We spent about a week in Zurich, mostly working, but also wandering around town and eating. The sights were nice, especially since I'd never been in a European city before. (Wow, cobblestones!) But piggies that we were, the most memorable part was probably the food, so I'll write about the restaurants we went to and liked.
Hiltl
This is the best vegetarian restaurant I've ever eaten at. Granted, I don't eat at many vegetarian restaurants, but this was very yummy. Founded in 1898, Hiltl is also the oldest vegetarian restaurant in Europe. I ordered the Jalapeños and Salad, which was fried cheesy jalapenos with delicious quinoa, red rice, and green salad and guacamole.
Chris ordered the Green Thai Curry, which he said was good, but since he caught a cold, we should note that he couldn't taste much.
Le Dézaley
Since Switzerland is supposed to be known for its cheese, we decided we HAD to try some fondue. Mmmmmmmm!!! (Also, here's a fun fact. The Swiss don't call their cheese Swiss cheese; it's called Emmental.)
I liked the casual atmosphere at Le Dézaley (not too dressy), and our waiter was a nice smiley guy. We followed the advice of this nice blog post about Le Dézaley, and ordered the Käsefondue (cheese fondue) and Geschnetzeltes Kalbfleisch nach Zürcher Art mit Rösti (sliced veal "Zurich style" with rösti). We also ordered a few extra sides – potatoes, bread, and an assortment of pickled gherkins, baby onions, and baby corn to go with the fondue.
We devoured the fondue. We ate the entire pot of cheese, and then the waiter scraped out the bottom of the pot to give us two more bites of delicious chewy cheesy goodness. He mentioned that lots of people think that's the best part, haha.
I was expecting to dislike the pickles (because I don't like pickles), but these were a very pleasant surprise. Seems like the Swiss know how to make pickles better than Vlasic. I suppose that shouldn't surprise me.
The veal and rösti were also very good, although we were already feeling very full by the time it came. Veal is probably not our favorite meat, but it was very tender and the cream sauce was tasty.
Rösti, I learned, is a traditional Swiss dish that's exactly like hash browns, except that they sometimes put more cheese, meat, and seasoning on top.
The total bill (including the wine) came out to be around CHF 130, so this was probably the most expensive meal that Chris and I have ever eaten together, but hey, I guess this is what eating in Zurich is like!
Sternen Grill
Chris read that this was one of the best sausage stands in Zurich, and since they're supposed to be good at sausage in this part of the world, we were excited to give it a try. I was too hungry to take pictures, but you can see some on the Sternen Grill's photo gallery. Really excellent sausages. I thought the white ones were especially good.
Sprüngli
Sprüngli is a chain of cafes in Zurich. The luxembergerli were just heavenly. They're like tiny French macaroons, but the famous flavor at Sprüngli is champagne. The hazelnut and chocolate were terrific too. I really wish I could have brought some home to share with everyone, but they're very delicate and only last a couple days.
Luckily, since Sprüngli is the same company as Lindt, they also make delicious champagne-flavored chocolate, so we could send that instead!
1 comment:
Food has to be one of my favorite parts of travel as well. Haha, too hungry to takre pics of the sausages eh? I wonder if they had sauerkraut, or perhaps they had another name for it?
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