Alchemy ORIGIN — Restaurant in Hong Kong Island

Within Taikoo Place there are so many food options these days, very lucky for the people who work there i’ll say! So my friend recommends to come here because of their decent lunch menu.

The cafe is spacious with both indoor and outdoor seatings. Love the earth tone color, and the decor which is warm and welcoming. During lunch hour they only let you in unless the full party is here, that’s understandable but perhaps they can simply set a dinning time limit?

In order the pesto chicken with salad and add $11 for a cup of matcha latte. I like how they let you customize the drink which i can pick less sweet in this case and i think it’s such a good deal for this upgrade! The matcha latte is very nice and i like it hot! I am very surprised by the portion of the chicken which is a lot! Even thought it’s chicken breast, the meat is still juicy and tender, well seasoned with a touch of pesto. I like how they have sun sided tomato to go with the salad, definitely makes the salads feels more luxurious. The only disappointment is probably the dessert where i have ordered the fresh toast beforehand and then being told that it’s sold out. I have the banana bread instead, well the banana cake is not the cakey and I’m not sure if it’s because of busy lunch hour, the banana cake is warm on the outside but cold inside. It’s basically like eating rubber with banana taste, i definitely did not enjoy it at all.

I think the price is reasonable, good portion and good service. I’ll come back to try the...

The food and service is good but I dislike the time notifications they have that you can only stay 60 min if you have a drink or 90 if you have food.

First of all it was empty when I went mid morning. I understand if you have a customers' queue at all hours or if certain times/days like lunch/brunch are busy then have a time set for particular window but to have it indiscriminately that's poor hospitality to me.

Secondly, it's located in a business complex, meaning people visiting are likely to go for business meetings or work. The cafe has in fact sockets to cater for laptops, but what's the point to bother going there when there's a timer on?

If I were to bring my laptop I'd want to focus on my work for at least 2h without having to keep an eye on my watch to see if I need to leave. So for this reason I rather go to places around the corner like Pret or Maison Kayser, less fancy but I can take my work and consume my food & drink without having a timer on.

I hope this silly 60-90 minutes policy changes in the future, ultimately don't get into the hospitality game if you can't...

Alchemy has opened up a new cafe and coffee shop called Origin on the ground floor of Two Tai Koo Place in Quarry Bay. They have a fairly large and well decorated seating area and are open from 8am to 9pm (weekdays) and 9am to 9pm (weekends).

Menu features traditional cooked western dishes with separate breakfast, lunch and a la carte options along with their selection of Melbourne style coffee drinks, non-coffees and desserts which you can order all day as well as take away. Service is very friendly and fast. Order at your table if taking meal or coffee in house. Walk to the back counter behind the seating for take-away orders.

I had an Iced Long Black recently that was very good. The coffee was fruity, almost lemony finish, something that Iced Lemon Tea drinkers would likely find enjoyable. Served cold, this was a refreshing drink while making my way across Quarry Bay. Loaf cakes at the counter looked very good as well, had recently finished lunch so avoided the temptation. Might not be able...