Wirtshaus Galliker, Schützenstrasse, Luzern

I love trips to a foreign and exotic city with one single purpose – having lunch. This outing took me to Lucerne. Even I need to get lucky once in a while and some startpaging (privacy respecting alternative to Google) led me to a restaurant called Wirtshaus Galliker.

Just walking into the place made me fall in love with it. The interior from the 1930s without any “touch-ups” was like being warped into a different world. The single seat left was next to a gentleman and his wife (both in their upper 80ties) and it took us a long minute until he was up and I was able to slide onto the bench. Yes it felt weird making a man stand-up who’s clearly past his marathon-prime years, but he took it in stride.

The menu of the restaurant features all the goodness Lucerne has to offer, condensed to meals your grandmothers’ grandmother would have cooked. Appetizer was a smaller version of a Chügelipastete. I’d argue that that would need to be a more spherical shape than this classic “Pastetli” enclosure, but besides some shapely details no complaints.

In the meantime I was engulfed in a discussion with the gentlemen across from me and the elder couple next to me on the upcoming vote. I’d assume that back in the day this was were the political discussion took place and I was in the middle of it. We soon moved on to other topics.

It turned out that the almost 90year old man had a pretty interesting life, including a stint as a sawmill manager in Africa. He went on to tell me that a black woman showed him what love was, something which he wasn’t exposed to growing up as a farmer’s son in the outback of Lucerne. I was spared any details, but he was quick to point out that at that time he yet met his wife, which was sitting across from him…

Luckily my pot au feu arrived and I was able to taste one of the best versions I ever had. From the nicely diced pickles to the tongue, bone marrow and other perfectly cooked pieces of meat – it was a very satisfying meal. I’d be betting my left arm that the recipe hadn’t changed in 50+ years and you could taste it.

In the mean time my newly found friends had to leave, but not before telling me that it was a challenge when they married since he was catholic and she was a protestant. I’m assuming not an issue Generation Y still faces today.

If you like old-school dining, this is the place to go. If you’re up to chatting to interesting people, just as well. But you must have a reservation. Prices for like the 1980s – for the amount and quality of food you get. And… the stories people tell you will make you remember this restaurant.