The full-height glass facade of Awakening Cafe offers bar seating with a view. [Photo by Rebecca Lo / for China Daily]

For those requiring more sustenance, there are pastas and mains, such as ribs cooked slowly for seven hours, Samuel Adams battered fish and shrimp, and mac 'n cheese made with five types of cheeses. I notice that iced lemon tea and coffee are bottomless, which is refreshing for a Hong Kong menu.

Undeterred by all the distractions, I order the Reuben sandwich with an iced lemon tea and my friend tries the van driver omelet. Our waiter was quick to point out that I made a good choice, as the Reuben sells out quickly - lucky for me, they had some corned beef made fresh that morning.

My sandwich was served with crunchy fries. Piled with tart homemade sauerkraut and served on toasted rye bread with Awakening's own version of a Thousand Island dressing, the beef is incredibly moist with complex flavors.

I can taste garlic and a riot of other spices in the shredded beef that kept falling out of the sandwich, and the little bits of fat marbled into the meat give it an extra dimension of deliciousness. This was clearly a sandwich made with a lot of tender loving care.

Chef and co-owner Dan Silva stopped by our table to refill our glasses, and I ask him what was in his recipe for the beef.

"Garlic, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, bay leaves, salt and pepper," he explains. "And some spices that I can't remember right now. All of them go into the brine and we marinate the beef in it for five days before slowly cooking it in liquid with more of the spice mixture for a day."

I am already planning my return visit.

If You Go

Awakening Cafe

Shop 6-7, G/F, 1-6 Ying Wah Terrace, Centre Street, Sai Ying Pun,

852-2858-0005

Average cost per person: HK$150

Recommended:

Reuben Sandwich, 7-hour Ribs, Mac 'n Cheese