Posts from the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Transit (Mitte), Rosenthaler Strasse, Berlin
Different plates
Restaurant Transit is a newer pan-asian uncomplicated restaurant which was recommended to me by a friend. You sit down, mark all the dishes you want on a piece of pre-printed paper and send off the order with the waitress. The concept is pretty fun and rather cheap considering the amount of dishes I had (didn’t finish them all). But I wasn’t happy with the food, they do a lof of different stuff, but none of the dishes really captured my attention. I’ve read great things about Transit but was slighty miffed after dining here, since the food wasn’t up to par. A good example is the duck in pyjamas dish. It’s duck wrapped in a pancake which is obviously a play of peking duck, but it never managed to capture the magical feeling you get when eating a great duck. Prices:
Rechnung
Old Swiss House, Löwenplatz, Luzern
Hirschbratwurst mit Trüffelsauce und Rahmwirz
Consommé mit Mark
Wiener Schnitzel à la maison mit Nudeln
After a visit to the Verkehrshaus (Swiss museum of transportation) we needed to find a decent place to eat. Our quest led us to the Old Swiss House. At first I was a bit hesitant, I wasn’t sure wether it’s tourist trap judging from the website, but it’s more of the Luzern version of Zurich’s Kronenhalle. Just looking at the photos of past visitors give you a good idea who visits here. My first course was a deer sausage on savoy cabbage with truffle. The sausage was a bit weak in taste for my liking, the truffle sauce had real chunks of truffle, but the best thing was the cabbage, which was expertly cooked. Next dish was a simple soup with bone marrow and vegetables, no complaints (except that I would have preferred the whole bone). My main course was the Wiener Schnitzel which is served tableside, the same way it has been prepared in the last 65 years. It’s a nice dish (even though it has cheese in the breading and is cooked rather slowly), what I wasn’t a big fan of where the noodles with bread crumbs which is served as a side order. The Schnitzel’s breading is a bit dry and the butter cooked bread crumbs which are then sprinkled on top of the noodles are just too much. All in all this is a great place for fine, old school dining, maybe ordering a different side dish to the Schnitzel can help.
Prices:
Rechnung
Pimp my meat, COOP’s unique approach
No comment
So some of my trusted readers had noticed I’d posted an article on the same topic. I got home after an emotional very touching event and was angried when I saw what the Swiss supermarkt chain Coop did to its trusting customers. I’ve decided to rewrite this article in a more sensible fashion. Coop has been caught in betraying the trust of thousands of customers across Switzerland. The Article published in the Tagesanzeiger explains how meat which was beyond its due date, was sold by either chopping it up or selling it in the fresh meat part of the butcher section. So I’d walk into the place buy something to cook and I got old and potentially health-threatening meat without knowing. Is that what you would expect from a swiss premium supermarket ? Was that what Gottfried Duttweiler (founder of Migros) had in mind when he introduced the supermarket concept to Switzerland ? Quite frankly I’m okay if you sell meat which is past it’s prime official expiry date, since food and health regulations tend to be completely estranged from reality, but you must declare it, because then it becomes my conscious decisions. If you’re buying fresh meat at the butcher’s counter, without any further warning your expectation is, it’s fresh and within all specifications. If you recall the BSE (mad cow) disease rampage in England, as soon as the beef price dropped, people scooped it up regardless of the spongy brain risk, but again – at least it was a conscious decision. Besides being angered at Coop for their poor business antics, I am disappointed that this happens in Switzerland, where were used to paying a bit more but getting top quality in return. Personally I think that with the market entry of discounters such as Aldi or Lidl, this has increased the willingness to cut corners in quality, since suddenly the price is the only relevant feature of a product. My personal takeaways from the whole Coop meat cock-up ? Firstly, build and maintain a lasting and meaningful relationshop with your local butcher, Alfred Biolek never failed to stress that in this tv shows (“Fleischer Ihres Vertrauens”). Secondly make sure your local political representative is pushing for releasing the food inspector’s reports to the public, since this is the only way that markets (and restaurants) are pressured to keeping up their standards. And lastly, eat more meat since high turnover at the meat section will prevent businesses from worrying about their slow-selling inventory. Expanding on that thought, one could come to the conclusion that it’s the vegetarians which are to blame for all meat scandals, since they lower the overall turnover and increase shelf life. And I’m married to one…
Hanoi Garden, Nordbrücke, Zurich
Frühlingsrollen
Glücksrollen
Bun Cha
