Luzern and Central Switzerland Restaurants

Luzern and Central Switzerland Restaurant Reviews

Rooted in the German territory of Switzerland and the surrounding farmlands, central Switzerland's cuisine is down-home and hearty. In the mountains there are Alpine cheese specialties (Aelpler Magrone—pasta, butter, cheese, and fried onions); in the region's orchard country there are such cherry specialties as Zuger Kirschtorte, a rich white cake soaked with cherry schnapps. Pears from the local orchards are dried, then spiced and poached in sweetened red Dole (wine).

Luzern takes pride in its Kügelipaschtetli, puff-pastry nests filled with tiny veal meatballs, chicken, or sweetbreads; mushrooms; cream sauce; and occasionally raisins. But here the real cuisine du marché, based on fresh market ingredients, focuses on lake fish.

Lake Luzern produces an abundance of Egli (perch), Hecht (pike), Forellen (trout), and Felchen (whitefish); Lake Zuger produces its own exclusive Röteln, a red-bellied relative of the trout.

Restaurants—especially along waterfronts—trade heavily in these freshwater fish, whether they come from the region or not. Ask, and you may get an honest answer: the sources vary, but the style of preparation remains local. In Luzern, whole fish is traditionally sautéed with tomatoes, mushrooms, and capers.

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