Espresso Alchemy (Closed)

Item: Espresso Alchemy
Rating: 5
Author: Queen_PTS

165 Reviews

Taste

Decor

Service

Hygiene

Value

7015

Tsim Sha Tsui

$101-200

Western Coffee Shop

134

Queen_PTS

Level2

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I knew Espresso Alchemy from its hole-in-wall hipster Quarry Bay branch that’s always packed with caffeine-hungry office people, getting our perfect daily fix of liquid gold and homey food. I was thrilled to learn about their much more spacious and more-to-offer TST branch has soft-launched recently, and brought half my office down there and we almost managed to try every main dish on the menu (the more the merrier when it comes to eating out!). We were truly delighted.
Ambiance and service
Located in WK Square (Right opposite the main entrance to iSquare and next to that of Chung King Mansion), the Espresso Alchemy brings the urban Aussie-style café to the bustle-and-hustle of Hong Kong. The ambiance is quite casual and comfortable, and the lighting is delightfully flattering for selfie lovers. We went on the on-off holiday in the evening and the traffic there is still comparitively light, making it a perfect spot for group gatherings, dates, and quick bites alike. Who doesn’t like/how hard it truly is to find a less crowded corner and sit comfortably for food in Hong Kong, especially in TST. The service very friendly. They don't intrude your conversations and are very responsive upon requests, just what we expect from a cafe.
Food
While the Quarry Bay Espresso Alchemy also offers a solid food menu for both breakfast and lunch, its TST shop has a full-on food menu. When a coffee is reasonaly priced at around HKD 30-40, you can have a set with a salad, a solid main, a coffee, and a dessert at around just 100 per head for dinner, and daily pasta plus a drink at only HKD80, thumps up to this value package especially given its quality and the fact that it’s based in TST. And lunch set is said to be even cheaper, though without the dessert. We were also happy to see they have more snacks and sweets on the menu, we loved their homey banana bread that filled the air with this insanely delightful aroma of buttered banana and coffee in its Quarry Bay shop, and their new offerings of Tiramisu and Crème Brulee (that could be ordered seperately or as part of the set at dinner) here are proven to be just as good. The one snack everyone shouldn’t miss is their home fries with truffled mayonnaise, it is love at first taste and we devoured each and every slice of the chips n truffle dip before anyone remembered to snap a photo.
When it comes to the mains, we were told that they change their menu every couple of weeks, but whatever we tried, we LOVED it!　
The honey smoked-duck breast with minced green salad is my personal favorite. The duck breast is tender and juicy and pleasantly sweet, while the greens are fresh with just a splash of vinegar to add to the taste. It’s healthy protein and fiber that’s also amazingly palatable. If you still want some carbs, you could get a healthy pumpkin soup or any other soup availabe that comes with a slice of warm garlic bread. The soup has some solid content and is not the usual creamy watery goo you could expect from many (if not most) western restaurants in Hong Kong.

honey smoked-duck breast with minced green salad

The spaghetti arrabbiata is so precious as it’s rare to find good spicy café food in Hong Kong, and this has to be one of them. With a generous scoop of spicy freshly made tomato sauce and several dried Chinese chilli, the spoonful of chewy pasta I tried successfully ignited my appetite. I’ll have to come back for this.

The spaghetti bolognese with spa egg, said by my colleague and here I quote was very “addictive”, and she munched the whole plate despite its considerably solid portion and her usual 70%-full-only dietary policy.

Spaghetti Bolognese with spa egg

The creamy smoked salmon and spinach pasta is, as expected, very creamy and rich. It might not be for everyone, but it is what you could expect of a good creamy smoked salmon and spinach pasta, according to a blue-cheese lover in our gourp.

Creamy smoked salmon and spinach pasta

There is of course the all-day breakfast option bring you the unadulterated joy/elusion of a happy weekend when you could sleep in till as late as you’d like. Granted I didn’t see any sausage in the mixture, my colleague was very satisfied by the solid slice of beckon and good amount of mushrooms and potatoes they offer (instead of just 1-2 mushrooms and almost-non-exist-everything-else but cheapo sausages we come across elsewhere in Hong Kong from time to time).

To sum it up, all very good. We somehow didn’t really order the Australian sirloin steak but judging from the rest it could very well be the best price-for-value item on the menu at only HKD148 for an entire set!

Coffee
We PR peeps are also self-identified coffee connoisseurs just because of the sheer amont of coffee we drink to get our days going. And we tell you this is the coffee you want to drawn yourself with given the choice. In addition to the usual milk coffee choices, this shop also has single origin brewed coffee/cold brew on offer, and you can get them just by adding a little extra to the set price! The baristas are very informative and enthusiastic about coffee, and they are happy to chat with you anything coffee-related from origin, processing, rosting (yes they have a sucessful roastery in Hong Kong as well!) and of course brewing/making of your perfect cup. They are also happy to arrange various coffee classes upon inquiry, it could well be our next team building activity.