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Hi all,
Installment 1 of the Restaurant reviews: B. Restaurants Zurich TimeOut Restaurant at the Hotel St. Josef. . . A pleaant room with interesting art work on the wall (much of which changes color), good, professional service, food is well prepared and nicely presented. May is spargle (white asparagus) season, and I love spargle. The sparg;e special was worth every penny of the 45 CHF. However, the hit of the night was the zander wrapped in zucchini and sautéed. 3 course menu for two with a bottle of Fendant (light, fruity, dry) 125CHF($115) BistroKiosk Marion. . . A local resto, with a very friendly atmosphere, close to the hotel. Schnitzel with noodles (the noodles were particularly good) for myself and sautéed plaice for Roberta. The “igloo” ice cream concoction for dessert was pleasant. Two 3-course dinners with a bottle of Rioja Blanco – 93CHF($86). Ban Song Thai. . . A very good Thai resto. This was recommended by another Fodorite. We had various small dishes of very well prepared, flavorful and appealing thingies with just the right amount of heat. With a bottle of white wine and a tip – 122CHF($112) The Bodensee The Alte Post in Lindau. . . A very nice room with beamed ceilings, rippled glass, various chotchkes (you find a lot of that in German restos) on shelves around the walls. 1st-rate service. Roberta had a blanc de noir aperitif – very bright, dry and mildly fizzy = the salad Caprese (very fresh) and the sauteed Felchinfilet (couldn’t determine what this fish might be called in English) in almond butter. I had a Farny Hofgutsbier (pale gold, with a good head, slightly hoppy) and the Wiener Tafelspitz (special that evening) which was very tender, moist and flavorful marinated beef with a freshly-grated horseradish sauce. We shared a dessert. A very gemutlich evening – Dinner with 2 wines and 2 beers - 80E($125) Weinstube Frey in Lindau. . . Located in a very old building, the back room of this restaurant (about 1650) is just terrific. Lots of atmosphere. Good home cooking. Zum Sunfzen in Lindau. . . Pretty much a Lindau tradition. Very traditional German cooking, well done, well served, well presented. I particularly liked the Rinderleisch Ragout (beef stew) with semmel knoedle. <b>Schachener Hof</b>. . . Easily reached by bus or train from Lindau, this restaurant in Enzisweiler is well worth the 10 min walk from the train station or the 20 min bus ride to the door. The room is pleasantly furnished with an elegant, but simple, décor. The atmosphere is friendly and welcoming. Service is 1st class. Menus from 25 to 75E. Amuse bouche of Asiatic vegetables in a sweet-sour marinade and a lemon foam – good combination. My Lady Wife had the 35E menu. . . Cordon Bleu-stuffed ravioli crisp fried and served on a bed of lentils; 3 kinds of lake fish wrapped in a cabbage leaf (roulade) with vegetables, a new potate stuffed with Boursin cheese and caviar, and little fish-shaped croustillantes; dessert was a very imaginative dish consisting of a pastry boat filled with fruits floating on the Bodensee (green, minty gel) surrounded by ice cream mountains. I had the 45E menu. . . appetizer of a 4-layer galantine of vegetables and smoked meats; entrée of prosciutto and parmesan, octopus with dill, house-made sausage with apple and cinnamon; curry soup with langouste; saddle of lamb with 3 kinds of beans and other veg; dessert of “variations on rhubarb” – rather interesting. Wine was an Ausficht Weisburger 2007 – crisp, floral and spicy with a dry finish – 25E. A very fine dining experience for 2 with wine and tip – 110E($172) Six min on the S-Bahn to Lochau, and a pleasant 10-min walk (unless it is cold, windy and raining) along a creek through fields and trees takes you to the corner of Landerstrasse and Pfänderstrasse. On this corner is the Café Mangold. The door was locked. This was slightly disconcerting, as we had reservations. However, as we were about to turn away, a very pleasant older gentleman unlocked and opened the door and invited us in. We stepped into what looked very much like a closed local bar. I told the gentleman our name and that we had reservations – in both German and English. He smiled, escorted us to a table and asked if we wanted a glass of wine. We said yes. There then followed a very sharp discussion in the kitchen between the gentleman and his wife, which sounded much to us like an argument about why he had let us in. After 15 min with nothing happening, my Lady Wife certain that I had really messed up this time, and several more discussions with the older gentleman (who turned out to be mostly deaf), his wife realized that we were looking for the Restaurant Mangold – around the corner. <b>Mangold</b>. . . Casually elegant, modern styling, but not edgy, the room is formal, but not oppressively so. Service is top notch, smooth and unobtrusive. Lovely views from the dining room. Amuse bouche of baby spring vegetables and a bit of “chicken praline”. LW had 3 fine claire oysters accompanied by brown bread and butter made into a layered torte, and a pinot blanc; Saiblingsfilet (a whitefish) with wild asparagus and rosti potatoes. I had the 50E menu – appetizer of a terrine of very thin calamari and various greens (more cured than cooked), black sausage on toast, and lime sorbet; cream of pea soup (very light and frothy) with a langouste, and something that appeared to be a tiny egg, but was filled with coconut milk; main course of veal filet mignon with spargle and gnocchi; a 6-portion cheese platter. Wine was a Prieler Chardonnay, which went very well with both dinners. An excellent dinner (I have remarks like “superb”, “excellent”, “VVG” in my notes) for 135E($210). ((I)) |
