Located in Sha Tin Town Hall, la terrazza Caffe is only minutes away from the ever-bustling New Town Plaza, but its quiet atmosphere and generally quite affordable prices make it seem like a whole new world. To get there from New Town Plaza, simply exit at the first floor (where all the restaurants are), walk up the steps and go straight into the Town Hall.
My mother and I were here for the first time for tea the other day. A cake set including a drink adds up to $45, and there's no service charge, so it is quite a bit cheaper than other cafés. The downside is that there were only three types of cakes - tiramisu, Neapolitan and apple tart, but the upside is that they brew Starbucks coffee! This makes their set a really good value because getting a drink at Starbucks would set you back at least $30 already.
Although the variety of cakes is limited, you'll be pleased to know that they're of a pretty good size. Especially my mother's Neapolitan - it was about twice the size of regular artisanal cakes that you would get elsewhere. The Neapolitan is loose yet very crunchy, and not overly sweet. My tiramisu was not as big and unfortunately didn't have much of a coffee taste, but was soft and creamy nonetheless.
We were there at around 5pm on a Friday and had no issues finding a seat. Besides cakes, they also serve waffles with (Haagen Dazs!) ice cream, hot dogs and salad. They do lunch sets too. One thing though is that there is faint Chinese opera music not from the cafe, but from the speakers around the Town Hall. It's not super loud but if you have really sensitive ears and are not one for high pitched Chinese opera tunes, this may bother you! read more