Shopping

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.

The Langstrasse area, in Kreis (districts) 4 and 5, is known for both its multicultural scene and its design community. As such, it plays host every year to Kreislauf 4 + 5, when 90 or so stores and studios open their doors to show their works and give the public an opportunity to speak with the designers.

If you don’t happen to be in Zurich the weekend it takes place in May, it’s still worth checking out the event’s website, one of the best and most complete lists of Zurich’s many ateliers and designers, ranging from fashion and interior to jewellery and art – and available in English.

The entry for each label includes a short description along with a picture and the shop address. Under “Maps fo district” you’ll also find two maps to print with which you can do your own tour all year round.

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.

The flagship Swiss confectionery and café moved to its current address in 1859. The confectionery prides itself for selling the Luxemburgerli and the Grand Crus (chocolate truffles from wild cocoa beans). The café serves the best hot chocolate and deserts in town. Legend had it that it had been a contact place for affluent mature ladies and younger men.

I started visiting the café shortly after arriving to Zurich in the summer of 2000. In the midst of the stock market bubble, the pretentious me needed a place to read a financial newspaper on Saturday afternoon and dream about being able to predict future market movements while enjoying a small cigar and a hot chocolate.

Nine years later the hot chocolate remains. Stock markets are not predictable, smoking is prohibited and affluent ladies find pleasure in shopping (at least on Saturday afternoon). And I have moved from the main area on the upper floor to the ground floor with its large glass windows and small tables with small sofas: a cozier and more relaxing alternative.

I begin with a tiny warm focaccia (tomato, mozzarella sandwich) which sells at the scandalous price of 9 CHF (fully worth it) before I move to sweeter delights.

When weather permits, there are tables outside. I recommend sitting along the few ones just outside the glass windows rather that the ones on the other side of the pavement.

As it goes, I’m not much of a shopping fan. All that browsing, sifting through piles and piles of clothes, finding an empty changing room, trying stuff on, is far too much hard work and incredibly tedious. This is why Tatort Boutique (formerly known as Mississippi and Missi) is such a great place.

This small boutique is located in a side street off Langstrasse and stocks young designers, local and from further afield, alongside more established brands such as Tide and Freesoul. Thus, think affordable (just), wearable and low-key instead of fanciful designer kit fit only for science fiction fancy dress parties.

Whenever I walk in, I almost immediately spot something I like, find that it fits like a glove, pay, and walk out happy with my new purchase all within the space of ten minutes.

In fact, if all clothes shops were like Tatort, I’d probably join the shopping fan brigade out there.