Stack, Grain de Sel, Elephant Grounds, The Mixing Bowl and Genie Juicery Are Now All Open

Pancake Wars

Twins Josh and Caleb Ng, who own hipster cafe Common Ground up on Shing Wong Street, are now onto their second venture, Stack (G/F, 1 Third St., Sai Ying Pun, 2549-9787), an American pancake house in a funky, retro Hong Kong outfit. Josh says there will be two kinds of pancakes on offer: buckwheat and ricotta cheese. But that’s only the beginning. The pancakes will be topped with things you don’t expect pancakes to be topped with: pulled pork, short ribs, seafood… “It’s a very new concept,” he told me on WhatsApp.I believe him!   

Then, there are the guys from Fleur de Sel turning up the heat on Hillier with takeout joint Grain de Sel (G/F, Manhattan Avenue, 255 Queen’s Rd. Central, 3904-2929), right beside popular La Rotisserie. GDS sells crepes and galettes (that’s a savory buckwheat crepe) made-to-order, and you can choose from classic fillings like ham and Emmental cheese or more adventurous options such as duck confit, minced beef and smoked salmon.

Spilling the Beans

Concept store WOAW now has a coffee shop inside called Elephant Grounds (G/F, 11 Gough St., Sheung Wan, 2253-1313), serving brews from Africa, Indonesia, Latin America and other parts of the world. Which sounds lovely, but because we have plenty of cool coffeehouses to choose from in this part of town, I’m actually more excited about the thick, large American-style “Homie” cookies EG stocks: there are s’more, chocolate chip and green  tea varieties available. Nearby is The Mixing Bowl (G/F, 5 Shin Hing St., Sheung Wan, 5333-7175), a more comprehensive cafe-slash-deli that offers simple sandwiches and pastries as well as coffee and tea-based drinks. You can also browse their shelves for an eclectic mix of retail products like chocolates made in Vietnam, or all-natural soymilk from Japan.

A Fresh Faced Affair

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