Low-Key High Tea at The Coffee Academics in Eslite Bookshop

Have you checked out brand-new mall, Hysan Place yet mamas? Conveniently located just next to Forever 21 and near Sogo, it’s another great Causeway Bay retail destination. In shopping terms, while you’ll love the huge GAP (and GAP Kids, naturally), French Connection, Hollister, and rumoured-t0-be-opening-soon Apple store, the absolute highlight is HUGE Taiwanese bookshop, Eslite, which sprawls over 41,000 square feet and three floors of the mall. And located in one corner of it, on the 8th floor, you’ll find a great little coffee shop, The Coffee Academics, brought to us by the Caffé Habitu group.

We love the cosy decor with brick-lined walls and coffee paraphernalia on long wooden communal tables, as well as the dark and moody coffee bar area, and the book-lined shelves above head height (perfectly out of reach of sticky little fingers!).

The coffee is top-notch of course, and the waiter service is a nice treat so you can sit down and take a load off your feet after all that shopping. The highlight though? The afternoon tea sets (the super-moist carrot cake is our fave!). It’s nice to find somewhere that offers afternoon tea sets in a more casual setting so little ones can enjoy and even get a little messy, without feeling awkward in a fancy hotel. Order up a babyccino for bub and relax!

There are lots of fun little touches to enjoy that reinforce the “academic” theme of the setting, including the lovely menus (you can order up sandwiches and snacks if tums are rumbling), and they even bring you your bill in an old-fashioned copy book, so you could put the kids to work at improving their handwriting if you like!

The Coffee Academics, 8/F Eslite Bookshop, Hysan Place, 500 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, 3543 1313
www.the-academics.com