Ajuni Burk (1980)

The first thing that stands out about My Place is the furniture – all designer and vintage fare from the 1960s onwards, and all for sale. Perhaps you are awash with cash, in which case you can purchase a piece of furniture there and then.

Most people, including the writer of this humble piece, will have to make do with the food and drink on offer, and it’s by no means a hard lot. The coffee at My Place is proper strong, and they offer a great selection of snacks such as tartelettes, ciabattas, salads and birchermüesli. They also serve a Swiss beer called Appenzeller on tap, you ought to give it a try.

My Place makes for a pleasant stopover if you’re in the area. It offers welcome respite from all the art at Kunsthaus Zürich and is handy for a tipple before watching a play at Schauspielhaus around the corner. During the day My Place is popular with students from the nearby schools and universities, while evenings are a more quiet affair.

This cozy café bar next to Fritschiwiese is the only place of its kind in this very corner of town and as a result it’s usually crowded with locals. Despite the crowds, the place is bright and airy, and the pretty (1960s?) ceiling lights are a highlight (almost literally).

For me, the main draw is Z am Park’s weekend brunch. There’s three or four dishes to choose from, and as a nice touch, they carry the same female names as some of the nearby streets. Gertrud, with eggs, bacon, bread and salad and washed down with a cup of their excellent coffee, is a personal favorite. As a bonus the brunch options aren’t as pricey as they are elsewhere in Zurich.

The good people at Z am Park also serve lunch during the week, and you can check out the daily specials on the website. In the evening they offer snacks to go with your beer and wine.

As a visitor in Zurich you’re unlikely to spend much time in the area, but if you like a spot off the beaten track, this one is well worth seeking out.

This former garage most certainly won’t appeal to fans of sleek and decluttered interior spaces. Les Halles is a wacky, noisy affair, packed to the rafters with posters and mirrors, bicycles hanging off the ceiling, bric-a-brac, old, mismatched furniture – and punters.

Its popularity most certainly has something to do with Les Halles’ many different disguises. It’s a bar, a restaurant and take-away, it’s got a football table and a great little deli stocking, among other Italian goodies, a vast selection of quality pasta. The small restaurant menu usually consists of moules & frites, a pasta dish, antipasti and salads, with prices staying on the decent side of things.

Tucked away between Pfingstweidstrasse and Schiffbau, Les Halles isn’t the easiest place to find. Your best bet is to start underneath Hardbrücke, walk down Pfingstweidstrasse on the right-hand side and you’ll Les Halles’ unassuming front entrance after about a one-minute walk.

Les Halles provides an excellent starting point if you’re off exploring Zurich West’s nightlife, or a destination in its own right. It will seem like you’ve gone to at least three different places even though you never left the premises.

Tucked away at the quiet end of bustling Ankerstrasse is Si o No, quite possibly my favorite drinking den in Zurich. What makes it so great, or indeed better, than many of the other fine bars in this city?

For one, its interior is a lovely, much-copied-but-never-quite-emulated mix of quirky furniture, beautiful floor tiles, clever lighting and intriguing room layout. For another, whether you turn up in the middle of the day for coffee or in the wee hours for a nightcap, you can be sure that Si o No delivers.

The place is always pleasantly lively and yet never too crowded. It attracts a diverse bunch of locals, students and office workers so nobody feels out of place here. Furthermore, Si o No offers a decent selection of reasonably-priced drinks and bar snacks, including tasty quiches and salads for lunch. Its latest offering is a so-called Katerfrühstück, breakfast for the hung-over, from 11:00 on Saturdays and Sundays. This means weekend mornings where you have a craving for a Bloody Mary are now catered for too.

Lastly, the bar staff is friendly and efficient, making for a nice change from some of the trendier Zurich spots.

All this taken together goes some way to explaining why it’s always a Si! where Si o No is concerned.

Caritas runs several charity shops in Zurich where people can donate and buy used clothes, shoes and household items. Three of them are located in Wiedikon, all within a stone’s throw of each other: a clothes store at Birmensdorferstrasse 52, a bargain clothes store called Netto at Birmensdorferstrasse 38 and a shop selling bric-a-brac.

It goes without saying that the Netto store has the highest fun factor out of them all. Wacky and bold-colored garments reign supreme here. If browsing is your cup of tea you can sift through piles of clothes for hours on end here.

Out with the old, in with the old! In the yard you can donate your old clothes through a flap lid before restocking your wardrobe at the shop. This is charity and recycling in one neat little package.

Across the road at Birmensdorferstrasse 53, Kunst & Krempel is the closest you will get to a jumble sale this side of The Channel.

No matter which store you’ll go for, you can shop to your heart’s content at Caritas, safe in the knowledge that with your purchase you support their worthy cause, helping the poor and the needy in Switzerland and abroad.