Soft Aroma
Cafes are all over the place in Central, Causeway Bay and Wan Chai…and now in TST and Mongkok as well. But Sheung Wan, the up and coming culinary mecca together with Tin Hau and Tai Heng, is opening up new venues intended for people who love food. Monsieur Chatte, the French ‘everything’ store, opens here, and so did Soft Aroma, my recent re-discovery.
Soft Aroma originally opened in Causeway Bay, but has moved to the current location quite some time ago. Yet week after week I passed by without going in. Upon entering, the aroma of coffee greeted me as if someone has wished me a good morning. It’s…literally, a soft aroma that distracted my attention from the chocolate brown tables and chestnut brown chairs and sofa to matching, or the mirrored wall on one side while compliments-filled bulletin on the other, set against a magazine rack with fresh newspaper and coffee supplies to be sold.
Be sure to check out the coffees here at Soft Aroma, with its beans ground whenever an order is placed. With good magical touch the barista creates the cutest of latte art resembling faces of a chubby piglet, or a cartoon frog atop each order of lattes. The Cafe Latte ($23) is simple but extraordinarily light and easy on the throat. The Caramel Aroma ($25) is sweeter, but with the caramel lurking underneath instead of all sugary dissolved in the coffee. Cafe Mocha ($25) is equally intriguing, as coffee and chocolate balance out between two supposedly dark but complimenting flavours, topped and rounded out by the creaminess of the steamed milk before you take another sip.
Caramel Aroma ($25)
Cafe Latte ($23)
Music is important here at Soft Aroma. The playlist is mainly consists of classic rock, with some local pop blended in. It changes by the time of the day (and the week). The ambience is cool and service is prompt and attentive. It’s the kind of coffee experience we wish we could have everyday but don’t, for various reasons. Coffee at Soft Aroma may not be as outstanding as other established joints like cafe Corridor and Coffee Assembly, but it has made the top list as an all-rounded cafe here.
Caffe Mocha($25)
Name: Soft Aroma
Address: G/F, 105 Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Tel: 25410666
Recommended: Latte, Caffe Mocha, Caramel Aroma
