[FOOD] 20141219 Kam Wah Cafe 金华茶室 @ Mongkok

21:13 3-Star Food , 4-Star Service , 4-Star Value , Bread , Breakfast , Bun , Cafe , Dessert , Egg Tart , Food , Guide , Hong Kong , Mong Kok , Pastry , Street Food , Toast 0 Comments

Kam Wah Cafe is the place to look for if you are looking for some famous "Polo buns" (菠萝包). The Polo buns (nothing to do with Marco Polo) is actually a normal bun with a sugar crust coated on top that looks like pineapple (bo lo in Cantonese) when baked, hence the name.

The bun is actually commonly served in many "cafe" in HK with options to be served with butter slices (菠萝油), pork chop (猪扒菠萝包) and etc. The Kam Wah Cafe in Mongkok is well known for its fresh-from-oven buns that is usually sold out very quickly.

Besides Polo buns, the cafe also sells various pastries like coconut tart and egg tart (Tai Cheong is much better) and cooked food for those to opt to dine in.

47 Bute Street, Mongkok, Hong Kong
太子弼街47號地下
Nearest MRT Stations: Prince Edward Station, Exit B2
Telephone: +852 2392 6830
Opening Hours: 06:30am until 12:00am

TO GO

Kam Wah Cafe is located at Bute Street, Mongkok, which is accessible via Prince Edward Station, Exit B2 or Mong Kok Station, Exit B3. Both stations are accessible via Kwun Tong Line (Green) or Tsuen Wan Line (Red)

SPECIALITY

Kam Wah Cafe offers both dine in and take away option. Their daily menu are usually published at the frontage of the shop with prices included.

Hong Kong cafes like to sell in set due to practicality and for volume of sales. It's easier for patrons to order just Set A, B or C and easier for the owner to prepare, as well as to get higher volume and profit.

Normal Polo Bun with Butter - HKD9 (RM4)

Polo Bun with Pork Chop 猪扒菠萝包 - HKD20 (RM9)

Today decided to dine in and of course not forgetting their famous buns. The yellowish bun has very soft texture with the sweet powdery crust on top. The bun is best served fresh and hot as I did take away one and it didn't taste as good after it became cold.

Stir-Fried HK style Pork Keow Teow 猪扒河 - HKD44 (RM20)

Over the three days of stay and I never get to try HK's famous stir-fried beef keow teow and I saw Kam Wah Cafe have that in the menu, so I ordered one to try (beef was substituted with pork because I don't take beef). To be honest, the noodle just taste mediocre, but I didn't have high expectations to begin with since this dish is not the signature here.

Signature Toast 西多士 - HKD19 (RM9)

Half way through the food I saw the signboard showing their award winning Toast (西多士) so I decided to give it a try also since this will be my last meal in HK before heading to Shenzhen.

The toast is served with maple syrup. To be honest, the toast has nothing to shout about. Please skip this. The toast served in Bangkok's After You Cafe is much better than this.

Now you see where the name of the bun came from?

SUMMARY

Not totally worth a visit unless you are nearby looking for a bite. The buns are ok but the rest are just mediocre.

Taste	☆☆☆ nothing much to shout about except for the buns.
Value	☆☆☆☆ average pricing
Service	☆☆☆☆ not good but not too bad either.
Cleanliness	☆☆☆
Opening Hours	06:30am until 12:00am (Daily)
Wifi	N/A
Parking	N/A
Website	N/A

GPS: 22.322222, 114.169727