yucocktail’s blog

On Friday night, my husband and I went out for a Pizzeria in the city.

Pizzeria Don Leone. A good friend of mine in here Zurich recommended me that the restaurant doesn't look fancy but offer good foods.

As we went in, I thought we stepped into different country. It was exactly like Italy!! The restaurant was packed and people are squeezed in one long table like in cafeteria. Although I made reservation, we had to wait for a while. A boss here is real Italian man, he said "oh, just a small moment, I will make your table ready!" bus he is being busy to serve food and wine to other guests. Well, the atmosphere is completely relaxed Italian style so no use to make fuss here.. I waited.

and finally we got a table. I place to two at the table between other guests. Our neighbor are group of Italian and a German couple who also speak very good Italian. It IS really Italy here!

So I had to test this restaurant if it's really like in Italy or not. I ordered Fungi Porcini as an appetizer.. Oh my god!! This is really a fresh porcini!! Soooooooo delicious! Underneath porcini is a poached egg match perfectly together with Porcini and Rucola. A flovor of tarfuto even envourage my appetite.

My husband ordered an assortment of eggplant and artichoke.

So funny that a bottle of Extra Virgin Olive oil stand on the table just like this. People at the table pass around and share this olive oil. Like soya sauce in Japanese restaurant?:)

Here comes hugeeeee Pizza!! Palma ham and Rucola. The dough is also tasty. Thin, real Italian Pizza.

I ordered pasta as a main course. As a porcini lover, I had to order a pasta topped with Porcini and grilled shrimp.

You cannot always get good seafood in Zurich but this shrimp was huge and tasty. Creamy but light sauce cover this twisted pasta. It was big portion but I couldn't stop eating.

The boss both who keep speaking Italin works well. He goes around hall and sometime speak loud to the kitchen. But this passionate atmosphere was somehow comfortable as well. Moreover, this quality for this price is very unusual in Zurich. Pizza can be for 3 people but price is normal and it's taste good!!

In Zurich, you really need to go where to go to and this local Italian restaurant is one of them.

Pizzeria Don Leone
Bäckerstrasse 31
8004 Zürich, Switzerland
+41 44 241 01 01
http://www.donleone.ch/

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I found a really good Itaian restaurant in Zurich!

It is locating at residential area where you never go unless you live in the area..

or to have an unforgetable dining experience at "Da Angela".

Upon to enter the restaurant, you will be escorted by friendly Italian waiter.
The restaurant is decorated classic but simple. It was already full by 8pm.

Bruschetta was served as a starter.

While we were checking the menu, a waiter came to our table to show us "today's recommendation" which was a genly roasted chops of beaf. My husband instantly decided what to oder:)

My appetizer.

Fresh octopus salad. This was not on the menu. Another "today's recommendation". Octopus was soft and fresh!

My main course. "House made spagetthi with spicy tomato sauce with fresh schrimps". This was amazing. Not only shrimps but pasta itself was sooo fresh and tender. It was also nice that I was able to choose "half portion" so that I can save space for dessert.

This was my husband's choice. Huge beef steak with sateed beans. Very soft and juicy. Roasted potate with rosemary was also served as a sidedish. Stimulating flavor of rosemary increased your appetite.

and here comes another house speciality, "Tiramisu". Ohhhh this was like a dream. I had to decide either Panna Cotta or Tiramisu but I followed the advice of friendly waitress. It WAS very delicious.

My husband has chose "grapefruits Sorbe with Vodka". Refreshing choice but not recommendable to those non-alcohol drinker. Ice cream is soaking in Vodka.

Overall, it was such a satisfactory dining experience. Lady who seems to be responsible for the restaurant is constantly checking the whole hall if the geusts are satisfying. She visits every table if everything is fine. I could also see that waiter and waitresses are enjoying their work. How they communicate each others was also comfortable to observe.
It must be also great for summer lunch at teracce.