Hi freberta
> Is Room #23 worth asking for?< We like it because it is on the 5th floor facing the street. There is a bit of a view of rooftops and gardens. It has a balcony that I can climb out on for a cigarette, since the hotel is no smoking. It is one of the smaller rooms. >Does it have an American-style shower?< It's a telephone-style shower in a bath tub - no shower curtain. You can mount the shower head high enough to use it as an American style shower. ((I)) |
Aloha Ira,
Welcome home Due to a very negative experience with Le Meridian Montparnasse management in trying to ensure an accessible room (made through Priceline), we fianaly make a reservation at your favorite Paris hotel. We don't enjoy staying at Le Meridian type hotels, but need to try to find accessible rooms as my husband uses a wheelchair and needs an accessible shower. To make a long story shorter, if we stayed a Le Meridian, we would have had to pay alost 50% more to get an accesible room which felt like blackmail. Thus we made the decision to stay at Hotel Bonaparte for our 3 nights in Paris and enjoy the neighborhood and feel of a small hotel. Reservations went very smoothly and my husband will just have to bathe the "old fashioned way" for our nights in Paris. Do you think room 23 would be any better for us with wheelchair than any of the other rooms? Stan can walk in the room whith his cane and manage stairs, if they are easy. Thanks for your help, as always. |
Ibis Hotels all have several rooms adapted for people with impaired mobility. I often have to use them when I take my mother anywhere these days. Sometimes the bathrooms are bigger than the bedrooms. (There are 45 Ibis Hotels inside the Paris city limits.)
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Hi Ira,
We have room 28 at Hostellerie Schwendi, which I believe is 2 rooms for a family. I am looking forward to reading about the activities and sightseeing that you did in the area! This will be our first trip to Alsace. |
Hi Ira,
Hope you had a great time and the best thing is that we get to read about your adventures. Sure to be another classic. Was very interested to hear about Eiscafe Hotel Schreier in Lindau, sounds just like a winner and I love the rooms named after icecream. I haven't been able to find any prices on their website but it appears at that price it is way beyond our budget, however I will email them and keep my fingers crossed otherwise I shall have to hunt further. Thanks for taking the time to post. |
Hi G,
>Do you think room 23 would be any better for us with wheelchair than any of the other rooms? Stan can walk in the room whith his cane and manage stairs, if they are easy.< Room 23 is fairly small. If the wheelchair folds, there is space at the entrance to put it against the wall. He won't have to bother with stairs. They have an elevator, which can accomodate a person and the folded wheelchair. It might even be large enough for him to get in in the wheelchair. If he has trouble getting in/out of a bathtub, they do have rooms with stand-up showers. I suggest that you call them and let them know your requirements. Eric Lemaire is on duty from 8-4 Paris time. He speaks English very well. .................................. Hi A, > I am looking forward to reading about the activities and sightseeing that you did in the area! This will be our first trip to Alsace.< In short, we stopped at every village on the Route du Vins from Obernai to Turckheim, took a drive through the southern part of the Vosges and another through the northern part, drove through the Black Forest to Baden Baden on the Schwarzwalder Hochstrasse, and visited Colmar for an afternoon. I'm sure that you will love Alsace. .................................. Hi M, >... at that price it is way beyond our budget,... I think that Vanilla is the most expensive room. ((I)) |
Hi all,
