Its hard make a review for an establishment especially with one visit and one drink. So I will definitely make subsequent reviews upon further visits. Coffee from Lof10 is 4 stars. The barista was helpful/friendly. But to me, its also about whether or not getting that one cup of coffee is worth it or not. The cost in this scenario, is the journey of a thousand steps..
Pros:
Cool, simple vibe. Lof10 is fairly small, but its got that simple, yet airy decor. One large table as soon as you walk in. Some side bar seating area to your left, and then further back there are other seats after you walk pass the barista bar. It has the minimalist vibe similar to that of a Japanese coffee shop. Very zen like. 5 Stars here.
Rumor is that they serve blue bottle coffee and might be the only store in HK to do so. I generally like a coffee shop roasting their own, but you can't go wrong either by sourcing from one of the best third wave coffee shops out there. Although from other reviews here, it seems like they no longer serve Blue Bottle Beans?
Cons:
Another pretty expensive coffee shop. The trend I guess is that you gotta be fairly well off to drink coffee (especially on a frequent/daily basis) in Hong Kong @ a hipster location. I think it was 60 HKD for my black shaken ice coffee. I'm not exactly sure how the black coffee is made, but I feel like its probably espresso based. The coffee itself was good, strong, full bodied. But 60 bucks for a small cup of ice coffee is pretty steep, shaken or not. (Its got that nitro feel/look from the shaking)
I started walking towards Lof10 from the Sheung Wan MTR exit. Bruh, that walk was in itself insanity.. especially under the scorching sun. I don't remember how many steps there were but I felt like Goku walking up thousands of steps to the top of a mountain to prove myself worthy to be trained under the great master roshi or master mutaito. But in this case, master roshi/mutaito was a cup of coffee. By the time I got to the store, I was drench with sweat. Therefore from my initial comment: The coffee here is good, just the cost of getting here is a little too extreme.
Overall I would probably come back here to try something else if I can get a friend to drive or we split a cab or something as I do want to update this review by trying different things. Although, if they really don't source from blue bottle anymore, probably less of an incentive to make that trip. read more