When Elephant Grounds popped onto the scene on Gough Street in Central at the Woaw Store, the name was synonymous with one thing only- ice-cream sandwiches. Forget the coffee that they were brewing, no no, people of Hong Kong were solely interested in this seemingly holy grail of desserts, the iPhone equivalent of ice-cream. A new flavour every weekend and a limited supply; their Instagram announcement of the fresh creation generating a wave of palpable excitement, such that friends were clamouring to get there early enough to get their hands on one. It took a while for this feverishness to die down and when it finally seemed a bit calmer, I casually swanned in one Sunday afternoon when in the area and got their Forbidden Crumble ice-cream sandwich which was a) beautiful to look at b) exciting, as apple crumble is one of my favourite desserts so I was already loving it without even tasting it c) bloody difficult to eat gracefully. Call it a sugar high, but I suddenly understood the craze. Cinnamon ice cream with green apple and a crumble cookie finished with caramelized apples and almonds tasted as delicious as it sounds and as I stood in the street between cars, gingerly biting into it, apple bits and almonds perilously sliding off rapidly melting ice-cream, I remember thinking it’d be grand to have another branch a little closer towards North Point. There is zero room inside the Woaw Store for a coffee and a natter and their other branch at Wong Chuk Hang is too out of the way.
And then, LO AND BEHOLD, the coffee gods heard our cries and Elephant Grounds materialised at Fashion Walk in Causeway Bay. (The other day I noticed that my beloved Xi Yan Sweets on Star Street has closed and has been taken over by another Elephant Grounds branch…WHAT ON EARTH?! Am not sure how I feel about this. Whilst I applaud EG’s ability to suddenly sprout another branch, I admit I am rather gutted by the disappearance of XYS to be honest, but luckily there’s still a branch in Tai Koo Shing.)
Elephant Grounds, Fashion Walk, Causeway Bay (image courtesy of Fashionwalk.com.hk)
But, back to EG and the branch in Causeway Bay is quite lovely and is the older, mature, more sophisticated and obviously much larger version of the Gough Street counterpart, with its minimalistic wooden tables and chairs and a cool counter top to perch at. The menu is more than just ice-cream sandwiches and coffee too. There’s a rather tasty selection of dishes including hamburger, salmon donburi, ramen and kale quinoa salad.
I’d already frequented this branch for the odd coffee or two with friends and love sitting outside watching the world go by. I hadn’t really paid attention to their coffee philosophy of, “The finest beans. Appropriate roast. Correct brewing method. Great presentation”, but suffice it to say I have no complaints about their coffee, aside from the price, which is tad steep at $45, once you compare it to the cost of some of their dishes, but nonetheless their French Vanilla coffee is done nicely and you can’t go wrong with their latte.
French Vanilla Latte
On yet another horrendously rainy day, I was kindly invited to try out a couple of dishes from their brunch menu and sampled the Torched Salmon Donburi ($88) with an onsen egg, pickled cucumbers, mixed greens, roasted corn and sesame dressing and their EG burger ($106) which is 8oz of USDA prime beef patty wedged within a brioche bun served with a fried egg, cheddar cheese and fries.
The salmon donburi is a hearty size and prettily presented. I enjoyed the variety of ingredients going on in my bowl and of course, an onsen egg on top of anything will always make things that little bit tastier. The burger is also quite substantial- the beef patty meaty and juicy and topped with a good amount of melty cheese and another egg. Protein overload! The fries were good and I ended up munching on more than I intended despite needing to leave room for ice-cream!
Torched Salmon Donburi
EG Burger (this was bloody awkward to photograph!)
Ah yes, the ice-cream. Japanese Taro ice-cream, one of my favourite flavours. There’s a fairly extensive list of atypical flavours such as Thai iced tea and Rose water rhubarb, but the minute I heard Taro, I needed to try it. This was definitely the best part of the meal, and I love how the ice-cream includes candied taro chunks which really livens up the ice-cream to give it that extra texture. Absolutely delicious!
Japanese Taro Ice-cream with a Taro chip
Now that Fashion Walk has undergone yet another face-lift with EG and Burger Room amongst others moving in, the ‘hood is looking quite a lot more interesting. Although EG is meant to be all about the coffee, somehow the ice-cream became the headliner, whether deliberately or not, I don’t know. In any case, I admire how they are striving to expand their repertoire, so let’s see if the coffee and the food become as memorable as their sweet offerings.
Chopstixfix rating: 3.5/5
Shop C, G/F, 42-28 Paterson Street Fashion Walk, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong / Mon – Fri: 11:00 am – Late/ Sat – Sun: 10:00 am – Late/ 852 2562 8688/ http://elephantgrounds.com/
This meal was by invitation- many thanks to the EG team for the kind hospitality.
