLP seemed a bit darker in the milk vs. my last encounter with this blend six months later. The temp of the drink was perfect but please always ask for warm drink to be on the safe side in this part of the world. IIRC, Capp here is top with chocolate powder so ask the barista to hold the chocolate/cocoa powder too.!!! I got a very nice chocolate tasting note and very sweet milk drink I haven't had for a while. This is a great for Aussie style though it's still way behind in term of velvety texture Crema Coffee in TST East offered. Still, this is a highly recommended place for milk drink, aided by its superb blend, TLPs.The Picolo latte, complimentary from the head barista, was very tasty but I don't like some smoky note in the cup so I suggest you get Cappuccino here instead.If your root is from North American where the drip coffee is a standard drink, you can move in with ease with this TLP which is very clean, sweet and acidic. Also, this is closer to what the third wave coffee made famous, ie less stress on body and complexity which is very ‘old world’ style. While some local may think this coffee is not ‘strong enough’ (唔夠硬) and not too long ago lots couldn’t imagine the clean and bright acidity cup will fit local taste profile of roasty/toasty note, 18 Grams at Gala Place is a living proof local knows how to appreciate good, hip and happening tasting note coffee all central American blend contributes. This is a kind of coffee coffee lover asked others to get a bag when one of them visited North America as you could happily drink this coffee without invoking something else to make it more ‘palatable’ like tradition such coffee comes from or romanticizing Italian things to make drinking the coffee 'bearable'.

***One won't get this blend from its first shop in Causeway Bay so this new branch of 18 Grams is really worth a visit if one happens to be in Hong Kong and wants a good cup***

18 Grams and Glory Coffee were so adamant that they want each shop to have its character and they don’t want to run a chained café. As such, you can only get TLP at its Mong Kok shop. I was also told that the blend might be roasted lighter which could further accentuate the origin tastes, a la third wave style. I consider this blend one of the best in Hong Kong and highly suggested you drop by for a hip and happening cup at 18 Grams in Mong Kok which I prefer to the one in Causeway Bay due to its coffee blend.