Butcher, baker ... coffee maker(2)

And if it is certain cuts of meat that you miss from back home, then Les Garcons Boucher (31 Yongkang Road, 137-6409-1044) might be right up your boulevard. This French butcher has a selection of imported meats, including venison, duck and rabbit, as well as French cheeses and wines.

Café del Volcan (80 Yongkang Road, 156-1866-9291) is a tiny gourmet coffee boutique. Besides the vast array of coffees on sale, the café also offers cookies courtesy of local supplier Strictly Cookies. The coffee choices include Guatemalan Santa Rosa, Ethiopian Sidamo, Sumatran Mandheling, Yunnan Baoshan, Italian Espresso Blend and Indonesian Sumatra. But the selection also changes once in a while to diversify the options. All coffees are roasted on the premises. The interior is small but cozy and when the weather is amenable, staff place tables outside so that coffeehosers can enjoy their brew in the sun. Café del Volcan also sells coffee beans to be brewed at home, as well as other coffee-related accessories including grinders, coffee makers for filter/drip coffee, and French press/plunger pots, and moka pots.

Chinese staples

Over on the quieter stretch of Yongkang Road, a new eatery has just opened its doors. Hungry Lung's Kitchen (144 Yongkang Road, 186-1628-2121), is named after the Chinese-Canadian owner Mr Lung, and serves what he himself calls "comfort food." Tucked between two small local Chinese restaurants, the menu is simple offering all day breakfast, sliders, lasagna, pastas, shepherd's pie, among many others Western staples and some East Asian dishes including curries and laksa.

Another spot worth checking out on this stretch of the road is Eason (132 Yongkang Road, 6473-5602), a low-budget Cantonese restaurant. It has been open for more than a decade now and has a solid base of regular clients. Eason is situated in a tiny two-story building which means it fills up quickly in the evening. It's advisable to make a reservation beforehand. The menu offers both Cantonese and Shanghainese staples, slow-cooked soups, clay-pot rice, drunken shrimp and wonton soups.