Hong Kong has long been known for its world-class cocktail bars and thriving arts scene. Now, Cathay Pacific’s expanded routes and new nonstop flights—including from Dallas and Seattle—make a trip even easier.
Dense and layered, the East Asian metropolis is best explored street by street, and neighborhoods are often oriented around a single block or steep lane. In the Sheung Wan district, incense merchants and dried-seafood traders jostle beside concept stores and third-wave coffee shops along historic Hollywood Road. Here’s a vibrant stretch not to miss along one of Hong Kong’s oldest and most exciting streets.
Yuk Kin Fast Food
Pull up a metal stool outside this cha chaan teng—literally, “tea restaurant,” the equivalent of a greasy-spoon diner—for breakfast or lunch with a side of neighborhood life. The signature dish is a smoky, aromatic curry fried rice topped with a sunny-side up egg.
Cat Street
Upper Lascar Row (known to locals as “Cat Street”) is a destination for vintage shopping and antiques.
Photo by Jason Knott/Alamy (L); courtesy of Hong Kong Tourism Board (R)
The nickname says it all: In Cantonese slang, resellers of stolen goods are called “cats.” But the old thieves’ market dispersed decades ago, and this alley off Hollywood Road is now home to vintage shops and stalls selling teapots, jade carvings, and sepia-toned posters from the 1930s. Visit on a weekday for a relaxed rummage.
Liang Yi Museum
In addition to furniture, the Liang Yi Musuem also has impressive collections of “vanities"—small decorative accessories like compacts, clutches, and cigarette cases—as well as Japanese art.
Photo by Mark French
Hong Kong businessman Peter Fung began collecting Chinese furniture in the 1980s, often sourcing from Hollywood Road’s antique shops. His museum houses one of the largest private collections of Ming and Qing dynasty pieces, some crafted from rare materials like huanghuali rosewood. By appointment only; book online.
Halfway Coffee
Between Cat Street’s vintage stores, wooden tables spill onto the pavement amid a tangle of potted plants; inside, Halfway’s design is inspired by the city’s iconic housing blocks. Baristas serve coffee in traditional porcelain and iced drinks in flower-painted glassware—the kind that sat on Hong Kong kitchen tables a generation ago.
Montana
Montana hosts occasional “Sunday Ritmo” parties with special menus and music.
Photo by Victoria Chan
In 2025, Rome-born Lorenzo Antinori’s Bar Leone was named the top cocktail bar globally in the World’s 50 Best guide. His follow-up, Montana, which opened nearby last summer, channels Cuba’s golden age. Order the fruity house daiquiri, made from a recipe in a 1930s Cuban bartending manual.
PMQ
Accessories from RBRK, which has a showroom inside the PMQ building, are made without leather or other animal products.
Courtesy of Hong Kong Tourism Board (L); courtesy of rbrkhk (R)
After falling into disuse, a 1950s-era police dormitory has been converted by Hong Kong’s Antiquities and Monuments Office into a creative hub featuring the work of more than 100 independent design studios, shops, and galleries. Don’t miss RBRK for plant-leather handbags and Glocal Mahjong for customized game-tile sets.
Snack Baby
Mango–Sichuan peppercorn is among the inventive gelato flavors at Snack Baby.
Courtesy of Snack Baby (L); photo by Victoria Chan (R)
This vegan-friendly gelateria and bar is known for inventive flavors: mango with Sichuan peppercorn, peach oolong with peach gumdrops, and a rich, nostalgic milk-and-mascarpone scoop with a house-made buttercrunch. Drop by in the evening for a spiked affogato.
