Sunday Brunch at Life, Hong Kong

On Sunday mornings, brunch seems to be a very popular habit in Soho, the central, bohemian heart of Hong Kong. Its uphill alleys and escalator (a 2,600 ft long circuit built in 1993 that stands as a quintessential symbol of the neighborhood) are packed with people that stumble upon the newest eatery to recharge the batteries after an intense week of work.

We join the tradition and follow the crowd, heading to Life, an organic cafe renown for providing hearty options.

Not only is the food display captivating, the whole atmosphere is relaxing and genuine, decorated with rough wood furniture that well pairs the search for naturalism of the menu.

We start with a bowl of Homemade Organic Granola and Soya Yoghurt, which is a little tart and would need to be sweetened with some maple syrup or agave nectar.

The granola is certainly healthy: grainy, full of flaxseeds and low in sugar. The choice of fresh fruit (melon, cantaloupe and a little pineapple) doesn’t add value to the bowl, which is way too plain. Something sweeter, such as apples or berries, would have been more appropriate.

The Sunshine Shake is not better. Bananas, mangoes, dates should be amazing together, but they are blended in a liquid and dull combination.

The savor of the fruit disappears and the only flavor one can actually taste is the ice. The shower of flaxseeds on top can’t make up for its overall blandness.

As we’re huge sweet potato fans, we order the Egg Frittata, supposed to come with our favorite tuber, black olives, tomato lime salsa, fresh basil and rockets. Onion ends up being the only flavor we can actually detect.

Fortunately the ambiance makes up for the lacking of flavor. Our seat, a cute secluded platform reachable through a wooden ladder, is the perfect spot to overlook the whole dining room. Large, linen pillows make our staying comfortable and, determined not to give up, we order again.

The Organic Vegan Banana Cake first attract our attention when we got in. We have to give it a try. When it arrives, our fork slides effortlessly through it, making some crumbles fall off to the side, like we’re cutting cornbread. It comes with a blueberry jam, which is more like a compote, with little chunks in it.

It’s good but when we try to cover the cake with it, it barely glazes the top. The dough has definitely an earthy, but after all this healthiness we crave some sweetness. “Life” is definitely on the healthier side.

It would have been better if… We were vegans!