Restaurant reviews for Alsace follows: Alsace Hostellerie Schwendi in Kientzheim Logis de France gives the Schwendi 3 chimneys, and I agree. They have a very nice dining room in the basement and the best spaetzle in Alsace. One evening we each had the 31E menu. My Lady Wife chose the escargots, stuffed trout in Riesling sauce, and the Kugelhopf with ice cream. I had the veal terrine, Guinea hen and the cheese platter. Because they know I love their spaetzle, I was given a side order. Wine was a 1994 Riesling Grand Cru. Very, very good. I didn’t realize that they could last so long. A very nice, moderately priced dinner. Winstub du Sommelier in Bergheim www.wistub-du-sommelier.com/ A very traditional bistro-style room. Good service, good food and pleasant staff. A very large wine list. Menus from 21E. Roberta had the smoked trout quenelles – very light and fluffy, gently smoked fish followed by whitefish fillet. I had the smoked filet of trout and the Sandre – both just right. We shared a dessert of 2 kinds of sorbet in eau de vie. Wine was a Mittnacht 2004 Riesling – lots of greenery, violets and honey. A very nice dinner among the locals - 90E($140) + tip <b>Blanche Neige</b> in Labaroche www.auberge-blanche-neige.fr It is not really in Labaroche. It is in Les Evaux, as we discovered after we drove on twisting, winding roads to the top of the mountain. Fortunately, there was a large information sign and a friendly, elderly gentleman (who bikes up and down the mountain each morning and evening), who (in a mixture of French, German and English) who showed us the route to the restaurant. About halfway down, signs appeared showing the way, and we followed them to the absolute middle of nowhere and the parking lot. (Driving time 0:50 hr). Our return route was the easy way - 0:20 hr back to Kientzheim via Les Trois Epis. The resto is a big old barn built on a hillside. The upstairs dining room has a terrific view of the mountains from one side and opens onto a garden on the other. Furnishings are elegantly rustic. Service was first rate, food was excellent. Menus from 39E. Amuse bouche – a crispy bird’s nest with a prawn inside it and a cucumber puree. LW had the Salmon/Sandre combination, the Scallops with Boudin sausage and the banana dessert. I had the foie gras poele, scallops with white asparagus (different scallops from LW) and the “Chocolate Explorer”. The pre-desert course was a glass of what appeared to be Cappuccino, but was an apple/cinnamon puree with whipped cream and vanilla foam. The house Riesling and Pinot Noir were quite good. A very nice dinner in a pleasant atmosphere – 150E($235) + tip <b>Auberge du Schoenenbourg</b> Riquewihr www.auberge-schoenenbourg.com/ A very pleasant room. Lots of art work on the walls and scattered about. This resto is next to the Best Western and gets a lot of business traffic. Service is very professional. The food is quite good. Amuse Bouche 1: Smoked salmon and beets Amuse Bouche 2: Prawns and vegetables with a citrus foam and a cold spring roll. LW had the smoked salmon with eggplant, Sandre with veggies in a veal demi-glace and various exotic fruits with 3 flavors of sorbet. I had the Seasonal Menu: “Reconstituted Gazpacho” – take all of the liquid out of a gazpacho soup, mold the vegetables and serve with both a tomato and a green pepper puree and a scoop of basil sorbet and a tuile cracker (very imaginative); Dorade with vegetables in a cream sauce; a sabayon of white chocolate with strawberry sorbet inside. Pre-dessert was a gelled apricot, crouton with chocolate, tiny macaron, little glass of strawberry jelly with marshmallow foam. The house wine was very nice. With beverages and a tip 160E($250) Entertainment was provided by 5 gentlemen at the next table, who I thought were having a business dinner because of all of the paper work that they were passing around – charts, columns of information, graphs, etc. However, they were having the Degustation Menu (7 courses) with a blind wine tasting. Such enthusiasm. Such passion. It was a jo to watch them enjoying their dinner. However, the highlight of the evening was the drive back to Kientzhaim on the back roads through the vineyards. Nearly complete darkness except for the sky-glow of Colmar and a monster thunderstorm coming over the Visge mountains. Spectacular. <b><font color="red">Auberge Frankenbourg</font></b> in La Vancelle www.frankenbourg.com Although we mistimed our arrival (19:00 instead of 20:00), the staff were unperturbed. We were seated on the terrace and given some wine and crunchies while they prepared the resto. 19:30 is a better time to arrive. By 20:00, the very pleasant room was nearly full. We were seated at a table with a red cloth, instead of white, and two vases of flowers, at a point where we could see everyone (almost) in both rooms. A waiter immediately set down a piece of slate on which were two Chinese-style spoons and two little Chinese-style dishes, with stuff in them. After a while, we realized that these were amuse bouche no. 1. One was sautéed Asian vegetables (much like the innards of a spring roll. The other was a fish mousse. We enjoyed these along with a glass of the very good house Riesling. Amuse bouche no. 2 consisted of a little cup of asparagus mousse garnished with a little flower, and a bit of grilled salmon with crème fraiche and caviar. Roberta had the crab salad as an appetizer, Rouget for the main, and the chef’s prize-winning raspberry/chocolate dessert (well worth the calories). I had the 44E menu of: duck foie gras, crab salad, carré de cochon roti, Munster cheese and blueberries with vanilla ice cream. There were also a pre-dessert course of mixed fruits marinated in liqueur with a vanilla foam, and post-dessert course(or maybe this was a pre-coffee course). Wine was a Blanck Riesling 2004. Service was excellent and the dinner was superb – 150E($235) + tip. <b><font