The best specialty coffee shops in Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s best specialty coffee shops range from tiny standing counters to competition-led roasteries. Craft Coffee Roaster is our best overall pick, Project C is the essential Causeway Bay coffee bar, and Accro Coffee is worth the journey to Yuen Long for siphon coffee. Central and Sheung Wan have the greatest concentration of cafés, while Tai Hang is the easiest neighbourhood for a short coffee crawl.

This guide covers 13 shops across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories, plus one local roaster for beans to brew at home. We prioritised coffee quality, local roasting, sourcing, competition experience and shops that offer something specific to Hong Kong.

Craft Coffee Roaster

Tai Kok Tsui

Founder Lok Chan opened Craft in 2013 after deciding that importing through Taiwan left him too far from the source. He began travelling to farms in Ethiopia and Latin America instead, returning to Ethiopia at least once a year. His view: roasting can’t rescue poor green coffee.

Craft moved only a short way from its original Tai Kok Tsui address, with the newer shop giving the team more room to play. Go here rather than the Wan Chai branch.

Project C

Causeway Bay

Project C is sometimes called the submarine, a nickname that comes from its grey concrete frontage and single circular window, which looks more like a porthole than a café entrance. It’s easy to miss, even on Hysan Avenue.

Inside, almost everything happens along one narrow counter. There’s not much room to stand and no real distance between you and the barista. Don’t plan to open a laptop or stay for an hour.

OneThird Coffee Roasters

Central

OneThird is the kind of place that will throw away a finished cup when they think it isn’t right. The roaster began in Yuen Long, closed that shop, then returned in 2025 at 32 Graham Street.

The Central space is compact and counter-led, with little room beyond the brewing setup. There are adventurous things on the menu like coffee-and-cola and lemon-tea combinations. But the reason to visit is the pour-over.

OMA

Tai Hang

OMA, founded in 2021, works in small batches and holds regular cupping and brewing sessions to keep its team calibrated. Its range moves between competition lots and what OMA calls “daily comfort coffee,” though even the latter are selected with unusual precision.

The café also serves a substantial menu of food. Do the two-egg sourdough breakfast.

SonneCAD Coffee Studio & Lab

Tai Hang

SonneCAD roasts coffees few Hong Kong shops would attempt to. It occupies a two-storey pre-war building behind an old red door on Sun Chun Street.

Brewing happens downstairs. Order a pour-over and sit upstairs so that you can look over the street while you enjoy your coffee.

Knockbox Coffee Company

Mong Kok

Frances Lam and Patrick Tam opened Knockbox in 2011, when a menu built around origin and brewing method was still unusual in the city. In 2025, Knockbox barista Laughing Wong won the Hong Kong Barista Championship. Something the company is understandably very proud of, offering a 45-minute tasting of his competition coffee at its shops.

Accro Coffee

Yuen Long

Founder Tsuyoshi Mok opened Accro in 2010 after leaving an administrative job and moving to Taiwan to learn brewing and roasting. He chose Yuen Long because he grew up there and still lived nearby. And the neighbourhood had no specialty café at the time.

Accro initially used coffee roasted by Mok’s teacher in Taiwan, then moved production in-house two years later so the team could control the beans used in competition.

Order a siphon.

Chart Coffee

Central Market

You can walk into Chart at Central Market and be served a competition coffee by the person who built his routine around it. Co-founder Wilson Chung won the 2019 Hong Kong Siphon Championship, then placed in the city’s Brewers Cup, Latte Art and Barista championships. He finished second in the 2024 Hong Kong Barista Championship.

Chart organises its beans into categories such as Fruity, Winey and Nutty, making a technically ambitious menu unusually easy to understand. I love that.

Urban Coffee Roaster

Soho

Urban Coffee Roaster began in Hong Kong in 2014 and now operates five local shops, an airport branch and its first overseas café in Tokyo. Co-founder Gary Au won both the Hong Kong Barista Championship and Coffee in Good Spirits Championship in 2024. The following year, he finished sixth in the World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship and 17th in the opening round of the World Barista Championship.

Espresso Alchemy

Tsim Sha Tsui

Espresso Alchemy began in 2011, when founder Ambrose Peter Law brought what he’d learned about roasting in Melbourne back to Hong Kong. He became the city’s first CQI-certified Q Grader and later judged the World Barista Championship and World Brewers Cup. Law stepped away from competition judging in 2016 to develop direct-trade relationships with producers. The company now works with farms in Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia and Indonesia.

Espresso Alchemy entered the World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops at number 43 in 2025, the only Hong Kong business on the list, then climbed to number 31 and sixth in Asia in 2026.

EN Coffee

Sheung Wan

EN Coffee sits below the Shin Hing Street steps, though much of the café moves outside on weekends. Regulars gather on the stairs with their dogs and coffee while records play in the small, bonsai-filled room behind them.

A sleeker Causeway Bay branch opened in 2026, adding breakfast and an 8am start. But visit Sheung Wan for the original neighbourhood atmosphere.

