A Tale of Two Cafes. Zhuhai.

Zhuhai. Coffee.  Two words that shouldn't be used together in the same sentence.

English tea too.  You can't really throw in that one either.

Coffee doesn't agree with me so I drink tea.  Coffee doesn't agree with Keith either but he loves it so much he permits himself a single wake-up cup a day.  This means it HAS to be good coffee.

But, oh, man!  Nothing was harder than trying to find a decent cuppa in Starbucks-free Zhuhai.

The hotel was less than no help.  The rooms only had jasmine tea, and their restaurant ...

 See it at the back there?  

The revolving restaurant on the 29th floor 

that looks the part but doesn't actually move.

... offered "English tea" on the menu but what turned up was that bitter tongue-clogging 'brewed and stewed' foul-tasting sludge known as "Hong Kong Milk Tea".

 Order English tea and this arrives.

Ahhhhh!

Have you ever tried "Hong Kong Milk Tea"?  I promise you, it tastes ... no, the taste is so vile there are no words to describe it.  Furthermore, one cup brings insomnia for the next three nights. Liquid No-Doze! Truly, it's brutal stuff.

So this meant, our first morning in Zhuhai, we were out in the streets early, trudging bleary-eyed through the drizzle, trying to find a place, any place, where we could get ourselves a decent wake-up cuppa.

No luck.  It wasn't until we gave up the quest, an hour later, and decided to go get a wake-up massage instead, that we stumbled across "Emma's Cafe" just across the road - through the door below the skybridge - from Guangdong Hotel.

I deleted all the photos I took of the place (apart from the gamblers) because the snaps were too dark, but let me tell you that  "Emma's Cafe" is beyond-wonderful.  Very welcoming, very generous, very mindful of your comfort and with the sweetest waitresses you have ever come across.  No English however beyond "You're welcome." but, along with a menu in both languages, truly, do you need more than that?

Instantly, this became "Our Place." and every morning we'd stumble in to the sweetest welcome. Even their crowd of resident gamblers waved:

Tuesday Morning.

 Wednesday Morning.

Thursday Morning.

Nothing could beat the way "Emma's Cafe" cared so deeply about our comfort.  The instant we arrived the music went from sincerely beautiful Classical Mandarin Zither Music to "Simon Chang and Garfunkle Wong Fake the Occidental-People-First-Songs of the '60s". We particularly LOVED "Sounds of Sirence". And then they'd kindly race out with their only copy of their English newspaper:

Days old; 

the same one every day; 

no updating required.

And, on the second morning, when I'd finished politely-pretending-to-read-it and noticed the latest copy of Non-No on the racks and excitedly raced over to grab it, they equally quickly and excitedly brought me their only copy of an 'English' magazine to replace it:

 What's NOT to love?

The food too was great. On our last day, I noticed they had curry on the menu. No, really! I mean, curry in China? And despite Keith's protestations of "You don't eat curry in China", I had to try it.  Got the chicken and it was sooo yummy it was in a league of its own.  In fact, it was so nice I even made Keith order himself a plate and then ate half of his, all the while with him fending me off, stabbing me with his fork, because he found it too wonderful to share. 

Yes, indeed we loved "Emma's Cafe". However, we had a secret almost too ghastly to admit, even to each other.  Last day, however, we had to say it: we didn't like the tea and only half-loved their coffee. Although Keith said their coffee was almost-good, it was too potent. And my secret was even worse. Their English tea wasn't what my taste buds were craving, increasingly and expediently moreso every day.

Tea at "Emma's Cafe" is a blend all of their own they called Royal Earl, mostly oolong, but it was like "Hong Kong Milk Tea. Lite." made with not-real milk; border-line yuck but vastly better than the stuff in the hotel, however anything would be.

But they were just so lovely at "Emma's Cafe" we felt so wrong doing what we did.  Can you believe it?  We snuck out of there and, on the off-chance Bar Street had a Starbucks, we went down in the rain to check it out.

Have to tell you, we walked the entire length of that avenue and it's definite: there is NO Starbucks down Bar Street.  However we did find this:

Jack and the Magic Pea.

At Jack's they have good tea - not great but my standards are too high - and it was definitely what my mouth was craving.

And Keith said the coffee ...

... was possibly the best cup he ever had.

And two cups later, we ordered lunch too. Had to.  Keith was reading the menu and secretly chuckling away to himself.  I asked what was so funny and he said he was going to order me a surprise.

It was indeed a surprise. Take a look.

You can't actually tell from that photo but inside that tangle of fried bean curd paste is ... dalo!  Yup, real dalo, the staple of the Fijian diet! And here, can you believe it, they serve it as a dessert?  It's like seeing potatoes as a dessert!  And the amazing part is that IT WORKS.  Dalo is famous for its way of absorbing and intensifying the flavours you put next to it and I think, here, they put it next to honey so it was sweet and delicious and, yes, very dessert-worthy.

"Jack and the Magic Pea."  Good tea, amazing coffee, interesting food, heaps of the latest English magazines - like for real this time - great ambiance,  great decor, rudimentary English ... but, in the final analysis, it was no "Emma's Cafe".

And so, before we left to catch the ferry, as loyal admirers of "Emma's Cafe" that's where we chose to go for our final Zhuhai cuppa. 

And that's the Tale of Two Cafes. Not much of a story, I'll admit, but I just felt like telling it.

Later:

Have since found out that "Emma's Cafe" is a legend in Zhuhai for that sweetness and hospitality, so is judged by different standards to all others in all English language reviews of the cafes and restaurants in this little SEZ city. Without meaning too, I've just endorsed what everyone else always says about the place; that it truly is SPECIAL, and weren't we just so very lucky to accidentally stumble across it that way.


Remember the name: "Emma's Cafe". You'll find it opposite the Guangdong Hotel (the one with the revolving restaurant atop that doesn't actually move). It's on the ground floor through the door you can spot beneath the skybridge.  Do make it "Your Place" too.

And you really HAVE to try their chicken curry!