Hash Brown and Eggs Benedict

Sunday looking for a not so healthy brunch – McGees next to the train station in Wiedikon fits the bill. Looking at the brunch menu I ordered Eggs Benedict with hash brown. Fresh Orange Juice was no longer available, but at least the waiter was nice enough to point that out. Still this was one of the worst breakfast I ever had. The eggs were cold, the sauce hollandaise some kind of just-add-water-to-prepare concoction, the bacon limp and the hash brown like a mediocre roeschti. The key to happiness at McGees is to stick to the Guiness. Prices:

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Fried Dumplings

Kimchi Omelette

Korean BBQ with side dishes

A revisit to the Bambushain, a korean BBQ placed proved to be quite successful. The dumplings were okay, and decent enough to get us going. We tried a Kimchi Omlette, it was lacking spice but otherwise had the nice slighlty greasy taste you expect of these. Finally the main part was the BBQ. Unlike New York (my favorite place Wonjo 32 with real coals), the selection of meats, fish and vegetables was a bit small and you cook on a gas grill. You still get the smell but not quite as much fun out of the experience. I also would have preferred a wider array of side dishes, but I guess for Zurich it’s okay. Overall you get a so-so Korean BBQ experience, definetly a good one if you’ve never had it or you’re in Zurich. What needs to be pointed out that the prices are really fair:

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Brunch at the Gartenhof

Sportsman Club is gone again just like the World Cup. At the Gartenhof the remains can still be seen, but that adds to the charm of the place. I was there for brunch on a Sunday. The breakfast consisted of bread, Zopf, croissant, Birchermüesli, orange juice, jam, honey, butter, egg, bacon, cherries, salmon, ham, roast beef and cheese. Now I wasn’t to thrilled with all of the components, the Birchermüesli and the fresh cherries really stood out. The croissant was a bit dry, the 3 minute egg could have been a bit firmer and the roast beef didn’t feel like roast beef. The staff were extremly friendly, very attentive and it was very pleasant dining and reading the newspaper here. I was even offered a glas of prosecco which make the breakfast at 25 CHF a good deal:

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Sommersalat mit Eierschwämmli

Hacktätschli mit Rösti

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Reisteigtäschchen mit Crevettenfüllung

Rindfleisch mit Bohnen und Chili

Driving around Zurich I landed at the Puls 5 and went for lunch at the Angkor, a somewhat fancy asian place. The decor is a bit more upmarket than other asian places and spouts a certain poshness. It was lunchtime and the restaurant was pretty full. I started off with Toong Thuong which are small crispy bags filled with minced shrimp. The dough was thin and crispy but not fried beyond recognition, juicy shrimp filling rounding it off nicely. Main course was beef with chili and beans and a refined sauce. I forgot to take a picture, but it came on a rechaud and some rice. The sauce was okay, a decent dish for an asian place. Food was okay, decor a bit over the top but the place is trying to be more than it really is. It’s high on the prices, tries hard to look upmarket tipping towards tacky and doesn’t deliver enough special and surprising dishes. Luo, Beyond or Zen offer more refined and interesting cuisine than Angkor. And what is really weird, at a restaurant trying this hard, why doesn’t anyone speak german ? Prices:

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Hackfleischtäschli

Always looking for a nice trip through Switzerland, on a sunny day not much beats the Furka Dampfbahn. Go for gold, pay the 90 franks for a first class tickets. Make sure that you’re in the last first class cabin of the train. This way you can stand outside on the platform and have a great view of all the places you’ve just travelled by. Vital to know is that if you enter a tunnel with a steam train engine, close the windows….
Culinary choices are limited at the Aperobuffet where there’s a scheduled 20 minute stop. But there is one thing which really stood out, a homemade dough pocket filled with minced meat. Simple, wholehearted and tasty, following the Michelin guiding rules, it’s a one star dish.

Chili Bratwurst mit Salat

Tagespasta - Linguine mit rotem Krautstiel und Käse

It’s Saturday and you’re looking for a place to grab lunch. With the newly opened Viadukt shopping mall, it makes sense to stop by Restaurant Viadukt. After sitting down, I get a menu and was surprised that there was only a small snack section. Apparently they don’t do a la carte during lunch on a saturday….. So I went for the small pasta of the day and a chili bratwurst with salad. The bratwurst was cooked in a very skilled matter, it probably was tasty but the chili overpowered the pork taste. I didn’t care much about the salad, the leaves were too big and the cucumber and radishes were lacking salt. The pasta wasn’t up to par. There was no connection between the cheese, the noodles and the red swiss chard. It was pasta and pieces of vegetables, but it lacked a sauce which was capable of tying the components together. If you like to blend in with the crowd order a “Apfel Schorle mit Sprudel”….

