KC Coffee (已結業)

宅女在九龍灣工業區那邊工作巳有好幾年, 雖然未能說是附近每間餐廳都試過, 不過嘗過的都有8-9成左右. 從前這區都是港式茶記/粉麵店比較多, 因為主要是應付一眾打工仔的午飯時間, 格局多是偏平民化一點. 但近幾年這一帶多了幾幢高級一點的商業大廈後, 附近也開始越來越多中價餐廳冒起來, 由以前廿多元一個套餐, 到現在巳飊升到炒個公仔麵都要四十多元的地步, 真的不禁慨嘆一句百物騰貴.... 而這家KC COFFEE亦是最近聽到評價不錯的新CAFE, 剛好這天食友K先生路經此地, 便相約一同前去試試.CAFE座落在國際交易中心地下, 格調比起一街之隔的工業區來得高級一點. 內裡大多是中價的西式快餐店, 旁邊也有一家港式快餐比較便宜, 不過是那種吃過一次便不會再有下次的店. 我倆來到門口還未夠1點, 看看餐廳只有侍應, 走進去好像包場一樣, 感覺有點冷清. 不過其實我們差不多吃完時人潮也開始多起來, 觀乎食客大多是外國人跟穿得高檔一點的白領. 餐廳裝修又未算很高級, 都是一般的小店CAFE格局, 旁邊有些SOFA會坐得舒適一點.看看餐牌, 午餐原來大多是沙律配湯, 看起來十分輕食呢. 套餐的意粉只有一款, 就是肉醬意粉. 套餐價格大多在HKD$42-49不等, 吃個沙律巳經要四十多元, 感覺真的幾貴.沙律吃不飽宅女, 但又不想吃肉醬, 唯有從單點的入手.單點的意粉有5款, 都是比較大路的CARBONARA, 忌廉意粉等. 如選購意粉想點飲品, 可享HKD$5的折扣.選定食物後便要自行走去收銀處付費, 店員也說明我點的意粉要等一會. 所以拿了牌子後便回座位等他送上.想了一輪, 最後決定點:Smoked Salmon W/cream mushroom sauce (HKD$52)等了約7,8分鐘侍應便端上來. 意粉賣相得體, 上面的煙三文魚份量都幾多, 但看色澤感覺有些暗淡, 不算很吸引. 底下的意粉份量適中, 普通女生一人吃應該夠飽的. 先試一片三文魚, 一塊都幾大, 厚薄適中, 但入口味道有點怪, 感覺比一般吃到的煙三文魚還要咸一點, 而且都幾乾又鞋口. 果然質素真的是麻麻. 底下的意粉忌廉汁相當杰身, 杰得十分乾, 完全說不上CREAMY感覺, 味道本身是夠的. 意粉硬度算是適中, 有點咬口, 當中又找到幾塊較大的磨菇, 不過未知是否因為三文魚不太鮮味, 所以下的黑椒也比較多, 吃起來黑椒味很重, 有點辣. 整體不能說得上好吃, 五十多元感覺不太值, 看到隔壁枱的沙律原來都幾大碟, 心想早知要沙律套餐算了.友人點了香草肉醬意大利粉 (HKD$44)可能是當天的PASTA OF TODAY, 所以準備都充足一點. 這碟看起來比宅女那碟意粉吸引多了!! 份量也比較大. 紅噹噹, 厚厚的一堆肉醬放在意粉上, 而且最重要的是肉醬不是罐頭那種, 是自製的. 肉粒做得比較大顆, 混上份量很多的蕃茄醬, 當中也夾雜了些半溶的蕃茄, 面頭再洒了些香草. 看到這個心想早知要套餐這款意粉了!! 吃了一口, 意粉硬度適中, 上面的肉醬肉味頗濃肉質也彈牙有咬口, 蕃茄醬不會太酸, 帶少少甜味, 味道不算假的, 也能吃到蕃茄的鮮味, 整體實在是不錯.另優惠價點了杯Cappuccino (原價HKD$30/ 點主菜可以減HKD$5)意粉吃到一半時侍應便端上這杯咖啡來, 都幾大杯的, 但最吸引眼球的當然是面頭的拉花了! 圖案雖然不算很複雜, 簡簡單單的一朵心形花花, 但拉出來的很工整, 看起來真的有夠漂亮了!! 而且看看咖啡泡沫豐富, 十分吸引. 嘗一口, 入口很滑, 奶脂味豐厚, 加上表面的泡沫, 感覺很幼滑, 不過咖啡味不夠濃, 感覺好淡. 平常宅女是不喜太濃的咖啡, 但這杯反而覺得比平常飲的更淡口, 沒什麼咖啡味的. 算是''好睇唔好飲''.埋單我的那份要HKD$75左右, 不敢相信現在在九龍灣工業區吃個午餐都要這個價錢了.店員的服務都算是不錯的, 送餐收碟也算快和有禮.食物質素一般般, 像宅女的三文魚意粉是大敗, 但友人的肉醬意粉又OK的. 不過這裡最受好評的咖啡我又覺得只是普通水準, 可能是午飯時間人太多失準了? 後來上網番查其他食家的後記, 原來是LATTE比較受歡迎? 等宅女下次經過時再買杯來試試好了. 繼續閱讀

