Tai Hang, which in Chinese means The Big Water Channel, is just a few minutes walk from Causeway Bay located on the harbour side of Hong Kong Island. There are street-side stalls selling everything from plastic canvas shoes to temple offerings. My favourite kind of boutiques, selling vintage clothing, great interior pieces and good cafes add to the appeal of going here. The area is famous for its dancing Fire Dragon during the mid-autumn Lantern Festival. And this is something everyone should see. About 300 performers and over 72,000 incense sticks do some serious styling to a 67-metre straw dragon which is then paraded through the colourful streets. http://taihangfiredragon.hk/home.htm

No. 5 Italian

No. 5 Italian is very cute and it has great pizza too. In spring we go in a small group and head out to the small courtyard and eat at the only table that seats about 10, which gives you the freedom of a private dining room. It’s always busy so you’ll want to book.

21C Brown Street, Tai Hang. Tel: +852 2504 2111

Unar Coffee Company

When I came to Hong Kong for the first time over 15 years ago, getting a good coffee was a whole other story: the cafe scene these days is quite another. After the ‘Handover’ of 1997 many Chinese expatriate students in the US or  Britain developed a knack for hitting on shrewd business developments – like bookstores and cafes – on their return to Hong Kong. Lately – among the many others that deserve a mention – Unar Coffee Company has attracted my attention. The combination of hole in the wall and long benches is a simple one. They also make a very good coffee.

4 Second Lane, Tai Hang, Tel:  +852 2838 5231

Lace Flowers

There are a couple of good florists in Tai Hang, but I like Lace Flowers because of their huge selection of imported flowers, but I also love their seasonal selection of local flowers from Hong Kong and the Mainland. Watching them do their flower arranging while you’re waiting’s not a bad way to spend some idling time too.

G/F 3 School Street, Tai Hang. Tel: +852 3487 6338. www.laceflowers.com.hk

Feel So Good

Retro style furniture and a considerable collection of vintage pendant lights, desks and re-styled standing lamps have been amassed by the four young designers who run this cool space. Pieces such as unusual light bulbs and other intriguing objects synonymous with good taste can be purchased here as well.

4 Second Lane, Tai Hang, Tel: +852 2894 9311

Papabubble

I don’t know what it is but I can’t manage to walk past Papabubble without going in, letting my sweet tooth run wild. Papabubble is the creation of two Australians based in Barcelona… I always gather up some custom made candy bites and lollipops and I order special custom made treats for parties too.

34 Tung Lo Wan Rd, Tai Hang. Tel: +852 2367 4807. www.papabubble.com.hk

C’est la B

You don’t know Hong Kong if you’ve never heard of sisters Joyce and Bonnie Ma. Without putting too fine a point on it Joyce Ma has done some amazing things for Hong Kong, including starting up her lifestyle stores simply called ‘Joyce’ in the 90’s, when putting a cafe and lifestyle boutique together in the same room was something new to do. One of my first days in Hong Kong, slightly homesick, I was pleasantly distracted when I discovered the chicken and cashews sandwiches – the sweet raisins mixed in with mayonnaise were so delicious. Once I started working at Hong Kong Tatler magazine I pretty much became a regular. The thing to eat then was this salad named ‘Size 38’ – a slim waist is super important in the beauty world! Anyhow unfortunately Joyce cafe closed but lucky for us locals, cafe style is still humming here again with Bonnie Ma’s Bakery M. It’s a small yet perfectly formed coffee/cake eatery. Just looking at the cakes makes me smile because they are so visually appealing they deserve their own story in the pages of a fashion magazine.

Shop 3,G/F 110 – 114 Tung Lo Wan Road, Tai Hang. Tel: +852 2806 6168. www.msbscakery.hk

Volume One

Volume One is definitely a boutique you will want to find. It’s a little teahouse/bakery plus fashion and accessories space down a side street. When I go there I try a pot of one of their specialty teas. Sometimes I just have a taster. And the boutique space is filled with handcrafted jewellery by Hong Kong designer Shannam which are like little pieces of art.

G/F 30 Sun Chun Street. Tel: +852 2808 0962

Jewellery by Shannam at Volume 31.

Best way to get to Tai Hang:

I take the No. 25 bus from Central, or I take the MTR to Tin Hau Station, Exit A1. I walk across King’s Road and then I turn right and walk to the second intersection where I make a left and walk along Lo Wan Road, following the scent of the temple offerings and open food stalls serving fresh dumplings and noodles which takes me into the Tai Hang area.