Breakfast Series - The Cupping Room

The Cupping Room

I used to be a breakfast fanatic. Back in my home town of Brisbane, the climate allowed for a huge breakfast culture.  There were so many amazing breakfasts, that it was hard to keep up.

When I moved to HK, I was a little dismayed to discover that there's not even close to the same dedication to the first meal of the day - well, at least the Western version!  After checking out a number of cafes and restaurants, I eventually gave up seeking out breakfasts, I just couldn't take the heartbreak of another sub par serve of scrambled eggs.

My search is over!

The best discoveries are those that are unexpected and discovering that the Cupping Room did the best Western breakfast in HK happened pretty much by accident.  

The are a couple of Cupping Room outlets across Hong Kong and they are quite well regarded as producing a great cup of coffee.  I'd been into the Central CR a few times for coffee, but had never 'clicked' that there was an upstairs section that served food.  One morning, curiosity got the better of me, so I wandered upstairs and grabbed a seat.

Breakfast Series - The Coffee Academics

https://www.facebook.com/TheCoffeeAcademics/

We've been spending a lot more time in Wan Chai just recently. We're thinking of moving out of our Mid Levels location and the allure and action of Wan Chai has been calling out to us.

While the girl has had breakfast at Coffee Academics before, and we'd both stopped in for a quick latte every now and then, it was time for me to visit the little cafe for food.  Interestingly, Coffee Academics in Wan Chai opens a lot earlier than most of the cafes around Hong Kong, which means you can actually get a breakfast (and not brunch).

It was pretty quiet when we walked in just after the opening time, but we weren't the first there and there was another westerner taking advantage of an 'early' morning opening.  That is if you'd call 9am early!  

Taking a seat at one of the many available tables, we were given one of the snazzy looking menus to look over, which had a photo of a beautiful looking European 'fry up', which included a strip of delicious looking bacon.  One of the options on the menu was the Academic's Breakfast, which included all your typical breaky goodness like fried eggs, baked beans and of course fatty (oh so fatty) bacon.  The rest of the menu was quite contemporary by Hong Kong standards, and reminded me of some of the breakfast menus back home in Brisbane.

Breakfast Series - Wagyu Lounge

http://www.casteloconcepts.com/our-venues/wagyu-lounge/wagyu-lounge-hong-kong-menus?locations/hong-kong/wagyu-lounge-hong-kong/wagyu-lounge-hong-kong-menus

When the Big Boy recently visited us in Hong Kong, he wanted to have an "Aussie breakfast".  After living in Taiwan for so long, he was looking forward to tucking into some bacon and eggs, something that you would find in any suburban bistro in Australia, but which is more difficult to find in Asia.  With its bustling expat culture, there are a lot of places in Hong Kong set up to attract that Western palate, so we did a little bit of research and arranged to have an early start on the Saturday morning.

The most difficult part about finding a breakfast spot in Hong Kong is finding somewhere that opens at a time that is more in line with breakfast rather than brunch.  Not being the party animals that we used to be, breakfast for us is usually consumed before 9am, but many places in Hong Kong don't open until later, catering more to the 'bleary-eyed' crowd.  We did, however, manage to find Wagyu Lounge, which is open for we early risers, but also doubles as a  bar for later in the day.  So we hoofed it across the HK zoo to above Lan Kwai Fong where Wagyu was ready for our business.

Cheap Eats - Fringe Vault

http://www.hkfringeclub.com/en/venues/6-Fringe+Vault.html

There are simply too many restaurants in Hong Kong and sometimes wandering around, it's a matter of analysis paralysis on where to eat, especially for lunch.  I've taken to exploring the little part of HK near my work at Central, trying to find a great little place where I can fall back to when needed.  

I thought I'd found just the right spot when walking up the first part of Wyndham Street.  Fringe Vault looks pretty cool, located in a red brick building, it reminded me of the cool little cafes that you'd stumble across in Melbourne.  A sneaky look through the window reinforced that view, and a quick look at the all day breakfast menu convinced me that I was onto a winner.

Inside was cool, really cool.  Exposed brick walls with cool artwork abounding along with polished cement floors had me convinced my meal to come would be the goods.  I ordered my 'lusty big breakfast' and a hot chocolate at the counter, then made my way into the dining area for a seat to await my meal.  The tables and chairs further added to the feeling of cool, all were outdoor furniture pieces that combined to give a great vibe...  I felt really comfortable while sitting there, I really did.

Breakfast Series - WickEd Cafe

WickEd Cafe Spring Hill

All day breakfast.....  It kind of has a luxurious feel about it.  It's a bold statement saying 'you don't need to rush, you can just take your time'.  I don't know about you, but I am a big fan of the all day breakfast, I love bacon and eggs on toast for lunch. It had been some time since I'd taken the time out to do breakfast at lunch, but it was something that I used to do quite often.

I'd been heading back to work after visiting my surgeon for a post shoulder operation check up and happened to be walking down Wickham Terrace on the Spring Hill / CBD border when I spied a sign announcing 'all day breakfast'.  I'd actually walked past WickEd in Spring Hill heaps of times and had wondered what the little cafe at the bottom of Observatory Tower was like.  It wasn't until I had walked completely past WickEd that it registered that the all day breakfast included chorizo, but once it did register, I found myself on auto pilot walking back up the street and into the cafe.

While I had never set foot in WickEd before, the name has always been a source of amusement for me, it's a pretty cool name, if not a little over used, but given the cafe is on the corner of Wickham Terrance and Edward Street, it kind of works.  I was surprised by how little the cafe was inside, there was room for a counter and kitchen, as well as a few seats with most of the seating outside, under a huge sun umbrella.