If you want to have really good Italian food in Zurich, consider "da Abgela".

da Angela
http://www.daangela.ch/

Cafe culture in Budapest is old. It has developed since the economy of Hungary has progressed in 19th centuty. Since 1868, during the time of Austriah-Hungarian Monarchie, the number of cafe in Budapest has rapidly increased.　Many writers visited cafe and enjoyed coffee and conversation.

One of the most traditional Cafe in Budapest "Gerbeaud since 1858" .

Beautiful Lococo style ceiling. Queen Erzsebet was also a big fan of this cafe.

Since I was totally hungury, I ordered sadwitch first. Vegetable panini.

My husband ordered crab sandwitch.

What I cannot miss is of course sweets!

Cakes with layers seems to be a popular one.

It was too difficult to chose from varieties of cakes in the show case.

and what I cannot forget it coffee. Look at this beautiful layer of Late Machiato!
During the time of socialism, many cafe have to close. But Gerbeaud is one of those cafe which survived until now... A very precious culture of Hungary.

Schiller, newly opened restaurant in center of Zürich. We tried it's cafe, Goethe Bar once and wanted to try the restaurant as well. Although most of the restaurants in Zürich closed on Dec 24, Schiller was opening it's door.

Interior is designed quite stylish.

We started from cocktail and went through the menu. Hmmm very difficult to chose. They have wide selection. Our friendly waiter offered us a course menu, which can be flexible as we wish. So we all ordered course menu and I asked to change beef to lamb.

Here comes beautiful appetizer. Salmon tartar with marinated avocado and cavier on the top. Together with Wasabi quark and gently sliced raw ham lied as bed.

Main menu was also fantastic. I substitute beef to lamb. Soft, juich lamb chop with sateed spinach and truffel flavored mushed potato. Baked tomatoes were also good. Beef served to my family was also nice and tender. Everybody loved it.

What I have to point out is also it's attentitive service. My husband picked up my lamb chop and started chewing the bone. Then our waited brought him a finger bowl, without being asked. I was sooooo impressed. He was always being attentitive and offered us such a comfortable service.

Dessert was also amazing. "Sabayone", a creamy vanilla sauce with drop of rum. Poured on vanilla ice cream and gently melter. This was absolutely delicious.

Upon we leave, our waiter and reeptionist were ready to see us off. They waited for us at the entrnce with our coat ready. Moreover, we were given Christmas gift, which was "free coffee coupon" in cafe!!

I was more than satisfied with this dining experience in Schiller!

Brasserie Schiller & Goethe Bar
Goethestrasse 10
8001 Zürich
Telefon 044 / 222 20 30
Telefax 044 / 222 20 33
http://www.brasserie-schiller.ch/sites/index.php?id_b=69

Blaue Ente = Blue Duck. A resturant in Zürich where you can try out in special occation. The restaurant is locates behind Tiefenbrunnenm quite hidden aread.

The entrance is really "blue".

A huge mill on the floor drag your attention first. Partially open kitchen is also comfortable.

A table decoration. S slightly blue colored glass and gray based linen might come from the name of the restaurant?

We found something very special. Not so many restaurants in Zurich offer Oyster. We tried out 2 pieces for each. It would be better if they have some varieties of sauces. Quality of Oysters were nice and fresh.

Among variety of appetizer, I took dear carpaccio with rucola salad, served with rasberry sauce. Nice and light.

My husband took Blaue Ente's original Ravioli with mushroom sauce.

Hmmm this is my main course. St. John's sauteed fish with a bed of artichoke. Together with gently served mushed potatoes! Fish is so tender and it's skin was crispy. It was very delicious.

My husband had beef steak with sauteed cucumber, together with roasted potato. It looked good but he said it was not juicy enough.

Since we were already quite full, we decided to share one dessert, a chocolate cake. Freshly baked from oven and from inside came out melted chocolate. Peppermint tea were also real fresh leaves.

Small cakes are served as dessert. My husband ate them up before I take photo..