Hanoi Garden opened up near the Bahnhof Wipkingen where the former Liston restaurant used to be. The vietnamese place seems to be a family affair. A swiss guy is running the front of the restaurant and since he’s also taking care of a small boy running around the dining room, this seems a fair assumption. I liked the spring rolls, they’re lighter and better tasting than the chinese restaurant equvivalent. The fresh springrolls were fresh but I would have enjoyed more herbs inside and a different sauce. It was the same vinegar based dipping sauce as with the fried ones, I craved for a peanut based variant. The main course was pretty vietnamese, a soup based dish calle Bun Cha, where you throw in noodles, herbs and vegetables to your liking. It was using proper pork belly (heavy on the fat) and not the lighter bacon, hence it’s not going to be a big hit with women. It had a nice heat (a european hot) and the flavor of the broth was spot on. What I’d also like to call out is that the “Grosses” (pint) is only CHF 5.50, which is a pretty good deal. I’ll be back:
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Restaurant Weibian, Weststrasse, Zurich
Fisch und Fleisch
Pilz und Nudeln
Bouillon und Gemüse
Weibian has a somewhat confusing message. One sign clearly says “chinese specialities” and the next one goes on to talk about Sushi. Anyway I’m not scared easily (except by dogs) and bravely entered the location. Scanning the menu we decided to try the hot pot (the evolutionary ancestor of the swiss fondue chinoise). Fish, meat, vegetables, mushrooms and noodles are served on a couple of plates. I like the soup bowl which has a divider which allows for two different broths. One being a bit spicier than the other. Price value was pretty good on the dish and the ingredients were of decent quality. I would have liked a much broader variety of ingredients. If this is aiming to be a great hot pot place (and to be frank I don’t know of any other in Zurich) there should be a menu to choose your meats, vegetables etc. from and different broths as well, depending on your mood. Still if you’ve never had it, it’s worth the visit, especially at these prices:
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Helvti Diner, Stauffacher, Zurich
Hotdog with Sauerkraut
Caesar Salad
Wagyu Burger with Fries
Getting beaten at your own game hurts – the Zueritipp beat me by 18 hours in reviewing the new Helvti Diner. I had a reservation for the second night, my competition was there for lunch the day before. We slid into our seats and study the menu which is only available in english, not sure I buy into that. We start of with a Hot dog laden with sauerkraut. The sausage was excellent, the bun tasty and together with the kraut it almost reminded me of the taste you get from a Silberkugel Original Beefy. The dish might not be your typical appetizer, but it was a good choice and a pretty tasty hot dog. The next dish was just so wrong. It was dubbed as a Casear salad with croutons and anchovies. First major flaw was that the salad wasn’t dried off properly, the whole dish was much too watery and dilluted the flavor. Also the croutons and anchovies were too large plus the little sauce which wasn’t waterlogged was lacking cheese and oomph. The main course was a Wagyu burger with fries. Now if you get the Wagyu burger, you should refrain from any other topping since it’s all about the beef. If you’re more interested in a classic burger go for the cheapest one on the menu and pile on the toppings. I was slightly disappointed with the service, since not only was it a tad chaotic (2nd day) but also I got blue cheese instead of cheddar and only notice after having already eaten half my burger (cheese distribution was uneven). Getting this simple things right goes a long way in terms of customer satisfaction. The chocolate shake was good but 12.50 a put makes me prefer beer. I’m sure the place will do great, they’re turning tables like crazy in there, they’ll need to get service up to speed in the next couple of days and then there isn’t much to complain, except telling the chef to dry and optimise his salad. If you stick to a cheap burger and a beer you’ll get very good value for your money:
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Fischers Fritz, Campingplatz Wollishofen, Zurich
Cocos Gemüsekorb für 2 mit Sardellenmayonnaise
Rotaugenknusperli mit Pommes Frites
Summer’s gone but I still have a review left of Fischers Fritz. It took me three attempts to get a table here since it was very well booked. The restaurant has the typical Zurich crowd, with lots of people trying hard to look rich and famous. It was hot and we decided on a fresh appetizer – a basket of vegetables with Sardine mayonnaise. What sounded like a good idea, was a badly executed starter. It was literally some cucumber, radish, zucchini and carrot split down the middle and thrown into a bucket. Too much vegetable and simply a very poor effort. I did like the fish and chips. There’s an actual selection of different types of fish from the lake of Zurich and I got the Common Roach (Rotauge) version. Tasty fish. The place was okay, but there’s not enough privacy and some of the co-diners are a pain in the ass. If you want to try different Fischknusperli (Swiss Fish & Chips) variants, this is a good choice.