Islet Coffee Lab

Central

Islet Coffee Lab opened at Quarryside in 2023 before expanding to Central and, in August 2026, Yau Ma Tei. The Central branch occupies a gallery at 9 On Lan Street, with art exhibitions on the walls and vinyl behind the coffee bar.

It has also hosted one of Hong Kong’s first Social Club Series coffee raves. Visit for filter coffee in a space that operates as a café, gallery and daytime music venue.

Uncle Ben Coffee

Fortress Hill

Hong Kong roaster Ben Lui founded Uncle Ben Coffee in 2021 and still works behind the counter at its tiny Fortress Hill shop. There’s barely any seating, and weekend queues often spill onto King Wah Road. Dor Dor, Lui’s Italian greyhound, serves as the resident “shop manager.”

This is one of Hong Kong’s most adventurous bean collections. Ask Lui to choose something based on the flavours you like, then buy a bag for home.

Personal Best Coffee Roasters

Kwai Chung

Founded by Purdey and Ka Chun “Bosco” Tai, Personal Best operates from an industrial building in Kwai Chung. Bosco Tai won the 2019 Hong Kong Barista Championship, represented Hong Kong at the 2022 World Barista Championship and finished second nationally in 2025.

Order online, or try its house coffee at the Sun Museum café in Sai Ying Pun.

How to plan a Hong Kong coffee crawl

If you have only one day, stay around Hong Kong Island.

Start at Project C in Causeway Bay. From there, go to Tai Hang for OMA and SonneCAD. They’re close to each other.

Continue to Central for OneThird and Chart. Finish at the original EN Coffee in Sheung Wan, where the steps outside tend to fill later in the day.

Use a second day for Kowloon. Begin at Craft Coffee Roaster in Tai Kok Tsui, then go to Knockbox in Mong Kok. Espresso Alchemy in Tsim Sha Tsui can be the final stop. That route gives a good view of how Hong Kong coffee developed, starting with local roasting and moving through an early specialty pioneer to a larger, internationally recognized café.

Accro needs its own trip to Yuen Long. Trying to squeeze it between several other shops turns the day into a transport problem. Go for siphon coffee, order food and stay a while.

On the eastern side of Hong Kong Island, Uncle Ben in Fortress Hill pairs well with Islet’s Quarry Bay shop. UCR’s Soho branch fits easily into any Central and Sheung Wan day.

Anyone else you would add to the list?

Frequently asked questions

What are the best specialty coffee shops in Hong Kong?

The best specialty coffee shops in Hong Kong include Craft Coffee Roaster, Project C, OneThird Coffee Roasters, OMA Specialty Coffee, SonneCAD, Knockbox, Accro Coffee, Chart Coffee, Urban Coffee Roaster, Espresso Alchemy, EN Coffee, Islet Coffee Lab and Uncle Ben Coffee. Craft is our best overall choice.

Which specialty coffee shop should I visit first in Hong Kong?

Visit Craft Coffee Roaster in Tai Kok Tsui for locally roasted coffee and one of the strongest all-round experiences. Choose Project C for a compact standing bar in Causeway Bay or OneThird for pour-over coffee in Central.

Where can I find pour-over coffee in Hong Kong?

Craft Coffee Roaster, Project C, OneThird, OMA, SonneCAD, Knockbox, EN Coffee and Islet Coffee Lab serve pour-over or filter coffee. SonneCAD offers the most guided experience. Accro Coffee in Yuen Long specialises in siphon brewing.

Which Hong Kong coffee shops roast their own beans?

Craft, OneThird, OMA, SonneCAD, Knockbox, Accro, Urban Coffee Roaster, Espresso Alchemy, Islet Coffee Lab and Uncle Ben operate their own or affiliated roasting programmes. Personal Best Coffee Roasters is a strong online choice for light-roasted beans.

Where should I buy coffee beans in Hong Kong?

Craft Coffee Roaster and Uncle Ben Coffee are the best physical shops for buying locally roasted beans with help from the staff. OneThird, Knockbox, OMA and Urban Coffee Roaster also sell retail beans. Personal Best is one of the best Hong Kong roasters for ordering online.

What is the best area for a Hong Kong coffee crawl?

Central and Sheung Wan have the greatest concentration of specialty coffee shops. OneThird, Chart Coffee, Urban Coffee Roaster, Islet Coffee Lab and EN Coffee can be combined in one route. For a shorter crawl, visit OMA and SonneCAD in Tai Hang.

Which Hong Kong café has the most international recognition?

Espresso Alchemy is Hong Kong’s most internationally recognised specialty café. It placed 31st in The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops 2026 and was the only Hong Kong business included.

Is Hong Kong good for specialty coffee?

Yes. Hong Kong has a technically strong specialty coffee scene with local roasters, competition baristas and small pour-over bars across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories. The city is particularly good for filter coffee, unusual microlots and direct interaction with baristas.