18 grams...

is the amount of ground coffee required to make an expresso and also the name of a little gem cafe i found on openrice.com on monday when i was craving some real coffee on this little island of inhabitants that prefers drinking tea.

we visited the mongkok 18 grams cafe, which is located at shop b04, gala place, 56 dundas street. the eat street is a bit hidden... if you are heading from nathan road, you need to walk past the main entrance to the gala place arcade... continue past starbucks and you will discover the entrance to a smaller arcade of eateries. 18 grams is tucked away at the end of the arcade. you will notice the posters advertising the cafe and their menus before you actually reach it. they are open 7 days, between 11:30am - 9:00pm.

the little bit of research i did on this place tells me that, 18 grams is run by glory coffee, who are local coffee importers and roasters. the location of this cafe at the end of the arcade helps provide a cosy quiet feel... something that is quite rare in hong kong. we arrived around 3pm on a weekday, so it was very quiet...  lovely and relaxing.

because of the time of the day we arrived. we chose to have their afternoon tea set with coffees (of course!). lasagne & house blend coffee and spaghetti boscaiola & cafe americano.

firstly, the coffees.... it was like the sweet complex but well co-ordinated tones of a symphony after a week of going without coffee. i had the cafe americano, which i suspect has been prepared more as a long black judging by the beautiful layer of crema that was still evident. the blend was smooth & full, with no acidic after taste.... it was great.

our barista...

the pasta were both in smaller portions for afternoon tea, the spaghetti was cooked al dente with a really nice good resistence. the cream sauce with mushrooms, bacon & onions was combined wonderfully.  the lasagne tasted fresh and homemade with beef mince, eggplant, tomato, italian herbs... the flavours mixing together in a wholesome and fresh combination. ooh i so missed my western cuisine & thoroughly enjoyed the food & coffee served at this little gem of a cafe.

did i mention that this meal was a steal at HKD $106! and for travellers, they do understand english... and this cafe had photos of sydney on one of their walls... talk about pulling at the heartstrings! they also have cafes in causeway bay (i intend to try this one, it has been described as an australian style cafe) & also at tsim sha tsui.

spaghetti boscaiola

lasagne