BERN Switzerland: Great downtown restaurants for lunch/dinner?
Apr 22nd, 2013, 01:06 PM
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BERN Switzerland: Great downtown restaurants for lunch/dinner?
Anyone can make recommendations on great places to eat in downtown? We just want good food. Swiss, French or Italian.
Apr 22nd, 2013, 01:52 PM
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Kornhauskeller: www.kornhauskeller.ch
Apr 22nd, 2013, 09:25 PM
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We like the Kornhaus too and it's very popular with businessmen (and women). However, if you're in the mood for Italian, we like Verdi, owned by the same group (Bindella) that owns the Kornhaus. FWIW, it's supposed to be chilly and rainy on Saturday and Verdi is one of the few restaurants with an open fireplace. When we go to Verdi in winter, we always ask for a table near the fireplace.
Apr 27th, 2013, 12:00 PM
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Updating:
We had a great lunch today at the Kornhaus Keller, it was a fantastic surprise as we did not expect the venue to be so dramatic or amazing. I really enjoyed the Steinpilzcremesuppe & Kalbsleber nach Zürcher Art they were just perfect for what I was longing for while my wife had her dream come true wish with Gänzeleber/Foie Gras and their fresh Spargel in season! The prices were also quite reasonable for such a meal in Switzerland.
We originally wanted to go all out for dinner checking out all the michelin star places but the ones we like seemed to be really far from downtown so we settled for Zum Äusseren Stand which turned out to be stellar for me. Beautiful place, all swiss guests with reservations but fortunately they were able to accomodate us without reservation? My dinner started with a fantastic roasted fish over al dente Nudeln & asparagus followed by a super delicious Kalbsmilchentranchen which practically melted in my mouth. It tasted absolutely like a dream
We had a great lunch today at the Kornhaus Keller, it was a fantastic surprise as we did not expect the venue to be so dramatic or amazing. I really enjoyed the Steinpilzcremesuppe & Kalbsleber nach Zürcher Art they were just perfect for what I was longing for while my wife had her dream come true wish with Gänzeleber/Foie Gras and their fresh Spargel in season! The prices were also quite reasonable for such a meal in Switzerland.
We originally wanted to go all out for dinner checking out all the michelin star places but the ones we like seemed to be really far from downtown so we settled for Zum Äusseren Stand which turned out to be stellar for me. Beautiful place, all swiss guests with reservations but fortunately they were able to accomodate us without reservation? My dinner started with a fantastic roasted fish over al dente Nudeln & asparagus followed by a super delicious Kalbsmilchentranchen which practically melted in my mouth. It tasted absolutely like a dream
Apr 27th, 2013, 12:18 PM
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Accidental premature posting, I'm still reeling from my dinner main course as it tasted just like something my mother would make but she didn't have such amazing tender veal sweetbread. Our bill was also incredibly reasonable considering we had so much wine and cheese cart selection at the end. Every bite was so thoroughly enjoyable, albeit my stomach was starting to hurt from eating too much... I can justify it by eating less tomorrow and hopefully some extra exercise too 
All in all our day in Bern today just put The Hague to shame in all categories in spite of how much we enjoyed Den Haag too.
All in all our day in Bern today just put The Hague to shame in all categories in spite of how much we enjoyed Den Haag too.
Apr 28th, 2013, 12:27 AM
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Glad to hear you're having a great time in Bern, one of my favourite cities in Switzerland. I also started Spargel season yesterday, but in Germany
Checked Zum Äusseren Stand's website and almost fell off my chair when I saw their 3-course dinner ... for only CHF 55, which is really inexpensive for Switzerland (in this quality). It's definitely on my list for the next visit.
Checked Zum Äusseren Stand's website and almost fell off my chair when I saw their 3-course dinner ... for only CHF 55, which is really inexpensive for Switzerland (in this quality). It's definitely on my list for the next visit.
Apr 28th, 2013, 07:00 PM
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Hallo Ingo
Oh yeah, we had such a great visit in Bern though I've been there a few times before during high school/college years (visiting cheap bars) and later with kids in tow. This time I get a very different perspective, so much better! Half the fun was to still have decent fluency in German even after completely abandoning it for Italian in the last few years. People reverted back to conversing in German even when I switched to English. I love the international flavor of the city, and people I met seemed to be so energetic, convivial and ready to chat. I was surprised to meet quite a number of Germans. I think Switzerland has too many Germans living there...LOL
Our bill at ZÄS came to 160 SFR for two 3 course dinner ala carte with 3 glasses of wines, that's San Francisco prices not swiss. The Kornhaus Keller was actually rather touristy reminiscent to the Keller in Leipzig in a more elegant version with very capable & proper service despite the flash flood of 200 tourists at noon coming all at once! It was our first swiss meal after Holland so we were very excited but it was nowhere as cozy and personable as ZÄS.
Oh yeah, we had such a great visit in Bern though I've been there a few times before during high school/college years (visiting cheap bars) and later with kids in tow. This time I get a very different perspective, so much better! Half the fun was to still have decent fluency in German even after completely abandoning it for Italian in the last few years. People reverted back to conversing in German even when I switched to English. I love the international flavor of the city, and people I met seemed to be so energetic, convivial and ready to chat. I was surprised to meet quite a number of Germans. I think Switzerland has too many Germans living there...LOL
Our bill at ZÄS came to 160 SFR for two 3 course dinner ala carte with 3 glasses of wines, that's San Francisco prices not swiss. The Kornhaus Keller was actually rather touristy reminiscent to the Keller in Leipzig in a more elegant version with very capable & proper service despite the flash flood of 200 tourists at noon coming all at once! It was our first swiss meal after Holland so we were very excited but it was nowhere as cozy and personable as ZÄS.