To me, KC Coffee is a very interesting cafe. I remembered I visited this place in early April, only to find out that it's closed due to public holiday. After letting others know of my disappointment the shop closed on my visit, lots told me that I didn't miss much or I was lucky that the place was closed... Some even suggested me to go to other cafes in the area as a better bet than KC Coffee... This made me even more curious how a cafe can garner this much negative recommendation not only from coffee crowd but also those who loves to try new places too. This is my first time I receive so many negatives/againsts on a single cafe even those very low on my current cafe list have never attracted this much negative attention. Is KC Coffee "that" bad? Some told me that there were only limited coffee on the offering at KC and those on offer did not sound that interesting. However, I found quite a nice list of coffee when I was there. Judging from these words, the shop might have quite a few "kinks" earlier. To me, from the outside of the shop on that day, the coffee offering was interesting. KC Coffee served imported coffee from Honey Coffee which, from the internet, seemed to be one of the more famous coffee roasters in Japan. It is a part of the Maruyama buying group, a well known figure in the renowned Cup of Excellence program as a major buyer. Honey Coffee's main shop in Fukuoka, Kyushu, Japan also sports $$$ one-cup brewing machine, Clover Brewing System. In a way, I have a high hope on the quality of the green bean. Let start with an espresso first. Yes, espresso blend is from Japan by Honey Coffee and this blend is actually made of Brazil, Guatemala and El Salvador. The espresso shot looked extremely short and tight to me vs. my espresso order. I had orange/acidic notes in the cup with dark somewhat bitter tone at the back which remind me more of 18 grams but not as dark and powerful. The body eerily reminded me of cups I typically get from La Marzocco GB5 which is on the thin/lean side so no surprise here (KC uses LM GB5). To me, the eureka grinder makes this even more clear that it's LM GB5 cup i had. Later, I felt the dark tone at the back quite dirty toward the end and feel it is more from the roast profile of this particular roaster. In all, this coffee was OK and probably close to cups I loved and fell hard on in the distant past but now this kind of cup can't catch up with more of the current trend of longer shot with a more comprehensive tasting note from the beginning to the aftertaste and nothing short on that on cups that I typically had at Rabbithole and Knockbox Coffee Company. You can find my notes elsewhere on this website on these two extraordinary coffee places in Hong Kong Before I talk about KC's filtered coffee, let talk about the shop's own suggestion first. I was quite surprised that the shop suggested French press to me for this $$$ coffee which could easily cover up the delicate tasting note of the expensive coffee. However, I ignored the shop's suggestion and asked to have a siphon coffee. I was lucky as I learned later that the barista at the shop won awards on siphon brewing competition too. This was quite strange or maybe it is quite close to the shop closing hour at 5pm. I chose Nicaragua Los Congos, 2011 Cup of Excellence winner #2, the most expensive coffee on that day. I got the citrusy, fleshy fruit note with hint of caramel and toasty note at the back. The aftertaste wasn't that clean but not too distracting which to me it seemed to come from roaster's roast profile/style To me, the cup is of older style, ie underextracted/updosed a bit and can be better but I was happy with the cup I get. Though this is not the best, I can live with this coffee if I happen to be stuck in the area and need a cup. I went back for a milk drink two months ago which was happened to be one of the day of Hong Kong Barista Competition. My cappuccino had a velvety smooth texture with hint of sweetness but had a bit of milk powder kinda taste to me. The coffee base itself was somewhat strange almost dirty but not (this is the common theme of coffee at KC Coffee and I suspect it's the roaster than the barista themselves). It is hard to put the finger on why the coffee shows good trait but I am not very impressed on this milk drink. I prefer espresso more even though it's very tight but, tastewise, is ok. Later I learned/saw from lots of coffee lovers who visited Japan for coffee that the coffee they had over there were quite short so this may be the style from Honey Coffee itself. In all, on its own, KC Coffee exceeds my expectation for cafe in the area. It has its own appeal and comfy to sit so it's good if you are in the area and want cups of coffee. However, KC Coffee is much more appealed as a group for a cafe crawl including KC Coffee, Coffee Break and The Blend of Danes. To this end, KC Coffee is a borderline smiley face to me but I bumped it up to a full level smiley face as it is better to treat as a group from the cafe crawl in the area.Kowloon Bay boasted lots of cafes with interesting characters. The enthusiasm of cafe owners is second to none but the cup quality was mostly capped by the clientele in the area unlike the audience in Sheung Wan and Quarry Bay. To me, Coffee Break is a mini version of Coco Espresso - warm, comfy and brimming with enthusiasm toward coffee while the Blend of Danes runs by a roaster from Australia and will at least fit for those who missed the taste of home and provide a good contrast to a more local enthusiast kinda style offered by KC Coffee and Coffee Break. Tell the owners/barista when you visited these cafes that you are interested in good coffees and you might be in for a good and memorable surprise! 繼續閱讀

