Bo-lo'gne Japanese Bakery Cafe
1A, G/F King Ho Building, 41-49 Aberdeen Street, Central
Tel: 2950 0600
Grub: Japanese-style snacks and a few desserts.
Vibe: A friendly chill-out place with a few tables in the back. The menu is chalked up on a blackboard, lit by a small chandelier. Daily desserts are in a chilled display counter below. There are newspapers and magazines to read, or you could sit at one of the two al fresco tables and just watch the world go by. Cookies, bread and branded preserves are also for sale.
Who to take: It's a good place for a quiet chat, so go with one or two close friends.
What's hot: As a Japanese bakery, a good many of the menu items are served with Japanese-style bread - or rather, Danish bread made in Kyoto. It's certainly interesting, with a sweet buttery flavour, slightly crisp outside, and soft and well-textured innards, almost as if a croissant had been turned into a loaf. Delicious.
The spaghetti dishes include mentaiko: marinated fish roe, whose purported Napolitana-Japanese style sounds intriguing, but is in reality little more than average. The sauce is sweet and reminiscent of something that comes in a can with spaghetti hoops. Mixed with the sauce are ham, peppers, mushrooms and onions.