In My Sweet Opinion: Best Breakfasts in HK!

It’s here! The second part of our blogger A.C’s guide to sweet eats in Hong Kong. This time – the best breakfasts in the 852 for those of you with a sweet tooth!

When we were growing up, Mom always told us that breakfast was the most important meal of the day, and then she fed us pancakes and waffles with syrup, greasy bacon, sugary cereal, and sticky caramelized monkey bread. No wonder I can’t take pleasure in the typical English breakfast with its eggs full of protein, nutritious spinach and grilled tomato, and savory baked beans! Because my parents made me a sweet breakfast without fail every Sunday morning (and still do whenever I’m home), I have now been brainwashed into thinking breakfast must be sweet (even though my cereal these days is more bran than fake fruity flavours). Here is a list of my favorite sweet breakfast choices in Hong Kong:

Wagyu Lounge 3-5 Old Bailey St., Central
2522 1438 www.casteloconcepts.com/

3 stack of chocolate chip pancakes $60, obligatory side of bacon $18

More sweets than any one person should be allowed to have for breakfast on one plate: pancakes, chocolate chips, ice cream, powdered sugar, and fresh fruit (hence the obligatory side of bacon to offset the sugar coma you’re bound to go into post-breakfast). Each pancake has chocolate chips spread throughout it and powdered sugar sprinkled on top. On one side of the gigantic plate is a ramekin of syrup, on the other a bowl of vanilla cream that serves as the perfect dip for the blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries that also populate the plate. This breakfast couldn’t be any sweeter or any more delicious.

Yamakazi Bakery and Pacific Coffee Company Various locations around HK
Sugared donuts from $8-16

I have scoured the streets of Hong Kong in search of the perfect donut, but I have yet to find that American yeasty, fluffy donut with sweet chocolate frosting glazing the top. With Pacific Coffee Company and Yamakazi, I’m sure I’ve come as close as I’m going to get. Both bakeries offer donuts that before the sugar are mildly sweet, but add the topping and you have a wonderfully Americanized donut. There is literally no nutritional value from this sweet treat, but they certainly are a quick sugar fix on your way into work.

Mrs. Field’s Various locations around HK, including Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, Central & Tai Koo MTR stations
1 muffin $14

With an array of muffin flavours, you can’t go wrong with this quick buy at the MTR stations. My favorites are the chocolate and the apple cinnamon. The muffins are delivered fresh to each branch and are moist and flavourful. I usually grab a triple chocolate brownie while I’m there just in case I get an afternoon sweet tooth craving.

SLOOP Shop 3, G/F, 189-205 Queen’s Rd C, Sheung Wan
2545 8388 www.facebook.com/SloopHK

1 bagel with spread, varies from $27-35 depending on the day, the deal, and the time you get it

My favorite quick breakfast in all of Hong Kong! With fresh bagels flown in from New York and over 10 choices for toppings, this place is great for a quick pick-up and eat on the run. With a few choices of bagels and your choice of spread, you have options to be as sweet as you want to be. My staple: toasted plain bagel with Nutella take-away; they even wrap it up in wax paper so you can eat it on your way to yoga or to the office.

Top Deck Top Floor Jumbo Kingdom, Shum Wan Pier Drive, Wong Chuk Hang, Aberdeen, Hong Kong
2552 3331 www.cafedecogroup.com/outlet.php?oid=26&name=topdeck

Sunday all-you-can-eat-and-drink champagne brunch $388

Every part of this brunch is perfection! From the fabulous view of the fishing boats and expensive yachts cruising the marina, the freshly-prepared food, and the free flow champagne, you really can’t go wrong with 5 hours of eating and drinking. And while most of your options here are savoury, you must end every Top Deck brunch with a made-to-order crêpe adding your choice of chocolate, vanilla, honey, and fruit fillings. Because you have 5 hours to indulge, you can try as many crêpe flavours as the champagne allows you to hold!

Stay tuned for the final part of A.C’s Sweet Opinion series; next stop, the hot chocolate files!