趁出開九龍灣，又大把時間，飲杯咖啡才離開。要杯Latte慢慢嘆，另在餅櫃瞄瞄，不如又吃件蘋果批。柯打後，找個靠窗的地方，悠閒地聽著音樂、看著書。不消一會，咖啡便送到桌上，圓咕碌的透明杯子，襯著漂亮的心型拉花，心情頓時也開朗起來。呷一口，感覺很醇厚，回味悠長，最重要是喝得舒服。蘋果批也來了，是翻熱了的，外層酥脆，帶點牛油香，之不過肉桂味幾薄弱，同埋果肉過份的腍身，稱不上出色。花少少的價錢，寧靜地坐了半天，又嘆了杯咖啡，已沒什麼可投訴了。 繼續閱讀

於九龍灣返工都好一段日子了，這個早上是第一次來KC Coffee吃早餐。看一看門口的餐牌，只要點一杯咖啡再加十多元便有一份早餐，看來相當抵食。先點了一杯latte，另外再加了一份蜜糖火腿配炒蛋多士及蔬菜。點餐後我走到近窗的位置坐下，其實這裡的梳化都算好坐，而且環境也可算悠閒，若非之後還要工作，在這裡坐一會也不錯。坐了一會，latte便送上，這杯latte拉了個心形圖案的拉花。奶泡打得還算幼滑，但就不算太結實。入口時溫度高了一點，有點燙口。味道方面是奶味重一點，咖啡的甘味不明顯。記得在這裡上過一課對咖啡認知的講座，店主提過他們用的咖啡豆是比較淺度烘焙的，可能是這一點令到咖啡喝起來甘苦味不明顯。不過，這杯latte的aftertaste頗長，直到我回到公司後工作了一段時間口腔內還留著這味道。這份早餐只要加12元，相當便宜。有厚多士半片，烘得十分香脆，而且吃起來有麵粉香，只是牛油塗得不夠，若果可以加多點牛油便很完美。火腿吃起來真的帶點蜜味，很不錯。炒蛋的中心部份還有點蛋汁，加點鹽和黑胡椒一起吃，又是美味的。一片蕃茄加隱藏在蕃茄下的一片青瓜，為這個早餐帶來一點新鮮的蔬菜，吃來也很清新。 繼續閱讀

咖啡老師向我們推介此店的咖啡,所以一定要來試試。在上班族lunch time前來到,仍可享受寫意的氣氛。每到西餐廳,有卡邦尼意粉的話,也會叫來試試。一碟吃下, heavy的意粉.....若煮得好吃,真是”肥”得甘心。KC這碟,真是非常好吃!!汁掛麵,麵煙韌水準!靈魂是添加了黑椒,它和奶油/煙肉極match!洋蔥粒亦甜甜的!好吃得要慢慢細嚼。由於咖啡學習中,主要學做Latte。所以到此,也很自然地叫了Latte。讚的是拉花線條極細緻,但咖啡味道很普通。......突然之間才想起,自己不喜歡奶啡。「飲」與「學習」是兩回事呢! 繼續閱讀