Times Restaurant, Gasometerstrasse, Zurich
Mar
2012
Lachs mit Kartoffelsuppe
Entenleber, Brioche, Pflaume
Bärenkrebs mit Tomatenessenz
Lasagne aperto
Hummer, Bohnen, Kalbskopf
Rinderfilet, Petersilie, Trüffel, Sellerie
Rechnung
I am posessed by a daemon, the daemon of being the first to publish about a new restaurant. This time it’s the Times restaurant on Gasometerstrasse, next to Maison Blunt in the Kreis 5. Normally I’d post a link, but it seems that the place does without internet. Quite some rumours have been flying around this former garage, one quoting the rent being as high as 20’000 CHF. I was rather curious to see what this establishment was going to be about. The garage looks pretty sleek, even though there’s a store or something at the front, I like the mix of wood and industrial chic which give it a good feel. I sit down and after some thinking decide on the tasting menu, which I order without cheese and dessert, simply the savoury dishes. The amuse bouche is a piece of salmon in a potato soup with freshly grated horseradish. While it wasn’t bad, it did show two recurring topics. The acid was too strong and the salmon overpowering, you couldn’t taste much of the horseradish. The brioche on the duck liver was superb, seldomly have I seen a better piece, no complaints on the liver but I would have left out the chinese (?) plum schnaps that was served as a chaser. Originally a “beef-tea” was on the menu, but I was advised (before I ordered) that it had been replaced. The chef comes out and serves a slipper lobster (Bärenkrebs) with a tomato essence. The amuse bouche repeats itself, the acidity of the tomato essence was simply overpowering and it stole the show from the otherwise nice piece of seafood. Moving on to the lasagne aperto (which I assume translates to open-faced) was on the timid side and what some of the other dishes had too much this one was lacking in oomph. You’d be expecting umami, lovely cheese which mixes with the sauce bechamel, strong beef and some distinct pasta flavour, here it was more a whisper in the wind. The lobster claws were served on a bean cassoulet, the beans weren’t cooked enough and the pairing with the sweetness of the lobster was weird. My main course was a beef filet on a parsley mash, black truffle sauce and celeriac sticks. Nothing to complain on the filet, it was wrapped in a slice of bacon which added to the dish, the celeriac sticks were slightly weird, since they were covered in a breading and fried, almost reminiscent of a fish stick. What did I make of the dinner here ? Not much. The staff was very friendly (they even offered me a glass of wine) and the service up to decent standards, but the food was clumsy. It reminded me of tales I had heard of bad strip clubs. Just because your name is Candy and you have a tattoo on your butt, doesn’t make you a seducing male entertainment professional. There were a lot of the right elements, but they failed to come together, failed to be properly balanced, mainly in flavour and acidity. Prices are on the upper end and I guess are testament to the gentrification of the area:
Rechnung
28/03/2012 at 07:59
I walked by and the place looks really nice. I’m just a bit confused, last year Tages-Anzeiger said that the people from Shinsen were behind the restaurant and the food was supposed to be: «Das Angebot wird aber mediterran sein mit japanischem Einfluss», see here:
http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/zuerich/stadt/Garage-wird-zum-Restaurant/story/14520690. I guess they had a change of plans or Shinsen backed off.
31/03/2012 at 16:21
Correct. Shinsen are behind Times, but they changed the look and cuisine.
I feel the review is a little unjust. Yes the prices are on the upper end of dining in Zürich, yet i felt they were reasonable. I for one was more than satisfied with the quality of the food and although the service was not perfect, it was to a good standard and very friendly. Something of a rarity in Zürich. I have paid more and received less in other restaurants. Dare i mention a certain wine loft…Perhaps it’s worth revisiting now after the kitchen has had little more practice? I’ll be going back.
31/03/2012 at 16:55
Interesting I’m getting more and more negative feedback on the Wine Loft – the last time this had happened it was when Caduff stopped running the kitchen himself apparently for some time. I appreciate your comment, but my impression stands – the tasting menu I had was clumsy. I’m not planning on a revisit soon, since what I felt the menu to be lacking was more fundamental. What dishes did you have ?
18/05/2012 at 11:05
I have been yesterday to the Times. The ambience I really liked. The floors and the candles gives the room a good atmosphere. The amuse bouche tasted also quite good. The salad was fresh but there was actually no spices or oil on it. Until this point no problems at all for my counterpart and me. The main dish was absolutely overpaid. I ordered a big portion of liver of canard. I got two pices of it what was ok. But what about the brioche? I only got one piece and two pieces of plums. My counterpart ordered a “Wienerschnitzel”. It was so little and the “pommes pont-neuf” (5 pieces) were stroppy and not at all crispy. In my opinion it is really overpaid especially compared to the quality. It’s too bad because the interior is for one time classy.
02/07/2012 at 17:55
Forget this place, unless you like to overpay, get snorted at by personnel, not get your wine served, wait 1 hour for your main dish, find an item too many on the check, and then have to negotiate it off the bill, while the rest of the restaurant crowd looks at you…wondering what will happen to them…
02/07/2012 at 23:44
Very nice place, but the food is severely lacking, at least at these prices, but also in general. Have a chat with the funny guy in the store and a beer at the bar, but skip the food. Chris Trewer and his team have a hard time keeping up and the food is always late, late, late to the table. Similar experience back in his former restaurant Grödeli in Kreuzlingen, albeit with a much smaller kitchen. Dishes are not very well balanced and fail to impress, also some basics are clearly not done right (Risotto, temperatures, etc.). Will be hard to improve to satisfactorily level.
08/11/2012 at 10:29
For the first time I went to Times, yesterday, November 7th.
I liked it a lot! Nearly everything: the staff was very very friendly and really kept an eye on our table.
Food was delicious, natural Zander filet with vegetables, beef filet as second dish.
Most importantly: they changed the wine card 10 days ago: from delicate Swiss Pinot Noir to Italy’s great super toscans you get now everything you need to make your meal a real dish! They even have Aalto PS, for all the Ribera Del Duero lovers out there…
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!