Best Food Experiences in Switzerland?
 

Hi! What are your favourite foodie experiences in Switzerland?

Rosti - anywhere. Esp when it's cold out.

Stein-am-Rhein Hotel restaurant right by the bridge on the water (duh!) The fish (local) was the best my husband has ever had. (Don't remember names but can look in his journal.) Enjoy! CJ

..sitting on a restaurant terracewin Grindlewald looking out over the valley and eating fondue..I know it is corny but was absolutely beautiful.

travelbunny and I are on the same page. My most memorable experience in Switzerland has been beautifully simple yet sensuous fondue with thick crusty bread.

I've had a dish that is chicken medallions in a creamy sauce. It is usually served with the rosti - yum!
It is probably a dish that there are variations of all over but it has been especially good in Switzerland. I'm also partial to a good weinerschnitzl. These would be from the German-speaking part of Switzerland.

Hi NicaZ,

Raclette is also a big winner for me!

s

CarolJean, sounds like maybe you are talking about the Rheinfels Hotel in Stein am Rhein?

The Hotel Oberland in Lauterbrunnen has excellent rosti and amazing deserts!

Two from day-long hiking excursions:

1. Home-made apple strudel and fresh milk from a small farm high on an alp in the Lower Engadine Valley, above Ardez and Ftan.

2. "Alpen Macaroni" at the Rotstockhutte, above Muerren and below the Schilthorn. Here is their website: http://www.rotstockhutte.ch/

And two from Zurich:

1. Wiener Schnitzel at Kronenhalle Restaurant.

2. Anything from the cafe at Spruengli, along the Bahnhofstrasse.

And one from Wengen:

1. Any trout dish at the Hotel Berghaus.

Bon Appetit!

On a supermarket shelf/self-catering front, freshly baked bread, chestnut paste spread in a tube called "vermicelli" (great on hot toasts), a kind of splitz made of apple juice and fizzy water.

Plus locally produced fresh goat cheese and thick creamy yogurt.

raclette
sausages at a street fair
salet
filet de perche
bakery sandwiches
dried meats/salamis
quiche
goat yogurt

I would agree its hard to get a bad meal in Switzerland, which you probably know as you live in Geneva. The western, French-speaking cantons of Switzerland have better restaurants generally, although the ones in eastern Switzerland are certainly more than adequate. If you want a restaurant recco list for the Lake Geneva region, let me know.

My favourite Swiss meal memory is of course in my own home: fondue in front of the little cheminee fireplace with the snow falling outside is hard to beat. Second place would go to any meal at the Fletshchorn Hotel in Saas Fee, in summer served outdoors on their terrace surrounded by mountains, in winter served indoors in their cozy dining room buried deep in the snow back in the woods outside of town. There are so many good restaurants in Switzerland, but this one is certainly my favourite. I dream of their cheese tray. http://www.fletschhorn.ch. Third place would go to lunch at Chez Vrony on the ski slopes of the Suneggaga ski area at Zermatt, taking a break for rosti and a bottle of wine while sitting in the sun and gazing at the Matterhorn is sublime. (Lunch is what I look forward to all morning, it keeps my knees going downhill....) This is hikeable as well in winter or summer from the Sunnegga train. http://www.chezvrony.ch

Wow Cicerone:

The Che Vroney! Yes that was one very memorable locale!

Simple but excellent lunch, cold lager, bright, brilliant sunshine, snow covered slopes........and the Mattahorn so close you think this cannot be real!

Another was when I was served my first "Swiss Hot Chocolate". A mug of "hot milk" with a side of a ceramic pitcher of melted swiss chocolate!! Yum!!!

Here are some dishes which are truly Swiss:

- Zürcher Geschnetzeltes. Stripes of veal fillet, pan-seared, in a creamy sauce, often with mushrooms. Served everywhere, of course best in Zürich.

- Egli. Egli is a small fish that lives in the Zürichsee. Everywhere in Zürich.

- Steak Tartare. This does not sound exactly like a Swiss dish, but nowhere else it is as popular as in Switzerland and nowhere else it is made to perfection. The Swiss version of Steak Tartare includes a raw egg yolk, capers, a generous shot of cognac (mixed with the beef), and a fresh chile (to taste). Everywhere in Switzerland.

- Fondue: Cheese Fondue, meat fondue , seafood fondue either à la bourguinonne or (what I prefer) à la chinoise. One of the best versions is served in Caveau des Vignerons in Montreux.

- For true traditonal Swiss cuisine in traditional yet trendy setting I recommend restaurant Alpenrose in Zürich. Very hot! http://www.restaurant-alpenrose.ch/

Wow! Thanks so much. My mom and I are going on a foodie tour soon through the country, so these are great suggestions for our trip!

Oh, you're making me cry! Sitting in the restaurant by castle in Gruyeres, looking at the lush valley and enjoying a fondue with hubby. Sitting at train station at Hotel Grischuna in Filisur having wine and fondue (my birthday). A huge Schneider beer and bubbling fondue on the hotel deck in the fairytale setting of Gimmelwald. A steamy plate of mussels in the lakeside cafe of Gandria on Lake Lugano (gorgeous!) An amazing pizza in tiny Italian cafe in Lugano. Best pizza ever. Sitting under the chestnut trees at Hotel Palazzo Salis in Soglio having homemade ravioli and Swiss wine. Ardez....rosti. Piz Buin hotel in Guarda...fabulous polenta and fresh fish. Auberge at Rivaz steaming seafood..local wine from the valley. Raclette in the tiny village of Vercorin with festive travelers watching World Cup soccer.
Lake trout anywhere in Switzerland.

Just remembered this one --- chestnut cake in Soglio.

i am the mom going on this trip and all your responses are bringing a huge smile to my face!