Blaue Ente. Perfect for romantic dinner, Christmas dinner for family, even for business dinner!

Restaurant Blaue Ente

Mühle Tiefenbrunnen,

Seefeldstr. 223, 8008 Zürich

Telefon 044 388 68 40

http://www.blaue-ente.ch/

There are not so many selections if you want to have GOOD Japanese food in Zurich. This time, my Japanese friend encouraged me to try out this restaurant, "Ginger"

I've been here once but didn't know that it have been rennovated. There are 2 rooms and the one close to the entrance is "Kaiten Sushi"(rotating sushi) style. Rennovated room is in behind where more than 2 people can dine together, facing each others. The photo above was "Shabu Shabu Salad". Salad with a boiled, sliced pork.

Some nice rolls. The one with green leave, Shiso is an vegetarian roll. The one behind is Tempura schrimp roll. Of course there are some authentic sushi for real fish lover.

There is Japanese chef, making sushi in front of guests.

Chawanmushi. How shall I translate.. steamed egg soup?

A tower of Furofuki Daikon! Boiled radish with tasty sweet miso sauce.. Hmmm, healthy and delicious!

But some stuffs are funny Japanese and Western mixture. Tempura..? With nuts??

Otsukemoto=Pickles. I've never seen Pickes serve like this:) They looks like salad!!

Some mixture turns out to be great new creation!! White fish rolled with herb..

Fried fish lying underneath is crispy and crunchy. My husband was even eating it's head..

It's also funny to see pine corn and peppers in the sushi counter.. But I think Ginger offers pretty much good food.

A group of Japanese lady behind us, who obviously look like living here for many years, were also enjoying lady's Friday night! So check out Ginger.

Ginger

We went to this fancy contemporary Japanese restaurant on our last night in New York.

As we went in, I was amazed by huge Japanese flag.

While we were waiting for our table to get ready, we decided to have some drinks in bar.

The bar was also designed cool, all these wraps on the wall are "Washi", traditional Japanese paper. Obviously, this place is one of the most stylish places to go out.

We ordered unique original cocktail called "Ginger drop" and "Tokyo celebrities". Both are Champaigne based cocktails.

I also have to amaze as we entered the dining room. Illuminated Buddha is sitting in the middle of the dinning hall!!

We've got one of cozy booth seats which you can enjoy completely private time. Sushi bar is also available for those sushi lovers.

The table decoration was also gorgeous but these plates will be taken away as soon as you are at seats.

So we started from Sashimi Salad. From it's name, we imagined green salad topped with slices of Sashimi. But what has been served was this!

It was a salad rolled with Yuba (soy), colourfully topped three different chopped Sashimi. It is indeed a BEAUTIFUL dish.

The next one is this, sauteed scallops. In Megu, you won't get something just sateed. Soft, juicy scallops are decorated with sliced of apples and sesami.

By the way, a bottle of water is also original. The logo of the restaurant with "water" written in Japanese.

Fried "panko" oysters. These are popular Japanese home food known as "Fried oyster". But I've never seen fried oyster served so elegant:) Each fries have bed of their shells:)

Screwed Kobe beef and french fries, fired in truffel oil!! Even french fries can be so gorgeous.

and here comes the action! Stone grilled Mediterenian fish. This performance has been shown right in front of us. The sauce burned on the hot stones leads such a good smell, encourage your appetite.

and the fish was cooked perfectly. Green onion make it even more tasty.

I actually wanted to have Miso soup at the end but again found this unique one. White Miso Tokyo style cram chowder..

It was a light smell of miso but basically a cram chowder served elegantly. I was amazed by this plate.

Selection of tea was also nice. I ordered ginger Rooibos tea. It comes in a big pot. which fill three cups.

Here comes another action! Tofu panna cotta with illuminated ices!! It was fun, and tofu panna cotta was healthy and good, but one thing we are dissapointed is that this panna cotta was not the exactly what we have ordered. We wanted the one with fruits but it was sold out and they just brought us the one with esporesso. They could have asked us before serving the wrong one.