color="red">MAXIMILIEN</font></b> in Zellenberg www.le-maximilien.com/ Wunderbar – This resto has a Michelin rosette. It should have a star. It sits near the top of a hill, with lovely views of the mountains from its spacious terrace and large windows. It is an open room decorated sparely, but very pleasantly. Service is attentive, smooth, and unobtrusive. We began with an aperitif on the terrace – Cremant d’Alsace and a kir – which was accompanied by several small Flammekeuche. After being escorted in for dinner, we found that we could not agree on what to have for the 8-course “Chef’s Surprise” (a not uncommon event) and chose the 61E Menu. This was more than sufficient. Amuse bouche of a spoon of something from the sea – pleasantly briny – and a glass of crème fraiche with bits of smoked salmon topped with eggplant caviar. A bowl of langoustines with a dollop of asparagus mousse and a sesame tuile cracker. A cream soup of forest mushrooms. Heavenly veau de lait wrapped with calves liver in a phyllo crust, with asparagus, carrots and mushrooms and a demi-glace for me. Roberta had the roasted cod with bay pea-stuffed ravioli. Fresh wild strawberries in a faintly chocolate sauce with basil-flavored ice cream and a sweet sesame tuile cracker. The post-dessert offering with our coffee was a tray with a macaron, a little cake, a glass of chocolate mousse and a glass of orange mousse for each of us. We also had a generous pour of a 1977 Armagnac. Wines were a Trimbach Pinot Gris Reserve 2004 for Roberta and a Pinot noir 2005 for me. The house-baked rolls were delicious and intriguing. I particularly liked the whole wheat with lavender. This was not a heavy meal. Think light and flavorful. Think calm and peaceful. A very, very enjoyable experience. With tip 200E($300) and worth every sous. ((I)) |
Recognizing that the US dollar has taken a trouncing for several years now, is it just me or do the prices *still* seem to be high for dinner?
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Great report as usual Ira. Thank you for posting!
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waiting with excitement for Paris food!
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I am enjoying eating vicariously with you and the LW. Thank you!
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dwzemems-
As someone who eats out in Zurich once or twice a week, I think Ira did very well pricewise. I'm going to try his spots since we pay so much for often mediocre food and are always interested in trying something new. Ira- Dying to hear your Paris restaurants as I'm there next week. I vicariously enjoyed the other meals you've enticed us with.... gruezi |
Ira - do you plan an annual trip or once every two years? we've been going to Europe at least once each year for the last 7 years...but with the dollar so weak, we just cannot justify a trip in 2008. Just wondering....when DH worked in walddorf, going over was an easy thing to do; now its a bit different.
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Hi Ira:
Glad that you finally got to Maximilien's, and that your meal seems to have been excellent. I don't understand the comment about the 'rosette', but perhaps I'm just slow today. |
adeben,
if I may... michelin gives rosettes to recommended restaurants that don't quite get a star but nonetheless are worth a visit... g. |
Hi Gruezi,
Really? I'd be very interested to hear where you got the information about a 'rosette' being somewhat less than a 'star'. I've been regularly to a variety of restaurants in France with Michelin ratings, and I suspect that's news to the Red Michelin Guide, which has the following awards: 1,2 or 3 Stars (formerly officially referred to as 'rosettes', but, for many years, commonly being called 'stars'. The BibGourmand, a caricature of the Michelin Man, awarded for "Good Food at Moderate Prices". The "Coin" symbol, awarded for a good, cheap menu. The "Grapes" symbol, awarded for a fine wine list. The "Forks & Knives" symbol, awarded from 1 to 5, meaning "comfortable" to "luxurious". I had always thought that 'Rosettes' and 'stars' were different names for the same symbol, and Maximilien's, to which I have been several times, is certainly a Michelin One-Star restaurant. Could you please tell me the name of a restaurant in France that has been awarded a 'rosette' because it is not quite at 'star' standard: I have been unable to find one in the current listing. |
my bad, adeban
The rosette <i>is</i> a star in Michelin. Looks like a rosette...not a star... I must have confused this with another book I use wherein some restaurants don't meet the star standard but are given a rosette... I am running out the door but I'm sure later I'll figure out what I meant. sorry!! gruezi |
Hi again, Gruezi,
Perhaps you mean the AA Guide to Restaurants (UK-based), which awards "Rosettes" from 1 to 5 in a similar manner to the Michelin Red Guide. It's a similar symbol but the AA Guide actually refers to its awards as "Rosettes". |
Ira, I want to enjoy this over the weekend drinking my last bottle of alsacian white.
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