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.
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