My recommendations
These are likely to change as I visit more and more restaurants – this are the places I’d take any Zurich or non-Zurich friend to for a good meal to be remembered:
Stefs Freieck, small menu, unpretentious chef, one of my favourites.
Filet of beef or horse served on a sizzling stone, great for males who like meat: Eisenhof
Restaurant Spice at the Rigiblick – we need more places like this.
Cafe Boy was the hottest place in Zurich in terms of food and remains the place to be for swiss style gourmet cuisine.
Markthalle is perfect for unpretentious dining with great and simple food.
Drei Stuben inspired by the 300 Mio CHF GCZ Deal – nice garden, nice restaurant, clean and well executed food.
Noma – the simply the pinnacle.
Alpenblick for the perfect Zürcher Geschnetzeltes.
Schlössli for old school Zurich food.
And for the record – the worst ever in flight meal I had was served by our favourite Airline.
Closed:
Perfect business lunch at the
Weisses Rössli.
brilliant, wie immer die berichte. wann kommt die schlachtplatte vom aargau zum vorschein?
Es werden noch 8 Restaurants vor der Schlachtplatte besprochen (Stand 24.11.2008) – ich melde mich wenn es soweit ist
http://therealpickygourmet.com/2008/10/12/grotto-reale-aemtlerstrasse-zurich/
I’m from England, and have eaten at this restaurant three times, the latest being in March 3 – 09.
We checked in right before our 6pm reservation (holding an 10 month old baby) and were given a choice of tables. We chose one in the round *corner* because we were not sure how our daughter would behave. They brought over a high chair, and we were very impressed that a waitress came running over with an extra table cloth for us to use to secure our daughter in the high chair.The staff here could not have been more accommodating to us and we really, really appreciated it.
The food at Grotto Reale is excellent. First, they bring over some unbelievable bread with olive oil and olives.
For an entree, I had the beef short ribs. They come with polenta, but I loved the ribs so much I barely had room for the polenta. This entree is so unbelievably good!
My husband had the roasted whole fish, which is brought over on a little side table. The wait staff actually cuts up the fish in front of you (unless you want to do it yourself!). The fish was excellent, tasted very fresh, and is prepared in a very simple fashion.
During all of this, the wait staff constantly refilled our water and our bread plates, fawned over our baby, and made us feel welcome.
I just love the way this restaurant looks. The main dining room is painted in a beautiful neutral color, and has high ceilings, with cornice mouldings. walls and pilaster looks hand made – organic touch.Great!
I just love Grotto Reale and will continue to visit
there whenever I travel to zurich.
Simon and fam.
so real picky gourmet, if Caduff’s is your second-favorite, what’s your top pick?
Currently – Restaurant Spice for fine dining, Ah Hua for Thai and Stefs for fine but not snobby dining.
Hi Mr. Picky
So glad that you love Chef Nickel’s cuisine like I do.
I’d love to hear what you think about Heiko Nieder’s cuisine at the Dolder compared to Spice – how do they compare? You’ve written very positive articles about both restaurants.
Best
Brian