Hong Kong’s beloved local café chain Beans is writing an ambitious new chapter with the launch of “another Beans,” a bold concept store that opened quietly in the atrium of MOKO New World Plaza in Mong Kok. Arriving as the brand marks its 13th anniversary and opens its 11th citywide location, this new outpost steers sharply away from the chain’s familiar casual brunch formula. Instead, it introduces a chef-driven dining experience centered on daily handmade pasta, in-house pastries, and a playful blend of Western technique with Cantonese flavors. The kitchen is led by Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef Cherry alongside fine-dining veteran Abby Hatcher.
A New Blueprint for the Chain
For years, Beans has been a go-to for affordable all-day breakfasts and simple comfort food. “another Beans” signals an intentional shift toward mid-range sophistication. The space itself—an open island design wrapped in warm wood paneling and dense greenery—feels more like a chef’s kitchen than a standard mall café. The open counter allows diners to watch dough being rolled and pasta cut fresh throughout the day.
A Showcase of Handcrafted Pasta
Pasta is the undisputed star of the menu. Chef Cherry emphasizes a 1:1 ratio of barley flour to wheat flour, yielding wide noodles that are chewy, porous, and built to hold sauce. The “Fresh Egg Carbonara Handmade Wide Noodle” delivers a decadent coating of creamy cheese and egg, while the “Salted Egg Yolk Cream Crab Meat Pasta” leans into umami richness: mud crab and salted yolk simmer into a briny cream, finished with a dusting of dehydrated yolk that intensifies the savory depth with every twirl of the fork.
Fusion Mains with Technical Ambition
The menu’s strength lies in its willingness to cross culinary lines. “Roasted Three-Yellow Chicken” undergoes an overnight herb marinade and an air-drying step before roasting, producing a glassy, lacquered skin that shatters to reveal juicy meat beneath. The “Lamb Char Siu” is a fascinating hybrid: lamb riblets marinated for eight hours in Chinese barbecue sauces and rose wine, then slow-cooked until the meat yields like classic char siu, balancing gaminess with a delicate honeyed sweetness.
A standout for adventurous diners is the “Iron-Plate Left-Eye Flounder Risotto.” The rice is slowly cooked in a homemade konbu and bonito dashi broth with saffron, then finished tableside on a hot cast-iron plate with a crown of premium caviar, filling the air with toasty, briny fragrance.
A Dessert Rooted in Local Identity
The “French Brioche Yin-Yeung Toast” reimagines Hong Kong’s classic coffee-and-tea pairing in dessert form. A thick brioche slice is injected with milk tea custard, fried golden, and served alongside coffee cream and fresh seasonal berries. Cutting into it releases a slow pour of warm custard—a clever, satisfying tribute to the cha chaan teng staple.
The Bottom Line for Diners
“another Beans” is located at Shop 121 & 188, 1/F, MOKO New World Plaza, and operates daily from 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM (contact: 2601 1170). Weekend walk-ins are likely to see waits; reservations are recommended for peak dinner hours.
Why It Matters
For a local chain, this launch marks a meaningful step forward. “another Beans” demonstrates that café brands can evolve beyond their roots without losing identity. By combining an open pasta lab, a chef-driven creative menu, and a serene green setting inside a busy shopping hub, Beans is raising the bar for what a Hong Kong café concept can achieve—and giving diners in Mong Kok a compelling new reason to linger.