Rosie Jean’s Cafe

So, of all these café shops in Mid-​Levels… Rosie Jean needs to fight harder to get my heart.
I was here because of its big-​arse terrace/​balcony, and given the props here, kids would love it and the parents would be very happy to leave kids playing just alongside while they enjoy their brunch. But well, I don’t have a kid, I just wanted some sunshine. It did serve the purpose. One of the few good things here is, you are not allowed to smoke at the terrace/​balcony, which is quite a rare case in HK nowadays, and hence «kid-​friendly».
But otherwise, nothing spectacular here. I judge a lot of these café shops with their «all day breakfast» options, and this was only marginally better than The Flying Pan. For $ 88 you have a very average breakfast. Pay $ 20 more, you got a regular coffee, and by regular it meant a sub-​par americano that I couldn’t even finish.
Everything in the breakfast looked and tasted like out of an all-​day-​breakfast factory that got copied over and over at the assembly line. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s made by a robot chef. Well, actually I would be more happy if there’s a robot. But it’s at best robotic. I didn’t see if they ever thought of any way to make it more special, or taste better.
So, a 3 star average is a very fair score, but given that mid-​levels are filled with ⁴⁄₅ stars options, they definitely need to work harder to get me to come back again.

Rosie Jean’s is Hong Kong’s «first» child friendly coffee shop. I’m not sure what exactly makes all the other coffee shops so child unfriendly, but Rosie Jean’s certainly has hit on a good idea here. Based in a former kindergarten, the unique selling point is the huge terrace out the back, with a children’s play area. Basically, it’s a great place for the tai tais to meet and chin wag over a coffee, whilst the kids bounce around a soft playground, without spiking themselves on something. Even for those who don’t have kids, coming here means that you can catch up with your friends who do have little ‘uns, and be able to drink your coffee in peace without having to chase a toddler around.
The coffee is, frankly, just coffee. It is no better or worse than any other coffee shop in the area. However, they do serve a mean breakfast, the big one at HKD118, and crammed with eggs, bacon and sausages, as well as the usual sides. There are a few other healthier options too, like omelettes, toast, yoghurt. There are also a lot of kids options, and not all of them crammed with sugar, so you are pretty safe feeding the kids here.
What this place does suffer from is slightly ropey service, which is a shame as the rest of the offering is pretty good. The staff just don’t seem to get what you want, especially when you ask for coffee or food. Odd, given this is a coffee shop.
Beyond the coffee shop, is the option to use the neighbouring Woodlands School playground, weekdays after 4.45pm and all day weekends. There is a fee of HKD20, but the area is much bigger and suitable for the older kids — no, not dads on skateboards, not cool!