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.

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Les Halles | Bars, Shopping, Snacks, Restaurants | Glass of beer CHF 5.00
Pfingstweidstrasse 6 | Kreis 5 Industrie
Sun – Wed 11:00 – 00:00, Thu 11:00 – 01:00, Fri – Sat 11:00 – 02:00

When the temperatures rises, you find the majority of Zurich’s inhabitants near the water. Just five minutes from the main station is the pool area Oberer Letten, located at the Limmat. Floating in the river is one of the best feelings you’ll ever experience!

On the left hand side you’ll see a concrete construction from 1952 which is also called PierWest; that’s where you’ll find the changing rooms as well as a bar. (The picture is taken upstream, so it’s just the other way around). This side is for all who prefer shade and who like it a bit quieter. However, at dusk this area turns into a barbecue place / bar with music and the perfect chill-out area.

On the right hand side of the river there’s a patch of grass – though it’s generally so packed that it’s hard to make out the green between all the bodies. On one side of this patch is a (rather over priced) restaurant and on the other a beach-volley court. Here the young and hip meet after work for a swim and a chat.

To swim in the river, it’s best to walk upstream and then to float down, up to 400 m all in all. There are several ladders where you can leave the water within the pool area so you don’t have to worry about a thing.

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Oberer Letten | Bars, Music, Relaxing | Free
Lettensteg 10 | Kreis 5 Industrie | +41443629200
24 hours daily

In 2009, the Wohnzimmerbar opened its doors just next to cinema RiffRaff. As the name suggests (Wohnzimmer means “living room”), it’s small and pleasant and the atmosphere familiar, filled with comfy chairs, small tables and a chaise longue.

The area in the back normally sports one large table but can also be booked for a party up to 10 people for a customized dinner. For all other empty stomachs there are tapas plates available as well as various spreads with bread. Starting this November, they host an Indian buffet every Tuesday (all you can eat) for 25 francs per person.

Once in a while, the bar hosts concerts and djs and you’ll be amazed how many people can fit into such a small space. But the bar’s days are numbered. Their lease is up soon and a new project is in planning. Nothing I can share with you yet, bu I’ll keep you posted.

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Wohnzimmerbar | Bars, Coffee & tea, Restaurants (Intern.) | Tapas from CHF 9.00
Neugasse 75 | Kreis 5 Industrie | +41762104880
Mon – Sat 18.00 – 00:00

I like Acapulco and I’m there regularly, mostly during the week. If the weather is nice enough it’s best to catch a seat outside so you can watch the passers-by. There is a lot going on at that corner – at present it’s too cold for that but if you’re a smoker you might end up outside anyway. Inside, the sofa seats are so comfortable that you’re likely to stay much longer than you intended to.

Despite its name and logo, the bar has no Mexican or Hawaiian features inside. With mirrors and lots of red it’s a modern and relaxed bar throughout.

This aside, the venue has some special features. Downstairs, a room wallpapered with Panini-soccer-pictures sets the mood for table soccer, where you can compete against rather competitive locals (this is also the smoking section nowadays). Once a month, Acapulco hosts the Musikschau night, where you can watch the best music videos of the last 30 years for free.

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Acapulco | Bars | Beer CHF 5.20
Neugasse 56 | Kreis 5 Industrie | +41442726688
Mon – Tue 17:00 – 01:00, Wed – Thu & Sun 17:00 – 02:00, Fri 16:00 – 03:00, Sat 17:00 – 03:00

A typical lunch at Planet 5: A burger, served with high concentration with coleslaw and fries or home made pies served with a small salad. The food at Planet 5 is homely and so is the project. The restaurant is open daily for lunch and trains young people who couldn’t find an apprenticeship. Once in a while this means, that there is more staff than guests but they are attentive and lovely.

Usually the meals are simple but tasty. Last time I went there the chef served meatballs made after her grandmother’s recipe. Slightly adapted over three generations. Perfect!

I like this locale, because the food is good, it’s open on Mondays and the location is wonderful, Especially in the summer, when you can sit right at the river Limmat. Sihlquai (the address) doesn’t have the best image, as its known for street prostitution. But during the day, I never felt uncomfortable in that area.

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Planet 5 | Restaurants (Swiss) | Lunch CHF 20
Sihlquai 240 | Kreis 5 Industrie | +41442781066
Mon – Fri 09:00 – 14:30

I know that the photo I’ve included may serve as a deterrent rather than as an enticement, but that’s precisely the point I want to make here. There is nothing about the outer decor that screams “give me a whirl”, but once you step inside and smell the food you’ll realize the exterior is merely a camouflage technique. If Beyond was so deliberately welcoming from the outside, they wouldn’t be able to serve all the people flooding in – it’s already teeming with people on most days as it is!

I stepped in out of curiosity, incidentally while intending to head to Chiang Mai (check out the Chiang Mai Thai Shop article). My friend and I decided it was a bit over zealous to want to eat outside in February so we stepped into Beyond instead.

I had been bemoaning the lack of proper Chinese food in Zurich for a long time but my incessant whining has now been silenced. I fell in love with the aubergine all over again after tasting the impossible to pronounce delicacy that I had here. True to Chinese style cuisine, this place is best visited with a posse of tasty food seekers in tow as each dish is pretty huge. You’ll definitely get the best of the experience if you order lots of dishes and share them.

