Tenz, Badenerstrasse, Zurich

I once played football with a guy called Tenz, which turned out to be short for Tenzing. However I have no idea where the name Tenz orginated for the new Momo bar near Badenerstrasse. The place is down to earth, has a fast casual dining feel and is here to serve exactly one dish: Momos, dumplings from Tibet (or Nepal). The menu is so simple it leaves you with the choice of meat, vegetarian and vegan Momos and nothing else. The basic premise is still rather new to Zurich, one simple dish and no frills. I find it slightly lacking to not offer a few appetizers or other tibits, variety is what rocks your boat.

The Momos were excellent – naturally meat was my favourite, but surprisingly the vegan variant was better than the vegetarian one. The shitake mushrooms gave the vegan ones oomph and depth. The homemade hot sauce is hot, so I’d caution to use it sparingly. A very nice touch was that the traditional tibetan butter tea turned out that it’s an acquired taste. Looks like Ovomaltine, tastes like a salty creamy broth. I didn’t drink it and they took it off the bill, without me asking. Service is super-rapid, literally minutes after sitting down your Momos will be served.

Currently I’d see Tenz as a great late night watering hole, due to it’s extensive drinks menu, location near Lochergut and rapid service. For a full meal I’m missing a few appetizers and maybe some more sauces for the Momos. Prices are cheap – we stuffed our faces with 30 Momos and paid 60 CHF excl. drinks.