Charm of Queen's Road East

It's hard to believe, but Queen's Road East started life as a small fishing community surrounding Hung Shing Temple, set on a sandy bay. Major reclamation in 1921 dragged the landmass out, adding necessary hectares of land for housing on streets, such as Ship Street and Sampan Street, among others, with tenement buildings and shop houses following. Until recently, Queen's Road East was dominated, vertically speaking, by the 1970s-style Hopewell Centre. Now, many of the old furnishing and homeware businesses have made way for new blocks, QRE Plaza and Garden East, and restaurants are starting to take over, creating a stretch of road that's distinctly foodie.

While all-day dining in a hotel often means a beige lounge serving predictable food, Hotel Indigo's Café Post (named for its view of the old post office from the terrace), is all light wood and colourful tiles, and feels sunny and uplifting, even when it's not a blue-sky day. Rock up in the morning and grab a coffee and croissant to go, or open your laptop and surf the free Wi-fi as you snack alfresco. More substantial breakfasts are available à la carte or buffet - grab Bircher muesli and juices from the fridge and a delicate scrambled egg or omelette from the egg station. The breads are from Bread Element, and the coffee's courtesy of Rabbithole. Lunches are à la carte, with hearty sets including sandwiches such as the chicken blat (bacon, lettuce, avocado, tomato) served with chips, or there's the mixed dim sum basket that's ideal if you're the only taker. As the day comes to an end, hit the communal table for a post-work glass of wine with friends. The salt and pepper squid is a good sharing dish, and the beef noodles are awesome comfort food. The cafe is open all day to everyone and is surprisingly affordable.