Restaurant review: OVOCafé, Wan Chai - vegetarian food, great coffee
OVOCafé, which is inside the old Wan Chai market, is a welcome recent discovery.
A collaboration between local lifestyle design brand OVO and coffee guru Felix Wong, of Causeway Bay's Cafe Corridor, the venue is good for more than just coffee, which is roasted in-house; it also serves healthy vegetarian food. The cooking is light, and this allows the fresh ingredients to shine.
The soup changes daily, and on our visit it was a very comforting mushroom soup (HK$32). Every spoonful came with chewy pieces of mixed mushrooms. The simple starter of mashed potato, sweet potato and pumpkin with buttered corn (HK$48) was surprisingly flavourful, thanks to the natural sweetness of each ingredient.
The mango in the appetising, colourful couscous salad (HK$58) was sweet and juicy. The couscous, beautifully presented in the shell of a mango and tossed with mixed sweet peppers, had an interesting dressing. The creamy mushroom risotto (HK$88), topped with a whole roasted portobello mushroom, was nicely seasoned, but we wished it was more buttery.
The all-day green breakfast (HK$88) was a sumptuous looking plate filled with fluffy scrambled eggs, cheese mashed potato, baked beans, mixed mushrooms, Provencal roasted tomato, fresh greens and two pieces of toast.
We especially loved the crunchy top of the herb crumbed tomato, which was succulent. We enjoyed the apple peach smoothie (HK$46), too, as it is was refreshing and not sickly sweet.
For those with dietary restrictions, some ingredients are marked on the menu, such as G for garlic, O for onion, M for milk and E for egg.
The ambience is relaxing, probably because the cafe shares the same space with its florist, and has lots of warm wood fixtures, too.
