It’s pretty amazing how much you can see and experience in half a day, especially if you drift off the beaten path a little bit, walk in the opposite direction of what you think that perhaps you should be walking. I did that today. From Mong Kok I walked away from the harbour with the aim of exploring all of the markets in this area. But first thing first, a hot chocolate and amazingly I found one just a few blocks away from where I was staying. Catch is, the locals here don’t seem to be in as much need as people are in other countries for a coffee first thing in the morning. KnockBox Coffee Company didn’t open until 11am. I know if my husband was with me today he might have gone into shock, especially since KnockBox isn’t just another coffee shop, it is apparently one of the best. They believe, and are of course right, that every cup of coffee has a story. If you want to hear about its story, the staff are more than happy to share this with you. They don’t believe in decaf, soy, syrup and instead focus on single origin, direct trade and freshly roasted. Their shop is like a coffee laboratory with bits and pieces to make every different type of coffee, espresso, hand drip, siphon. If you like coffee, this is your heaven.
So why am I here? Very good question. Married to a coffee lover I’m getting quite skilled at finding good coffee shops that happen to have an ok hot chocolate. This means that at least one of us is really happy. But KnockBox seems to have both. The hot chocolate is a hand made truffle lightly dipped in cocoa powder. It is rich and dark, maybe 65%. This is placed in front of you next to a mug of hot milk. Pop it into the milk, impatiently wait a few minutes, give it a little stir and you have it. The truffle was beautiful but I would have loved two, that would have made a beautiful hot chocolate. With one it was a little light on the chocolate, but still very nice.
So obviously because I walked by when it was closed all of this I found out at 1pm when I walked back this way again. Between 8am and 1pm I walked and walked and ate a lot too. I walked up to the area around Sham Shui Po and walked up and down the various streets. There are a lot of fantastic food options here and I kept eating until I really couldn’t eat anymore. Pineapple buns (with no pineapples) with tea, steamed rice rolls, tofu (organic, from Canada actually), amazing dumplings, lots of noodles and some old fashion cookies to finish things off. I then used all of that energy to walk back towards Mong Kok to explore the markets (make sure you have a map!). You can start off at the top at the flower and the bird market. Then make your way back towards the harbour past the goldfish street. There are little shops and markets everywhere, in the different buildings, on side streets. The ladies market finishes off your market exploration and our friend KnockBox is conveniently located right near there, away from the hustle and bustle, far enough that no tourists finds their way here but close enough that you easily could, and should. Enjoy being a local for a morning.
Verdict: Something to make everyone happy, regardless of what kind of drink you prefer. And they serve food too. HKD37 KnockBox, Ground Floor, 21 Hak Po Street, mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong. @knockbox T@knockbox_coffee
