AMO·AGO (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

It’s been a long, long year but we finally hit the annual jackpot, and that called for a celebration. After leaving the office on time (for once!), I made my way over to Central to check out a couple of place, including AMO·AGO — a café and dessert shop I stumbled upon on Dianping (大众点评) a few days ago. Apparently, our friends from north of the border know more about our dining scene than I do!

It was a sweltering hot summer day and I was definitely feeling the heat as I trekked up towards the Central-mid-Levels Escalator in Soho, where AMO·AGO is located. Despite the maze of traffic and heavy scaffolding, I managed to find the entrance to my sweet treat haven.

Right at the entrance, I was greeted by a fine selection of baked goods — breads, pies, and cookies galore.

Only a few of their exquisite French pastries were left by the time I arrived, which was no surprise given the late hour.

The café also offer a small menu of savory items but I was here for one thing and one thing only. Dessert!

Iced mint chocolate ($60) – I needed something to cool me off and this more than did the trick for me. The refreshing hint of mint gave it an extra cooling effect.

Pur Chocolate ($70) – A chocolate lover’s dream. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them.

Well, a few other pastries were higher on my list but since they were already sold out so I took a chance on this chocolate creation featuring chocolate streusel, 65% chocolate mousse, chocolate sponge, Gianduja milk crémeux, and hazelnut praline.

I like the different textures of chocolate layered throughout the dessert but I was hoping for a bit more contrast in flavor, perhaps something acidic (raspberry?) or a stronger nutty profile to balance out the richness. The hazelnut praline was there but it got lost a little amid the intensity of all that chocolate.

Still, this was by no means a bad dessert. It just didn’t quite live up to the hype I’ve seen on social media. But hey, it was my celebration and I was going to enjoy every bite of it.

Food Rating: 6.1/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 11 Shelley Street, Central, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Central

Tel: +852 9041-9511

Website: https://www.amoago.com.hk/

Opening Hours: 8:00am - 11:00pm daily