Tuesday 22 March 2011

Coffee Ming: a discreet relaxing corner

Shop info:
Coffee Ming (咖啡明)
Stalls near the "red market".


Locusts Visited:  March 2011


The one great difficulty to manage to have "breakfast" here:  get up early.


I have no idea when this place opens but it closes at 12:00. Fortunate for my locust friend and I, despite our serious detour due to the misplaced pin (which was a few street blocks away by the way), we managed to find Coffee Ming. Note that this place is not on any main street -- you need to turn into some sort of alley to reach here. As a pointer: find 紅街市, then follow 高士德大馬路 (on the red market side) to the southeast. Walk past the HSBC then turn LEFT (it's not a proper road). You should see Coffee Ming straight ahead. 



We got ourselves the coffee, noodles and toast. The noodles were slightly soggy but other than that good.  Sausage was slightly fried and the overturned "sunny-side-up" (as shown in the photo below) was jelly-like inside.  Probably my fault for leaving it submerged to take the photos though.  At MOP25 per head including both coffee, noodles and toast I really couldn't complain. 



The coffee was nice as well -- a less refined, less deliberate flavour than the coffee found in other places, as "dei mou" coffee usually is, but good coffee nonetheless:



What we liked most of this place was the atmosphere. Everybody sit on XXS sized chairs with butts almost touching the floor (which turned out to be surprisingly comfortable) and cleanliness wasn't expected by anyone. Nobody pretend that this is an elegant restorante ming and everybody is happy with the coffee. Everybody was friendly and willing to share, turning this somewhat run-down stall into a relaxing escape.



Summary (Rated 1-5)
Food:  (3) good for the price
Service:  (4) friendly, almost communal environment
Environment:  (4) no high-end restaurant but comfortable in another way
Big Locust's Recommendation:  (3.5) worth a visit

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