Favs: Flat White, Spaghetti & Pan-fried Chicken Breast with Garlic Creamy Sauce
[Written by Carly]
6.5/10 plates emptied!

Cupping Room的名氣越來越大這講法沒有錯，就算咖啡店開到成行成市，Carly亦對此感到有點困惑，也許是香港人無論年紀大一點或年輕一輩的，都會想在忙碌的生活中，閒來靜靜的享受週末的時光。All-day breakfast近期在香港更是大行其道，cafe差不多間間都有賓利迪蛋(Egg Benedict)，有意大利粉(pasta) ，弄得好吃的卻沒有幾多間。Carly至今在香港還未找到一間合心水的All-day Breakfast cafe，可能是對Egg Benedict的要求太高吧。Cupping Room拿過咖啡沖調師的獎項，由上環開到去灣仔的汕頭街，只要經過灣仔那附近一帶，競爭更見白熱化，門面光鮮的Coffee Academics，不乏粉絲的Caffe Habitu，帶有美國快餐和All-day Breakfast風的Veygo Cafe，評語不俗的Rabbit Hole，轉角亮麗雅緻，甜品種類繁多的Passion Cafe，平平地又要求不高去McCafe都得，點解一定要去Cupping Room?

Carly最近又再到陪養了喝咖啡的習慣，之前戒掉了好一陣子，但還是躲不過這股咖啡室cafe的熱熾旋風。好吧，放lunch的時間，港元一百二十至五十之間的水平，在中環灣仔一帶吃一餐lunch真的好閒，加一杯用心調沖的咖啡，打工仔，仲想點啊。

暗暗格仔紋的大玻璃，銅色和深木色主調的檯桌，很是討好。看上去不是很大的店鋪，但原來行上樓上還有一個閣樓可以容納多些顧客。二人桌上還印有Cupping Room logo的金牌，簡潔得來有性格，裝修不會過於擁擠逼人。喜歡這裡一點都不港式，不會硬銷歐陸情懷又或者復古風，簡單的調子，單純務實地做好一間咖啡店。自然陽光在一個寒意甚濃的中午透進這寧靜的咖啡店，Carly已經滿心期待。

A thriving cascades of cafes and coffee shops have been blooming in Hong Kong around all those tiny streets that you never really explore often, from Sai Wan, Sheung Wan, all the way to Wanchai and Causeway Bay, there are just too many that one can explore. Carly took up the challenge in search of her favourite cup of coffee, sounds easy, been tough around. Elephant grounds been scoring high with its dark roasted latte and perfect mocha, Veygo opening on the same street as Cupping Room indeed wanted to get into a fight, Caffe Habitu has a fan base for its specialty coffee and Passion cafe is just around the corner that offers luxurious desserts and beverages. Cupping Room, how are you going to win this fight? Sheung Wan store of Cupping Room received fairly good reviews and have entered into a closer ring of fight in Wan Chai, Carly dropped by on a weekday for lunch to explore whether this barista-awarded little store offers decent food as well. So here it goes.

Heartwarming natural sunlight beamed through the lined pattern windows into the cafe, seemingly not too big, there is an upper floor that can hold more coffee lovers. 2 people tables were explicitly designed for Cupping Room as the golden logo of “CR” caught Carly’s attention with a modern yet setback tone of darkish wooden color of chairs and decor made her felt settled in. 3 choices (including one vegetarian choice) for set lunches, we ordered two of the mains – pasta and grilled salmon.

【Spaghetti & Pan-fried Chicken Breast with Garlic Creamy Sauce| pan-fried chicken breast, garlic, parmesan cheese, spaghetti in creamy sauce| HKD118】