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Beyond | Restaurants (Asian) | Main meal from CHF 20
Zollstrasse 20 | Kreis 5 Industrie | +41430433668347
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 23:00, Sat – Sun 17:00 – 23:00

If you’re looking for pizza that emerges from the oven and retains its freshly bakedness until it reaches your stomach, then you need to head to Rosso (at least if a pit stop in Naples, Italy, is not on your itinerary). There are a few intriguing things about this restaurant:

a) It’s hard to find because there is no sign outside stating you have indeed arrived at Rosso (which also means it’s virtually impossible to stumble upon accidentally)

b) It’s very minimalist in design as it’s located in an old warehouse but still manages to look modern and chic.

c) Despite it being hidden in the depths of Hardbruecke’s hipsterness, it is always packed! So much so that it used to be closed on Saturdays, which I am pretty sure is unheard of in most other cities. It’s now open on Saturdays, due to popular demand, I presume.

I’ve tried a few things on the menu but I have to say, the best choice for anyone in need of really tasty comfort food is the pizza. Actually, even in the summer I tend to opt for pizza. The list is short but most definitely sweet with Bufala featuring in the most-eaten-by-yours-truly ones. I have to admit the pizza chefs look more like college students than pizza experts; don’t let that fool you, they know how to use their wood oven and will take that smirk of your face within minutes – that of course being one of the joys of real wood ovens!

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Restaurant Rosso | Restaurants (Italian) | Pizza CHF 24
Geroldstrasse 31 | Kreis 5 Industrie | +41438182254
Mon – Fri 16:00 – 00:30

One of my favourite dishes since childhood was grilled beef filet. But only in later years, after having left my home country, did I realized that if beef is not “well done”, it tastes better. Later I discovered the superlative: grill a massive thick slice of meat so that the outside would be “well done” but the inside remain “rare”. In that way the full spectrum of possibile flavors would unfold in your mouth. Thank you USA.

The restaurant Costa Brava offers this pleasure. If you go there, get the beef filet. You will not regret. (avoid the version with mushroom sauce, though). If you choose fish, get the sole.

The Spanish kitchen is famous for its appetizers. In Costa Brava they are too big to be called tapas. Think of medium sized pleasures (“entremeses”) like shrimp with garlic, grilled sepia, mushrooms, yamm.

For dessert: Crema Catalana. Don ‘t argue.

The ambiance is cosy. The restaurant is not vast and stressful. So it is ideal for both hedonists and romantics. Of course, pleasure comes at a price: Costa Brava is not a budget tip. But it would be ideal for that special occasion where the two of you celebrate that anniversary or maybe want to make the first step towards an anniversary. And if you are on a business trip and are trying to figure out where to dine (courtesy of the company), head there. It’s a safe bet.

In the summer there is a terrace.

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Costa Brava | Restaurants (Spanish) | Grilled beef filet CHF 53
Limmatstrasse 267 | Kreis 5 Industrie | +41442722771
Mon – Fri 11:45 – 14:30 & 18:00 – 00:00, Sat 18:00 – 00:00

I became a fan of pizza during my student years in the US. Pizza was the primary choice of students living on a tight budget. Going out during the weekend mostly meant enjoying Chicago style pizza with its thick layers of cheese, tomato and its rich toppings. Pizza, delivered to the dormitory, helped nerds satisfy hunger just take a break.

So pizza was the first thing to try during my first visit to central Europe in the late 80s. Groups of summer students would head for the pizzerias of Geneva, primarily those of the old town.

I was in for a big disappointment: Italian type pizza felt like a thin tasteless construct that cost thrice as much as the rich tasteful dish offered at the other side of the Atlantic.

20 years later, American pizza is no obvious winner of this “clash of civilizations”; thanks to the flagship of Italian type pizza that I have found in Zurich.

Pizzeria “Il Gallo” is not a tourist trap but earns its money from locals thanks to the quality of its food and service (and not with a location next to a medieval building). I recommend the “Diavola” (with spicy salami). In the summer you can eat outside observing a lot of car and human traffic since the venue is located at a going-out district with many cinemas, bars, clubs etc.

Go for a complete experience: start with a “Caprese di Buffala”; achieve closure with a Tiramisu.

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Il Gallo | Restaurants (Italian) | Pizza from CHF 15.50
Hardstrasse 324 | Kreis 5 Industrie | +41442710240
11:30 – 15:00 & 17:30 – 00:00 daily

If the sun is out and you’re wandering around this trendy part of town in search of something to keep you fuelled long enough to negotiate the rest of Josefstrasse, then Chiang Mai is your port of call. From the outside it appears to be a Thai food shop and, well,  that’s because it is. The place isn’t exactly a restaurant and yet it offers the tastiest Thai food I’ve had in Zurich.

Forget the fancy fusion joints that offer modern decour and funky ice teas – this place will fill you up and satisfy your itch to go to Thailand (actually, it could also make you want to go even more…) for only 15 CHF. That’s 15 CHF for a box of curry so big that I often have to ration it over two lunches.

The choice isn’t very extensive, usually two curries and a soup, but I’d much rather be told to choose from 3 sublime dishes than have to navigate around a list of 50 iffy sounding dishes.

One thing you need to bear in mind is that if you eat in it’s an extra 3 CHF per dish and you’ll be sitting on a tiny stool. I suggest you take out and sit in the sun with everyone else.

Don’t forget to take cash, realizing you don’t have any once you get to the till (like I once did) will end in a wild goose chase for an ATM. The nearest one is at the main station, by the way.

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Chiang Mai Thai Shop | Snacks, Restaurants (Thai) | Small meal CHF 12
Josefstrasse 13 | Kreis 5 Industrie | +41442718252
Mon 10:30 – 18:30, Tue – Fri 10:30 – 19:00, Sat 09:30 – 17:00