Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get our top stories delivered straight to your inbox.
Header image courtesy of Infiniti C (via Facebook)
Originally published by Ching Yuen. Last updated by Alisa Chau.
Colour is something we tend to take for granted, especially since our lives are already dip-dyed in all kinds of hues. Even our vocabulary is embedded with colour: Are you feeling blue? Turning green with envy? Is your world black and white? Some cafés and eateries in Hong Kong have taken these notions quite literally and doused their interiors in all the colours of the rainbow, so if you like colour-coordinated cafés, this one’s for you.
Asia’s first Ralph’s Coffee can be found at Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui, adding to fashion designer Ralph Lauren’s wide portfolio that also includes restaurants and bars in New York, Paris, and London. Did you know that green is the colour that is best suited for human eyesight? It requires the least effort for our eyes to see!
Ralph’s Coffee is covered in Ralph Lauren’s signature dark green, with green tiles, green checkered floors, green signage and logos, as well as a massive green coffee machine taking up the prime location in the café. Want to take some of the green aesthetics home with you? Spoil yourself on the speciality coffee and artisan chocolates, as well as apparel and accessories, all available for purchase for die-hard fans.
Ralph’s Coffee, Shop OT313, Ocean Terminal, Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui | (+852) 2376 3936
Push past the sliding, fusuma-inspired doors to enter a neutral cave of calm. Part café, part accessories and pottery goods shop, the muted elegance of Zap Jok (習作) is sure to provide an inviting backdrop in which you can spend a carefree afternoon. A large part of the interiors is made from a smoothed wooden finish. Get settled into the earth-toned seating and savour how the fawn-coloured hojicha latte (starting from $50) blends with the surrounding palette. If you are feeling peckish, they serve small bites, as well as full set meals!
Zap Jok (習作), 66 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Sham Shui Po
As if lifted straight from a scene in Alice in Wonderland, this Korean café and dessert house has brought its tantalising sweet treats to Hong Kong and wrapped it up in a delicate pink presentation. The posh pink-and-gold-legged chairs and light pink interiors are balanced against a white marble accent wall with Victorian-style panels in Tiffany blue. Their offerings are as gorgeous as the café design itself, featuring the strawberry omelette (starting from $72) that is creamy with a fresh bite of natural sweetness. Equally as adorable (and pink) is their strawberry latte ($48), a refreshing milky drink that whisks you away on a cottagecore adventure.
Le Bread Lab, Shop 303, 3/F, Mira Place 1, 132 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui | (+852) 9093 4555
Western District is a hotspot for artistic and hipster cafés, making it an obvious destination for those seeking the new and shiny. Infiniti C caters to a specific audience—those who not only crave aesthetics, but also quality coffee and vegan desserts. A rising star of Hong Kong’s café culture, there is usually a crowd queueing up outside, but trust us, it’s worth it! The colour featured here is blue, found in the light and royal blue walls, dark blue printed napkins, blue flowers, and blue icing in varying shades. Though we always talk about the Monday blues, blue is actually the one colour that symbolises calmness, wisdom, and loyalty. Time to embrace the blues!
Infiniti C, Shop 6, The Hudson, 40 Forbes Street, Kennedy Town | (+852) 3460 4996
Experts in Photoshop are sure to know what this distinctive name alludes to—these specific numerals represent the hex code for the colour black, reflected in the sleek designer furniture and inky black fixtures. Taking the spotlight is a peculiar piece of artwork by American artist Ron English, a contrasting white sculpture to match the roster of local artwork displays on the walls that are constantly on rotation. Serving onyx-toned refreshments to match, the charcoal latte ($30) and black pepper beef sandwich ($35) are not to be missed.
