Restaurant Bernerhof, Zurich

Fondue Chinoise

From the outside the Bernerhof looks rather shabby and rundown on a quick look, but the appearence is deceiving, it’s quite a nice place. The menu caused me to raise an eyebrow. They offer classic austrian food, a “famous” fondue chinoise and thai curries. Some people might find this a “lovely combination” , “a brave mix of different cuisines and styles” or “leveraging exquisite taste experiences from across the globe”, I find it incredible stupid. It’s like buying a Zurich Geschnetzeltes at a Kebab stand (something which I’ve done before and have come to regret it the following day). Anyway I was torn between the Tafelspitz and the fondue, my partner in crime was into the fondue so we decided on that. There’s not much you can screw up on a fondue chinoise, except serving readymade sauces, using too light a broth, offering tofu…, none of all this happened. We got rice, french fries, meat, homemade sauces and vegetables a discretion (eat as much as you like). Meat was pork, beef and chicken – which gives the place a negative mark in my book since chicken is a boring meat for fondue. The sauces weren’t really spectacular (bbq – tasted like salsa-, garlic, curry and cocktail), at least they were mayonaise based and homemade. I did like the idea of the vegetables to cook in the broth, that was a nice and fresh touch. All in all, certainly a decent fondue chinoise but too expensive. In most parts of Switzerland you will get a discretion fondue chinoise for considerably less. I remember the restaurant Ochsen in Herisau (which is also a butcher) which during my military recruitement school offered fondue chinoise for 28 CHF. That means you can even pay for the train from Zurich and back. Then again, you want to impress a meat loving woman – go to the Bernerhof and talk about your bonus as a diversity and inclusion manager:

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