Carly以前是頗喜歡Holly Brown 的意大利粉，尤其是用上天使麵的Carbonara，味道做到不錯再加一杯細咖啡，收你一百一十大元，問題是越來越貴，碟粉又越黎越細，咖啡質素更見下降。Cupping Room的午餐有三款主食，包括一素食選擇，雖然選擇不多，但總不能要事太多。多數來用餐的都是二人同行，氣氛悠遊，Carly看見不少人是訂位後到的，第一次撞上門就有位，Carly亦感到幸運。好吧，食物如何呢？誠意是有驚喜的，意大利粉份量不少，一大碟，女孩子們獨個吃掉會感到有點吃力，但意外的是，味道一點都不遜色。意大利粉一大卷一大卷的纏在一起，掛汁能力蠻強，口感不是那種港式煮到熟透軟身的意大利粉，保持了應有的嚼勁口感，Al dente很是不錯。醬汁不是濃湯白汁煮到稀釋的質感，應是自家製煮成的，因為白汁濃厚之餘，還有令人食指大動的蒜香，重點不會太咸，有香氣有味道，但不會過火。用心的製作是如何看得出來，還有一上桌就看見麵身點點芝士焗至金黃的效果，不但能夠增加香氣，吃上去還會更加香口滿足。Carly對於焗飯、焗意大利粉都情有獨鐘，Cupping Room簡單不過又何其美味的意大利粉已經讓Carly樂上大半天。最令Carly驚嘆的是煎雞塊的份量不少，有好幾塊，絕對不是for show。稍微煎過的雞胸肉可能會讓人卻步，大家都雞胸肉的印象都是又乾又「柴身」。雞味不是太突出，但Cupping Room的雞胸肉煮得剛剛好，吃到中間還是軟腍，一點都不乾，還是出奇的濕潤，不知道是煮的技巧高超，還是來貨用料較好吧。絕對算得上是不俗的意大利粉，用料、賣相、味道都甚有水準。

Holly Brown’s pasta used to be quite nice for a rush lunch in Central yet their price kept climbing till a point, she felt that it was no longer worth it. Cupping Room accepts lunch bookings; Carly and her friend walked in and happily grabbed a table. Portion was considered big for a girl to finish and it smelt so good when it was served hot to the table, the key was how the al-dente spaghetti had parmesan cheese sprinkled on top and baked till it turned golden brown, simply splendid. The chunky garlic cream sauce was not very creamy yet was able to blend really well with the pasta and giving you a mouthful of drooling sauce. Surprisingly, the chicken breast was very soft and moist to the core, slightly pan-fried, and lightly seasoned, ample chunks of meat was not for show and Cupping Room definitely wanted fill your hungry tummies with good food, not just good coffee.

【Slow cooked Salmon Fillet with Kale Salad, Poached Egg & Quinoa |Sous Vide salmon fillet with poached egg, Kale salad with Garlicnaise and quinoa | HKD148】

煎三文魚，其實在家裡都不難煮得好味，只要稍微加點鹽和黑椒碎，煎到魚油甘香，魚皮外層金黃香脆，不用花太大功夫就能夠輕易地帶出三文魚的鮮味。Cupping Room的三文魚煎得粉嫩，不會過熟，厚身的魚肉也不會煎得火候不均勻，slow cooked的煮法不單能夠溫和的煎香三文魚，同時間，又保持了肉質滑溜的層次。是稍為多了點油，旁邊的沙律用上較健康和冷門的Kale和煙韌帶嚼勁的superfood quinoa ，不常見都其實味道不錯，不會一味只是給你羅馬生菜Romaine Lettuce又或者 火箭菜Rocket 。Poached egg的蛋黃呈較深的橙黃色，蛋黃緩緩地流出，加在一塊烘脆的麵包上，口感一流！只是Kale salad的蒜蓉忌廉汁味道有點過濃，放得太多，所以吃的時候，就覺得，「啊，好似好健康，但應該係真心肥！」。份量不算很多，但足夠醫飽女士們的肚子。

Healthy choice of fish meat rather than carbs for a meal made Carly happy. Despite the fact that the slow cooked salmon was a bit oily (probably due to its natural fattiness), the fish was exceptionally soft, moist without losing its firm texture too. The choice of kale rather than normal arugula were used, indeed refreshing yet the garlic-based salad dressing was a bit overpowering and thick, which made the kale leaves lacked a bit of zippy fresh texture. Superfood quinoa were mixed with the salad, not commonly served in Hong Kong, yet tastes interestingly chewy and incredibly healthy for its nutrients. Poached egg was cooked perfectly with orangish runny egg placed on the thin slice of toasted bread. Overall, with a nice balance of vegetables and meat, protein and dietary fiber can be equally satisfying compared to comfort food burgers.