Eder’s Eichmühle, Eichmühle, Wädenswil
Thunfischtatar
Heimische Krebse mit Kartoffelstockgratin
Schwarzflossenheilbut mit Spinat, Vichysoisse und Forellenkaviar
Mediterrane Gnocchetti Sardi mit Zucchini, Auberginen, Oliven und grillierten Riesenkrevetten
Ragoût von Maine Hummer und Wildwasserkrevetten mit Sojasprossen, Sepiaspaghettini und Lauch
Dessert Sans souci Dorothée, Dessert Ueberraschung
I had a reservation at the Eder’s Eichmühle, a classy restaurant in an old farmhouse in Wädenswil. The menu is of medium size and has a significant amount of shellfish dishes listed. So I was excited to give some of them a try and decided on skipping meat as a main course. After the amuse bouche my first dish was a local crayfish with a mashed potato gratin. The mash was great (albeit a BMI increaser) but overtook the crayfish’s rather delicate aroma. Next course was a piece of grilled halibut, served on spinach and vichysoisse, topped with some trout caviar. I thought this was a well thought out dish, the cold soup taking on some temperature from the spinach gave it another dimension besides the textural and flavor contrasts. Small Gnocchi came my way with a bit of vegetables and some shrimp. Strong, bold flavours, just what you would expect from such a pasta dish, nothing to complain. The only thing which I thought was weird, was the fact that when the couple next to mine table got up and left, a dog emerges from below their table. In all fairness, I hadn’t noticed the mutt before, but when he got up and shook his fur right next to my plate, my blood started boiling. I’ll say it again – dogs have no place in a fine dining restaurant – no exceptions. So I calmed down with another glass of wine and got the main course. It was some Maine lobster & freshwater shrimp served on Sepia Spaghettini with leek and bean sprouts. I didn’t quite understand the dish. The noodles with the leek and sprouts were seasoned with soy sauce. Quite frankly it tasted like ordinary fried noodles you’d get at a Suan Long Chinese restaurant. Pairing these noodles with rather expensive product such as Maine lobster seemed weird. Funny enough when I mentioned (in a more polite way) that I didn’t understand the dish to the chef, he just kind of shrugged his shoulder and mentioned he’s had that on the menu for 15 years. It kind of made sense, people who visited fine dining establishments 15 years ago didn’t eat a lot of chinese food in their age, hence the taste was still a novelty for them. But in today’s world, it’s dated which shows if he’s still serving a dish without reworking it for such a long time. A funny thing was the dessert surprise I ordered, it’s a huge plate of different tibits, great to eat, if you’re still somewhat hungry. Overall I am disappointed, since there was good and bad. I think the shellfish served wasn’t portrayed in it’s best light and that some dishes are dated. Prices are actually fair, considering the products I ate:
Rechnung
Zum grobe Ernst, Stüssihofstatt, Zurich
Ravioli
Lammfilet mit Rösti "ein wenig spanisch"
This is the story of an epic truce. After years of yapping at the heels of the Zueritipp I met one of the editors for dinner. We settled on the restaurant Zum grobe Ernst for our meeting. I stake out the restaurant a couple of minutes in advance and settle on a table where I can watch the door, looking anxiously at everyone entering the door, since I had no clue what a Zueritipp food writer looks like. Contrary to my expectation a classy and attractive woman in her mid-thirties makes it my way and introduces herself. We sit down and have a very pleasant conversation about food, restaurants and Zurich’s dining scene. After deliberating some time we break our discussion to put our order in. My first course was simply called “Ravioli”. I wasn’t too pleased with the dish for several reasons. Not only was the sauce rather heavy (even though someone whisked it up to make it frothy), it contained truffle (oil?) and the ravioli were more like individual wrapped candy shapes, than actual raviolis. I ranted about Kunstuben’s truffle brie and quite frankly the same arguments are valid here. My main course was a lamb filet and a side order rösti with a spanish twist. I was told that the spanish twist was paprika sprinkled on the potatoes. I believe if you play with classics, you first need to have those classics down perfect. I’m not sure what happened to the twist, it was a slightly burned, pretty average roeschti. I didn’t feel or taste the spanish influence and was left assuming that it was the fact that the potatoes were peeled while someone was watching Maja Brunner. While the lamb was of decent quality, the sauce had a high level of acidity and was too peppery for my taste. If you look at the prices of the dishes the restaurant didn’t meet the standard it projected. The food writing authority across the table skipped desserts and since my BMI is skyrocketing I followed suit and we had a riveting conversation about making your own sausages over another glass of wine. We ended our dinner on a friendly note and said our goodbyes. In the aftermath of our meet I went to my favourite bar to contemplate. There was one very interesting question the editor had asked me – “When will you stop writing the real picky gourmet blog” as in when have I accomplished my goal ? I contemplated for an hour, thinking if I’ve managed to get the leading food publication of Zurich to pay for my dinner, isn’t this the perfect time to call it quits ?
Restaurant Kaukaska, Wolsztyn, Poland
Barszcz (polish Borscht)
Pierogi filled with potatoes
Pork kotelety with red onion confit
People who’ve signed up to my Twitter feed will have noticed some comments on polish food in the last couple of days. Reason was a trip to see trains in Znin and Wolsztyn. Overall polish cuisine is great, has strong flavours, a lot of fat and if you’re not working as someone shovelling coal in a steam locomotive, you’ll be gaining roughly a kilogram per week in body mass. Polish gastronomy still has some potential when it comes to customer service, but we wanted the original experience and we got it. We stopped at a place called Restaurant Kaukaska in Wolsztyn for lunch. First course was the polish variant of borscht, which is a clear broth made out of beet root. Tasty, nice acidity and strinking color. My favourite part was the pierogi which came next, essentially some dumpling filled with potatoes. There were other variants I sampled but this one was the best and surprisingly (aside form the pieces of bacon on top) no meat in the dumpling. The next course made me smile it was a piece of pork meat under some red onion confit. The confit was nicely cooked, I wasn’t too fond of the combination with the pork but you really couldn’t complain on the technique. The guy next to me was eating a Zigeunerschnitzel with frytki (french fries) and was very happy as well. I liked the food here and would recommend the place if you’re stopping over. Best thing at the end was the price – 335 Zloty (85 CHF) for 9 people including drinks:
Bil
