Agnes B. Cafe LPG

Name: Agnes B. Cafe LPG

Address:

Cafe LPG. Agnes b. Cafe LPG.

Address: Shop 28, K11 Art Mall,

18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

Atmosphere:

I love the atmosphere here.

The music is good and chill, somewhat reminds me of some of the songs The Orphanage makes. Check him out at his channel.

http://www.youtube.com/user/theorphanagemusic

The waiters and waitresses are very polite, but the thing that caught my attention was really the decor. It’s got a relatively high ceiling, smooth as it can with hanging lights coming down at just the right locations to spread the tables out. The marble tables with french looking stands add to the whiteness of the whole restaurant. The thing that really made me love the restaurant itself is the spacing and the sofas. The sofas are made out of a cloth material with just the right blend of colors: dark brown, light brown, beige, light blue, green and lime. Just the right combination of colors to make it classy and french-like.

The large windows also give it a very spacious feeling that makes you just want to put your feet up as you sip on coffee. The cake selection is huge. It’s got cakes and snacks that are in my opinion somewhat overpriced, but nevertheless looks amazingly good in presentation. I don’t know how it tastes like. Maybe I’ll come back to try some. It also has a huge selection of chocolates and chocolate fudges. I just love the decor with a great spacious menu and walls with borders. It really reminds me of a French style cafe.

Background:

Everybody knows agnès b. It is a world-famous clothing brand name from France that started in the 70′s. The clothing line decided to outstretch its fashion influence into the food industry in order to promote a lifestyle. In my opinion though, this is her way to say, I want more money. Her philosophy can be summed up in a line from their website.

“The designer has been offering fashions that match and reflect the spirit of the age, a wardrobe that adapts to every personality and can be worn for a very long time. “

Now, this means that the coffee shop itself should reflect this as well, which it does really.

Originally named Agnès Andrée Marguerite Troublé, she had troubles of her own, no pun intended. She had to go through a lot in order to achieve the magnitude her brand is at now. This determination is quite respectable in itself and so I praise her for that. From a small designer at a flea market, she worked her way up, learning everything she could to become a designer, even when it meant going into apprenticeships with little money. I don’t know how much of it is true as I have not confirmed this information, but it’s a pretty good rags to riches story to tell.

They are now designing clothes, watches, bags, accessories, skin care and cosmetics, and now gourmet restaurants and coffee shops all over the world. Now that’s cool.

Espresso:

I like the espresso here but I was a bit disappointed that it doesn’t have the foam that Holly Brown had. I realized, I quite enjoy the foamy taste. It’s bitter, yet mild. It has a bit of a salty aftertaste as well. The presentation wasn’t that great, noting that it was served in a miniature mug with no plate at the bottom to make it somewhat presentable. So yes, the presentation was disappointing, especially when the coffee shop’s decor was so great. The taste itself is mild, which is a good thing for me, and I quite like the aftertaste because it’s strong but not too strong that I need to drink water to wash it away. So I shall say that I like it. I must say that the coffee they use is Illy coffee, and with the reputation that Illy coffee has, it’s a good thing. At the bottom though, there was a some residue of espresso, which I guess is not that great, but still good.

Price:

An espresso doppio is 26 dollars HK here. This is quite expensive, especially for the presentation that it came with. I don’t think the espresso was worth the price.

Overall Rating:

Great atmosphere, and probably because of the pricing, not a lot of people. It’s very spacious and nice with the windows and the white and gray colors, it makes it look even more spacious than it is. The best thing about this place is really the decor. The espresso itself is smooth and easy to take, which is good in my personal view. The espresso powder was not that great but whatever. Friendly staff and great environment, so why not come back.

8 out of 10.

Holly Brown

Name: Holly Brown

Address:

G19, Ground Floor, K11

18 Hanoi Road,

Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon

(852) 2869 9008

or

G/F 22 Stanlet Street,

Central, Hong Kong

(852) 3122 4016

Atmosphere:

I am in Holly Brown coffee shop, specializing in artisan coffee and gelatos, in K11 mall and the décor is quite great. Their theme consists of a brown, black, light blue, with white combination that makes it quite pleasant. The décor and the use of color makes it seem very light with quite a bit of space. It’s a very modern place with not much of artistic touch though. It just seemed to modern for me. There are also too many tables crammed into the coffee shop and I can see that it might actually get quite crowded and tight at times. There is a VIP table that you can sit on if you spend over 200 dollars. I guess it does get quite busy at times, probably happens when tour buses stop around the area. However, being in a mall, it was really great to sit back and relax and I am able to just enjoy the air-conditioner on a hot summer Sunday. By the way, there is a very hot weather warning in Hong Kong at the moment, so I am extremely happy to be in the cool.

There was a great variety of lounge music added onto some French music as well in the background. There was one issue that I had with the media management of the place though. They had the television on MTV while having really good lounge music on. It was quite disturbing actually.

I quite like the lighting of the coffee shop though. The walls and the good lighting make it a wonderful place to sit on a non busy day like today. The windows are also facing a not-so-busy street, making it even more relaxing, and relaxing is needed in Hong Kong so any chance you can get to relax, do it.

Background:

The variety in its menu is quite extensive. It’s got gelato, cakes, sandwiches, and fruit cups. It’s quite standard in a sense. The interesting about it is that it is not a chain and it actually is a Hong Kong company. There is a newsletter provided within the cafe that states that Holly Brown came from Raymond Tsui, the owner’s daughter.

“In fact, my daughter Samantha one day said let’s call it Holly Brown. ‘Holly’ is a happy and easy to remember girl’s name and ‘Brown’ of course represents the colour of our signature beverage, coffee.”

According to the newsletter, it has won two awards in the past year, Best New Coffee Shop from HK Magazine and Best Coffee (2011) from Weekend Weekly. It has two locations. They have one location in Central and one in K11.

Espresso:

I am only here for the expresso, but it’s quite different from the expressos I have had before. First off, it’s served in a transparent cup, which is good so that you can observe the espresso as it is. I then There is a bit of a foam at the top of the espresso. It was really thick and tasty. The taste of the espresso was a bit of a salty taste a the beginning and then it moved on to becoming somewhat woody but in a mild way. It wasn’t bitter though. So it was really nice. There is a pretty strong aftertaste to it. For me it’s a bit to the bitter side. I personally don’t like the aftertaste of this particular espresso, so I don’t know if I consider it good for me. It was so strong I had to drink water.

Price:

Throughout my posts, I will be using Starbucks prices as a standard and compare it to the rest of the coffee shops. This one particular, an espresso doppio cost me around 24 dollars when in Starbucks it would cost me around 19 dollars, so I would say it is more on the expensive side of things.

Overall Rating:

It’s a good place to be. Nice atmosphere in general with nice variety of menu options. Just don’t be there when it’s too busy because it might seriously be quite annoying. I would come back to this place on a summer day like this but it wouldn’t be one of those coffee shops I’d really want to come back to. It’s just a very convenient coffee shop located in a mall with air-conditioner if you ask me. There just isn’t a kick to the place that will make you remember it.

7 out of 10.