Prices:

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Eierstich mit Kräuteröl

Marinierte Coquilles St. Jacques und gebratene Polipetti auf jungen Artischocken, ligurischen Oliven, Kapern und Frühlingszwiebeln

Kaninchennierchen, Favebohnen und Mandeln mit Flan aus natürlicher Entenleber

Burgunder Perlhuhnbrust mit Eierschwämmli, Spargel und Mönchsbart an Limettenschaum,

Gitzi Schlegel aus dem Ofen und Prägel gebraten mit Bärlauch und Senfkörnern Cima di rapa und Polenta „Rosso“ - Kuchen

Rhabarbermousse, Erdbeeren und Sauerrahmglacé

Kaiser’s Reblaube (literally the Emperor’s vineyard arcade) is nicely located near the St. Peter’s church. The chef at Kaiser’s Reblaube is well known for writing for the Zueritipp, still that didn’t faze me one bit. The house is one of the oldest in the city and if you looked at the other guests….. common courtesy leaves you one no choice then to acknowledge that they were younger than the house. The first dish (an amuse bouche) was the worst. It was an “Eierstich” with some herb oil and there was no herb taste and the whole mouth feeling of the dish reminded one of a Caramelköpfli. That was a bad choice to get mouths watering. The scallop was marinated which gave it an unusual texture. Especially the citrus fruit (grapefruit) was nice and gave the dish a good balance. The best dish was the rabbit kidneys with Fava beans, almonds and a flan made from duck liver. Apparently the chef here has a patented method on how to prepare duck liver without stuffing the ducks and was awarded the Chef of the year 1998 award by the Swiss Animal Protection Society. Personally I’ll stick to the Gault Millau’s rating, but I’ll give credit for the innovative approach. We slipped in an extra course (guinea fowl breast), which was nice in taste, but if I order breast, I don’t want the bone attached to it. Lovely Cima di Rape went with the goat meat on the main course, making this a hearty and tasty dish (but not as good as at the Wiesengrund). I skipped the french toast on the dessert, and rightly so – the rhubarb alone was simply perfect. Looking back at the meal I found the menu to be a bit too hearty for spring, both the rabbit kidneys and especially the polenta rosso side dish felt more like autumn. Overall I didn’t quite get enough bang for the buck, foodwise I’d prefer the Caduff, however the Kaiser’s Reblaube wins in terms of being quaint. Finances:

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James Bond Island

I kept going to Cafe Wimbledon in the hope of getting a glimpse of Roger Federer, but apparently that’s the other Wimbledon. The Cafe Wimbledon has been rebranded and is running under the Nooch flag. It was a lunch and I was in the mood for fried rice. There was some under the name of James Bond Island. Now I never understand what it is with giving dishes names. That works fine for BigMac and Whopper, but it is silly in the real restaurant business. The fried rice didn’t rock my boat, it was lacking the intense roast aromas, the saltiness wasn’t there and I couldn’t taste enough egg. Overall this seems more like a swiss guy’s fantasy of what an exotic asian place should be like (it also explains the pineapple in the rice). Prices:

Bill

Rindsgeschnetzeltes mit Röschti

Marinello is one of the grocery stores of choice if you’re looking for a good selection of local cheeses (Natürli) or lovely vegetables. The outlet at Sihlcity was advertising lunch menus for 11 CHF. Having misplaced my wallet at a football frenzy the night before this exactly matched my cash resources. The menu of the day was a Rindergeschnetzltes (beef) with Roeschti served in a plastic container and joined by a small salad. The beef was very tender with a below average sauce. The roeschti was a complete disaster. With condensation water collecting in the plastic dish and slowly dripping on a bland, not very crisp, prefabricated potato hockey puck this was calling for a disaster. I shouldn’t have finished the roeschti, but as the germans say – hunger is the best cook. I’ll stay to raw ingredients at Marinello and shy away from the lunch menus.