Kai Yip Estate's mushroom huts - meals day and night in Kowloon Bay

Mushroom huts, or dong gu ting, are a distinctive feature of 1970s-era public housing estates, when the Housing Authority provided space for open-air restaurants inside mushroom-shaped pavilions. Why mushroom-shaped? That's a good question, the answer to which may never be known. But one thing is sure: there are fun times to be had in these fungal formations. That's especially true at Kowloon Bay's Kai Yip Estate, where a cluster of the huts sprout beneath a towering stand of horsetail trees. During the day, grab an iced tea and some French toast at Sun Chung Kee, which has a pleasant covered terrace. After dark, enjoy a few big bottles of lager and some hearty dai pai dong fare at Gap Hing, a lively outdoor venue open until 2am. Christopher DeWolf

Corner of Kai Lok Street and Wang Chiu Road, Kowloon Bay