Sprüngli, Paradeplatz, Zurich

I’ve always been weary of going to the Sprüngli. Rumours have been flying around for years, that older ladies scoop up unsuspecting young men for raunchy sessions back in feudal mansions on Zurichberg. Being a rather delicate flower, the last I would have wanted is to cause a frenzy at this respected establishment. I slide into a seat on the first floor and look at the lunch menu, which is pretty much what you’d expect at a cafe, except maybe for the club sandwich.
First course was a cucumber salad. The slices were a tad thicker, giving it more texture, but the whole salad was lacking salt and generally somewhat bland. A bit more offputting was that the bread which was served, wasn’t crunchy enough. In a place which does a lot of baking that’s rather surprising. The main course was a true swiss classic, Pastetli (small hollow fluffy dough container) with veal ragout, dried tomatoes and white sauce. The great part here was that the white sauce covers the Pastetli and this creates a sensation of gooey sauce and contrasting crunch beneath it. However the meat was as dry as a minibar after Paul Gascoigne said hello and again low on salt.
Well after dining here, I felt slightly disappointed. The cafe has a nice “Kaffeehaus” feeling to it, but the quality in the food just isn’t there. This seems to be a classic case where location and tradition are so up there, that the kitchen doesn’t need as much attention to generate revenues. And in case you’re wondering I left alone. No MILFs pounced upon me.