Edison Woo was in Europe when a thought struck him: “In China juice bars are boring – why can’t they make a fancy juice?”
One year later, Hun has become the synthesis of Woo’s travels and his ambition to create an attractive juice bar.
“It’s bigger, it has more of a taste,” he says about the Mexican avocados as the music he discovered in France plays in the background.
Hun avoids the muddled look of a business with too many good ideas. Presentation is slick and simple, with live wheat grass on the counter and fresh fruit on display.
Imported avocadoes and domestically grown kale are some of the rarer ingredients he uses in Shenzhen, and it’s also one of the few Chinese juice bars to stock real peppermint.
The juices are served in large plastic cups and for the most part only have Chinese names, although the ingredients are listed in English. Balsam pear, cucumber and peppermint (RMB22) has an earthy wheatgrass taste with a slight minty kick. Baby (also RMB22) is an extremely sweet mix of raspberry, pineapple and apple – prompting Woo to assure us no sugar was added.
His lemon, orange, pear and kale mix is not too sweet and our personal favorite, though the kale is mislabeled as “collard green.”
The one place Hun deviates from its health-centric menu is the frozen yoghurt, with toppings ranging from Oreo (RMB20) to strawberry marshmallow (RMB22). If the sound of these makes you feel guilty, Hun also has a wheatgrass-syrup-topped frozen yogurt (with red beans to boot) at RMB25. With that said, the wheatgrass taste and the sweet yogurt make an odd pairing.
Just before we leave, Woo lifts his iPhone and shows us a picture of himself picking Yunnan roses, the heart of Hun’s “flower cakes.” The sweet, bready pastry is stuffed with a Yunnan rose and comes free with the brochures on the counter.
Price: Appox. RMB25
Who’s going: Cleansers, juice and frozen yoghurt fans, kale appreciators
Good for: Post-workout cool-down, healthy drinks, flower cakes
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