Hong Kong’s most beautiful cafés for design lovers

Inspired by the architectural mastery of Beijing’s Forbidden City, Cupping Room’s outlet at the Hong Kong Palace Museum is a culinary attraction that blends traditional Chinese and contemporary aesthetics. Courtesy of MR Studio, the café incorporates five elements of Chinese astrology—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—into the space. Black tiled walls dominate the café, complemented by fluid lines and curved ceilings, resembling classical glazed roofs of the Chinese palace. Bespoke ball-shaped pendants, potted plants, rounded stools, and curved modular detailing add contrasting textures to the interiors, injecting touches of comfort and elegance. Freshly baked cakes and pastries are displayed inside museum display cases, setting the scene for an exhibition.

Cupping Room, Museum Café 1, LG/F, Hong Kong Palace Museum, West Kowloon Cultural District

Disguised as a traditional Chinese medicinal hall, Tai Wo Tang Café’s historic interiors open the gateway to old Hong Kong. Tai Wo Tang has a moving story: It was a generational medicine store on the verge of closing and has since been given new life as a coffee shop. Most of the décor is preserved as a snapshot of the past, making Tai Wo Tang a standout among the city’s wave of minimalistic cafes. One step in and patrons are immediately transported down memory lane. The dispensary-style medicine shelf is an immediate eye-catcher, each cabinet still labelled with herbs it used to hold. Retro metal shutters and the gold-painted store plaques pay homage to its past, while sleek wooden furnishings and coffee counters give a modern accent.

Tai Wo Tang Café, 24 Nga Tsin Long Road, Kowloon City

Italian café by day and cocktail bar by night, Coffeelin serves not just speciality cappuccinos and espressos, but also an unbeatable Milanese setting. Designed by acclaimed architect and interior designer JJ Acuna of Bespoke Studio, the coffee-to-cocktail establishment portrays a reimagined vision of the laid-back yet buzzy cafés found all over Milan. Palettes of sage green take over draped curtains and tiled countertops, while patterned marble flooring in tomato red nods to the decadent styles of the Italian palazzo, both invoking colours of the Italian flag. Memphis-style graffiti is embellished onto antique mirrors and Venetian plaster, adding hints of playfulness to the interior space. Those seeking privacy can retreat to the venue’s intimate private room, accented with wall paintings and comfortable couches that allow for quiet conversations.

Coffeelin, 8 Cheong Ming Street, Happy Valley

Adopting the refined simplicity of Japanese interior design, Arti Studio brings the magnificent beauty of traditional Japanese gardens indoors to Milligram Coffee. Masked by its unassuming pitch-black entrance, passing through the narrow corridor unveils a lush backyard garden of earthly tones. Within the dimly lit café, trees and florals embrace dark wooded walls and flooring to create a serene ambience. Spherical lights hang above cherrywood chairs that rest across a grey accent wall, evoking the image of fireflies in a peaceful summer night. Milligram’s wabi-sabi décor immerses patrons in the calming surroundings of Kyoto, perfect for unwinding on lazy weekends.

Milligram Coffee, Shop A, G/F, Wing Fai Building, 174–178 Wellington Street, Central

Melrose Coffee is a Californian dream come true in the trendy district of Soho. Thanks to the House of Forme creative agency, the café is given a distinctive interior identity that recalls the romance and nostalgia of 1970s Los Angeles. Styled like a classic American diner, a bar in customised terrazzo and outdoor tiling is positioned opposite to counters with striped retro detailing. Tilted mirrors and overhead light boxes form the false ceiling that gives an illusion of depth, offering a sunny glow to the checkered quartz-stone flooring below. Melrose’s outfitting of romantic pinks, sunset orange, sunshine yellows, and sandy beiges forms a lovely gradient that beckons passers-by to experience California’s beach culture, all while enjoying delightful cups of coffee.

Melrose Coffee, 46 Elgin Street, Central

Bronze winner of the prestigious A&D Awards in 2023, Alchemy Origin boasts a meticulous architectural DNA that respects the roots of coffee-making. Formulated by the mastermind behind its design, Metagram, the rich and dynamic café environment is bolstered by an abundance of warm red pigments: Colours of fired clay coat dramatically curved walls and textured plaster to mimic rammed-earth construction, a building method observed from coffee plantations in rural Ethiopia. Terracotta tiles and red travertine wrap custom banquettes, and tables visually connect with the vibrantly hued walls. Chairs with rattan detailing recall the traditional woven coffee baskets seen on Indonesian coffee farms, while cylindrically shaped skylights on the ceiling help generate an overall evocative space for the stunning café.

Alchemy Origin, Shop A, G/F, Two Taikoo Place, 979 King’s Road, Quarry Bay