The concierge at the Park Hyatt Zürich eventually found an authentic Swiss restaurant that had space for two people on such short notice on a Friday night. Reservations were for 20h00 and the concierge indicated the restaurant was authentic and a jacket was required, but it wasn’t fine dining. Got it – blazer, no jeans – perfect. He also told us that it was about a 20 minute taxi ride – so when we are ready to leave, the hotel puts us in a taxi…and we drove….and drove…and drove.
If we weren’t in Switzerland, we might have thought we were being taken out into the sticks and hunted for sport. It actually wasn’t that far out — it felt pretty dense and suburban still – it was just much farther than we expected. The restaurant was actually in Herrliberg, Switzerland (still in the Canton of Zürich though), but was 15 km from the hotel. It was an $80USD car ride out there (which makes me think that even though we asked for a taxi and were put in a car with a taxi placard on top, we were actually charged black car service prices).
The restaurant is called Restaurant Buech and is the second highest rated restaurant on TripAdvisor — for Herrliberg. The building itself is like an old ski lodge and sits atop a hill that could lead to spectacular views of Zurich and the lake – but it was dark and cloudy — and we were seated far from a window, so we saw nothing).
The service was great – everyone was so personable, but they were all wondering why we were wearing jackets. Everyone else was quite casual with sweaters, jeans and boots. Looks like the concierge was mistaken on the dress code. No matter – better be overdressed than underdressed. We started off, like we did EVERY meal on this trip, with an aperitif – we each had a Kir Royale (of course we did…) then moved on to a nice Burgundian wine.
Unfortunately, none of my photos turned out from this meal, so you’ll have to use your imagination. MS started with the Pumpkin Soup and I had an heirloom tomato salad – both were fantastic. MS loves pumpkin more than anyone I know and I have never found a tomato that I didn’t love.
For our entree, MS had the venison special, which he enjoyed and I had the Veal Schniztel. We hardly spoke at dinner because we were so enamored without food. The wine we chose (which I forget what it was specifically, but I do know it was a 2011 from the Côte de Nuits). I opted not to have dessert – nothing jumped out at me, but MS had the Karamell Köpfli auf Birnencarpaccio (flan with a pear carpaccio). We finished off dessert with a glass of champagne.
Getting back to the hotel was going to be a problem — there were no taxis and we were long way from the main road. Luckily, Uber is in Zurich — and even better, UberX is an option too. I requested a car, which had to come from Zürich, so we waiting in the restaurant watching the progress our driver made. He picked us up and we quickly made our way back to Zürich. The driver was great – a 19 year old man who was going to University. The ride back to the hotel was only $45USD – double confirming that we had gotten the screwjob in the taxi to the restaurant.
All in all, the restaurant was good. It was a bit pricey for what we got. The food was good as was the service, but it was quite off the beaten path. I don’t think I’d schlep all the way out there for a meal, but if I were in the area, I’d eat there. Their website shows some great photos taken during the spring/summer. The grounds look beautiful – it may be worth a drive out there during that time of year.
Where should we have eaten in Zürich?