Five awesome things five minutes from Sai Ying Pun MTR station

Pronounced N-O-C – an acronym for ‘not only coffee’ – this small chain’s Sai Ying Pun outpost is a bright, airy beauty. The coffee is always good, with a simple choice of two beans to select from, and the food menu deserves a look too. The acai bowl, mushroom risotto and all-day breakfast are all winners. Come out of Exit B3 and head down Des Voeux Road for your reward.

Originally established as an online-only platform for Hong Kong-based photographers to share their work with a broader audience and for local art lovers to collect prints at affordable prices, Bamboo Scenes now has a permanent space. Rejoice! Located inside Locofama, be sure not to miss its latest exhibitions whenever you’re in the ’hood.

A few minutes down the slopes of Sai Ying Pin once you come out of Exit C, this funky little corner spot serves sweet and savoury pancake ‘tapas’. The menu is simple and delightful: there are eight pancakes paired with cocktails, plus a handful of sides. Our recommendation? The Running Honey is a definite winner that combines deliciously fluffy pancakes with honey butter and plenty of honeycomb shards.

Hong Kong’s first zero-waste grocery store, Live Zero offers a comprehensive range of eco-friendly, plastic-free products from stainless steel straws to beeswax food wraps. This shop is also a rarity where you can purchase organic food and ingredients in bulk. We’re talking wheat flour, pumpkin seeds, dried fruit, quinoa, oats and just about every nut conceivable.

Stick with the green theme here on Third Street. At the forefront of offering sustainable cocktails in Hong Kong, the bar at Potato Head seeks to maximise ingredients while minimising waste, leading the team to develop a drinks menu that uses ingredients that otherwise would’ve been disposed of. It’s an overdue concept and one that translates to a continually changing menu.