Sammi #000000, Shop C&E, Wanson House, 115 Tsuen Wan Market Street, Tsuen Wan
The specific shade of HERcafé may be up for debate—is it orange or clay-coloured?—but its strong colour-coordination game is certainly not up for discussion. Nestled on Paterson Street in Causeway Bay, this café is actually part of a trendy fashion store. HERcafé is covered in orange bricks, which, combined with the white ceilings and furniture, makes for a great Instagrammable spot. If that’s not convincing enough as a reason to visit, they also do crazy frappés with mountains of whipped cream and offer a selection of Cookie Department desserts!
HERcafé, 55 Paterson Street, Causeway Bay | (+852) 2856 9907
NOC Coffee Co is without a doubt one of the most popular third-wave coffee chains in Hong Kong at the moment. One of the newer branches in Sai Ying Pun is large and spacious, with floor-to-ceiling windows that allow for plenty of natural light. Everything is painted in an industrial grey, from the columns and the ceiling to the coffee counter.
Its interiors give us science lab vibes, with their state-of-the-art grinders and glass cylinders on prominent display while the baristas are busy crafting the perfect cup of coffee. NOC has also specified that they intentionally pick interesting spaces in areas where their minimalistic aesthetic can bring calmness to the chaos of city life. Next time you feeling a bit suffocated, you know where to go!
In the maze-like streets of Ferry Point, the dazzling yellow beams of La Luz’s front door signal to a modestly sized enclave of comfort. Radiating a welcoming atmosphere, La Luz prides itself on lighting up the day of anyone who walks in—a play on its shop name, which translates to “light” in Spanish.
Bold yellow accents bounce off the palette of cream walls and simple wooden furniture, giving off a clean look that still remains lively. Playful touches are added in the form of smiling plush toys and glittering fairy lights to prop up their shelves of coffee paraphernalia. A torch-carrier of Australian coffee in Hong Kong, La Luz is purportedly the first to serve Brisbane coffee, its flavours perfectly captured in their signature flat white (starting from $36).
La Luz, Shop 28B, Man Yiu Building, Man Yuen Street, Jordan | (+852) 6482 3537
We are sure that you’ve already seen a boatload of pictures taken in and of %Arabica flooding your social media feeds. As another third-wave coffee shop, %Arabica also chooses unique spaces in Hong Kong when it comes to setting up shop, and Monster Mansion certainly wows us. The iconic architecture of this 1960s residential block in Quarry Bay is so-named due to its imposing density. It is also one of the scenic backdrops in a Transformers film!
%Arabica flaunts a white aesthetic, except for its ceiling, where burlap bean sacks are stacked high above the coffee counter and reflected off of mirrors to increase the impression of space. Combined with the majestic Monster Mansion outside, this has got to be one of the most Instagrammable cafés in Hong Kong.
%Arabica, Shop 3, Yick Fat Building, 1048–1056 King’s Road, 2–32 Yau Man Street, Quarry Bay | (+852) 2474 8883
What better way to wrap up this list than with a café that showcases all the bright and beautiful colours of the rainbow? Set in a repurposed tong lau (唐樓; traditional Hong Kong tenement building), the front pillars have been painted over in complementary shades of blue and blood orange, a colour scheme that continues throughout the ground floor with quirky decals and mismatched trinkets interspersed.
The highlight of Mamaday Studio’s location and the reason they are representing the rainbow colourway is their famous staircase. Visiting the second floor thrusts you through a psychedelic visual journey, as the walls are painted in spiralling neon green, pink, and yellow, with a string of multi-coloured lights glaring down from above. Indulge in their Insta-famous tofu ice cream ($48), a riff on the classic affogato made with a single shot and tofu with tofu-flavoured ice cream, whilst petting their adorable resident tabby cats.
Mamaday Studio, 105 Parkes Street, Yau Ma Tei | (+852) 6792 2612
Covering the hottest new eats, the best places to play, offbeat takes on local culture, and so much more, Localiiz is every Hongkonger’s destination for how to live a well-rounded life in our vibrant city. Why the strange spelling? Well, Localiiz is designed to be your “local eyes”—and for that, you need two i’s.
Top
