Sixteen years of bartending experience. One first solo venture. Shelley Tai’s MIUS on Gough Street in Hong Kong’s Central district is already the kind of place people talk about, and it is easy to understand why.
Designed by Minus Workshop’s Kevin Yiu, the 1,400 sq.ft. space, a former home appliance store, has been transformed into something far more considered. The brief was simple: block out Soho’s neon chaos and create a sanctuary. Blackout glazing on street-facing windows seals the city outside while soft daylight filters in, shifting to intimate layered glows after dark. Warm rusty oak runs through the palette, silver metallics catch the light, and clean lines keep the eye moving toward what matters most: the bar.
That bar is a 4.3-metre single-piece counter, the room’s heroic spine and first point of welcome. Flanking it, thick slabs of travertino marble form high tables that anchor communal gatherings with raw, veined tactility. A low central beam that could have been a problem has been clad in oak and recast as a sculptural focal point, hovering like a portal and carving zones without apology. A second room offers cosier seating around low tables for those who prefer to settle in. Operations are split across four counters to keep service clean and efficient even at peak hour.
The aesthetic is mid-century modern restraint. No fussy themes, no statement pieces competing for attention. Tai wanted it to feel like a coffee shop: informal, approachable, the kind of place you return to again and again. “I like the simple look,” she says. “I like places to feel like you can go back to them again and again.” Minus Workshop has delivered exactly that.
The menu offers comfort alongside the cocktails, with dishes like pasta alla vodka and duck-fat fries keeping things grounded. But everyone is really here for the drinks. MIUS specialises in subtle riffs on classics: fennel pollen added to a margarita, a negroni mixed with strawberry and pink peppercorn. Tai’s personal favourite is the Kobe-style highball, frozen whiskey and chilled Japanese soda, cool and precise, just like the bar itself.
In Hong Kong’s high-density hospitality scene, MIUS proves that small can soar when constraints are turned into character. Open until 1am nightly (closed Sundays). Lines form before 5pm. Go early, stay late.
mius.hk | 29 Gough Street, Hong Kong