【Flat White】

咖啡豆的味道還算可以，聞一聞，幽幽的傳來一陣帶奶泡香的咖啡味，拉花看上去很優雅亮麗，比一般中價的咖啡店用心和出色。奶泡打得細滑，奶味不特別重。因為Flat white的咖啡味較濃，所以比較形合Carly的口味，還可以，卻說不上十分滿意。雖然還是比起Elephant Grounds烘焙出來的咖啡豆略為遜色，但Cupping Room的質量算是不錯，比起同一條街的Veygo，絕對會選擇Cupping Room。

There are a few ways of how to judge whether this cup of flat white is up to standards, latte art was pretty (at least better than a lot of average cafes), the coffee crema on top was darkish brown which tasted mildy robust, Carly would have to say that it lacked a bit of character as the coffee tone did not linger around much for its aftertaste or judging by its fragrance or scent. Milk foam was velvety and silkily smooth as it was not too thin or watery. Above average, yes. Best in town? Not quite there yet.

【Latte】

Latte的味道比Flat White還要淡，只因Latte會把打至綿滑的奶泡與espresso based的咖啡沖得平均點，喝上口會較似一杯奶類咖啡，多於奶和特濃咖啡分間，層次上，Carly覺得是更單一，但性情溫和點。咖啡味道都很視乎個人口味，這個較淡身的latte就不太形合Carly的口味。用Latte的水準來比，Caffe Habitu 的Latte咖啡味性情言亦算溫純，但口感上較滑，不相不仲吧。

Latte was milder in its kind, considered to be relatively flat on the texture for a cup of coffee yet some people love the stronger milk flavor and Carly has to admit that lattes are more balanced as a whole. The milky foam was well-blended with the espresso, hints of coffee bean aroma were found, not too subtle, this may be the ideal cup of latte for people who love the balanced tone of milk and coffee.

【第二次造訪  |  The 2nd Visit – Filter Coffee】

Carly因為不太滿意上一次奶類咖啡的味道（不是不滿意，只是覺得可以更加出色而已），所以決定了給它們第二次機會，不竟Filter coffee和加入奶的咖啡是兩種喝法，Cupping Room夾著那麼大人氣，又拿了獎，不試多一次好像不太給面子。好吧，single origin coffee我不是試過得多，上一次在開業幾年，位於旺角黑布街的Knockbox coffee company，試過帶有巨峰提子甜味，但喝上口似臘腸味的咖啡，不太討好，有點嚇人。Cupping Room menu上面寫著這個來至Columbia Hulia, Betania/Washed – Butterscotch, Brownies, Lemon drop，帶有甜味的咖啡吸引了Carly的注意，在bar rea等了一會兒，barista還很有善的走過來，給了給我一杯清水。一杯細細的外帶咖啡送到我手上，barista知道我不常喝filter coffee，還貼心的說，如果不喜歡的，可以幫我加糖或奶。喝一口，不太濃，有淡淡的牛油香味，brownies的朱古力味反然不突出，相反，後勁微微的檸檬酸則很清晰，這杯filter coffee ，因為個人口味，說不上很喜歡，但絕對不俗。

As Carly was not too impressed with the flat white last time, she paid another visit to try out their filter coffee. As she has previously tried out another popular little coffee shop in Mongkok – Knockbox coffee company, Carly knew that she was not a fan of pure coffee tasting (without sugar or milk), she picked the coffee beans from Columbia Hulia, butterscotch, brownies and lemon drop was stated on the menu, Carly had one sip, the subtle buttercream taste of butterscotch came first, very subtle of chocolate hints mixed within, and lastly a clear note of acidic lemon drop ended off the coffee tasting journey. Very interesting type of experience if you are a coffee lover, Cupping Room offers quite a few selections from floral, sweet, simple and complex. (not as many as Knockbox) and the food is definitely considered above average for cafes these days. Everything comes in a package, in one cup to be exact.

服務態度整體不錯，Carly近期試過太多cafe，這裡的flat white咖啡香是有的，奶泡打得細滑有水準，但只是咖啡crema（沿著杯邊面頭的一層咖啡精華）不夠特出和甘香，簡單來說，不夠character。但因為午餐食物的質素，味道，和價錢也算是合理，Carly是會回來的。