Taverne Albisgueetli, Albisgueetli, Zurich

Papaya Gurken Salat

Frühlingslauchsuppe

Lachs mit Frischkaese

Erdbeersorbet

Gefülltes Schweinefilet mit Nudeln und Gemüse

The Albisguetli is mostly known for the shooting range. But asides from a place for fullfilling your military duties, there is also a restaurant. Being the proud owner of a voucher for a dinner for two – called Le Menu Pour Les Deux Amoureux – the Albisguetli was the object of the writer’s desire. The dining room is dated, not exactly the most romantic or impressive place but it has that typical Swiss quality – average. The menu started off with a papaya cucumber salad. Bland, lacking any taste and the combination was strange – why is a place like the Albisgüetli trying to work with an exotic fruit like papaya ? Following was a spring onion soup – taste was okay, but the small dish was lacking a bit of excitement. The noisy group sitting at the other end of the room were the candidates of the Tele Zueri Swiss Date show. A wave of compassion swept through one of the world’s leading gourmet critic, ten losers who can’t score a date without the help of tv, are now acting thrilled for the camera over food which is just as boring as their newly met love of their live. Staying perfectly in stride a concotion of salmon and cream cheese was served. The dish was missing love and excitement, it really felt like something which you would get when invited over at Aunt Annies house, your 72-year old relative who has served you stale cookies since your days as a child. A strawberry sorbet was next and to say in tune with the tropical beginning, the top of the glass was covered with blue sugar – funky times! The main course was a filet of pork, with pea shoots and noodles. While not overtly complicated, this fits well into the general theme of the restaurant and seemed like a sensible choice. But again, serious issues with execution, the meat was dry, the pea shoots overcooked. The noodles were okay, but that’s not that difficult to pull off. The whole experience was disappointing. The menu was a strange combination for a place like this and the execution was sloppy at best – why not go for simpler and tastier combinations of traditional swiss food ? The quality, style and general vibe of the food make it obvious, the Really Picky Gourmet is sure that the chef in the kitchen is German. This type of food is typically served in third rate establishments in three star business hotels in large citites. To be fair – the prices are low for Zurich:

Rechnung