Korea is having its 15 minutes in China, it seems. Korean cosmetics and clothes are highly sought after and K-pop boys are making girls sigh across the country.
Korea’s domestic cafe culture has been booming – industry numbers report a doubling of coffee consumption in the last decade. This trend even spawned a TV series called Coffeehouse. Guangzhou is seeing the effects of this craze: Zoo Café, Maan Coffee and Chois Coffee.
Now open across from TaiKoo Hui on Tianhe Lu, W Coffee is the latest arrival from across the Yellow Sea. It’s impossible to miss the giant, decorative wire objet d’art blocking half of the front area. We’re not sure if these are bird cages with no bottoms, homage to the Victorian era or just someone’s foray into a metalworking class. We do know that they are obstructive in terms of view, access to the wall of coffee paraphernalia for sale, are probably bad for overall feng shui and will function mostly as something people hurt themselves on.
The silly layout is again a nuisance when ordering in the squished little counter at the back, rammed in between the concrete stairs and glass cases. With only three customers standing in line, it’s still a frustrating experience. A quick peek upstairs reveals a massive, galley-like area reminiscent of an outdoor furniture display at Wal-Mart — think cheap wicker and wall-to-wall Astroturf.
Tucking into the food and beverages only contributes to the vexation. For RMB28, the lemonade should surely be a top-notch, tangy refresher? Lesson learned: don’t assume anything here. The ‘lemonade’ is quite possibly just soda water with some lemon slices in it.
The club sandwich (RMB35) arrives with no chicken and two strips of soggy, extremely fatty bacon. Points for nice homemade bread. Where is the chicken? Apparently W Coffee’s club doesn’t have it. But why, then, in the glass case of plastic food does it seem to be present? Employees are ready with the disclaimer: plastic examples do not reflect actual products. See above learned lesson.
W Coffee has some truly mystifying menu items, like mayonnaise pizza and pancakes with no syrup or sauce. Most baffling are the toast bricks, slabs of white bread which come with a selection of toppings and sauces. Honey butter bread (RMB28) has streaks of cinnamon and is piled high with out-of-the-can whipped cream, garnished with a tomato and accompanied by a wilted pile of greens with vinegar dressing. We’re not really sure who is into this bizarre mash-up of fruit, veg and edible oil product. Maybe a pregnant woman experiencing strange cravings?
Of course, coffee is the main point, and the espresso (RMB21) is fine, totally palatable.
Places like this cafe seem to thrive on oddball decor rather than quality food, and indeed, a quick question posed to a Chinese friend sheds light on the quandary of why anyone would go to such coffeehouses: they are awesome places to take selfies to post on WeChat.
// 236 Tianhe Lu, Tianhe District 天河区天河路236号 (8520 1830)
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