This green tea creme brule was very very good. Match very good with Yuzu ice cream.

If you want to experience "Japanese food only available in US", this is the place to go. Enjoy dynamic Japanese food. There must be always something new to explore!

MEGU 62 Thomas Street New York, NY 10013 Cross Street: Church and West Broadway (212) 964-7777

Tibetisches Restaurant Mandala

I found very unique restaurant in the area Seefeld in Zurcih. It's a Tibetisches Restaurant!

The restaurant is locating in a quite area of Seefeld where you can hardly find without knowing where it is.

We were there from early evening but soon the restaurant became full.

Dumpling is called "Momo" here. The above is fried vegetable Momos. Very juicy.

and this one is steamed pork Momos.These are appetizer portion but you can chose also main course portion.

This one was very interesting. "Fish sweet-sour sauce curry with Cashew nuts. Sounds very challenging but was acually very good!!

It was served together with Tibetish bread. A little bit chewy and was very tasty with curry sauce. Steamed bread was less heavy than normal bread.

and our main course! Golden Tofu with vegetables! I was soo curious what "golden tofu". Ok, crispy fried tofu is "golden":)
It was served with full bowl of vegetables including asian mushroom.

I have to point out that service was also very comforbtable. Attentive asian waiter seeing whole hall and he never miss our "sign" when we want him.

Tibetisches Restaurant Mandala
Feldeggstrasse 65
8008 Zurich
TEL:043-499-9968
http://www.mandala4u.com/4455.html

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Zürich. The name "Mund+Art", has two meanings, "mouth and art" which is direct translation and also "Swiss German". (swiss German is only spoken language so it's been said as an art) The name eactly represents the concept of this restaurant which you can experience "very modern and unique Swiss cuisine".

Normally, in typical Swiss food restaurant, it's often designed classic and simple. Sometimes they are like a lodge house in mountain. But here "Mund+Art" shows you something new. The modern designed interior coordinated with red which is "Swiss colour".

A unique table decoration drag your attention.

The restaurant always has some seasonal menu and original menu. In autumn, they offer many seasonal dishes with mushrooms.

Our salad was finished soooo quickly:)

Our main menu. Grilled pork topped with tomato and Swiss cheese. The name of the dish sounds typical Swiss but it actually turned out to be very unique and original. It is an "art".

Grilled swiss fish with spinach. Sauteed spinach served like a scoop of ice cream! A light dish who wants little bite.

Stewed lamb with seasonal vegetables. Lamb meat were very soft and tender. For me, all the portion was perfect. When you have Swiss food, they are usually heavy with plenty of meats and cheese. But here, since the concept is an "art", the decoration is important than portion.. which is perfect for real gourmet!

Don't forget to treat yourself with sweet temptation..

Wildberry Purfait. Check how much berries are served! Perfect for those berry lovers!

Nuts torte with carame sauce. Sounds heavy but actually not. The cake was very light and airy.

Ruberb pie with home made johgurt ice cream. This is really an ART!! Combination of warm Ruberb and crunchy pie is like a dream, followed by sweet sauer johgurt icecream melt gently in warm warm Ruberb sauce. All these dessers are indeed an art. They are served in big place but they won't make you suffer after full meal. This artistic presentation satisfies you and also light cakes and fruits give you perfect delight to finish the meal.

I also like how they served tea..!

What I also have to point out is this confortable service. When I first time came here, I was impressed by friendly service and also a manager who see us off saying "Thank you for your visit". This time, the manager greeted each table and we had small chat with her. She is very professional.

When we left the restaurant, Swiss cross designed candy were given.

The restaurant is along the Seefeld strasse where you find many places to dine out. But don't forget to try this place at least once..!
 
 

Restaurant Mund+Art Wiesenstrasse 1 8008 Zürich TEL:044 380 1919 www.mundundart.ch

The Wolseley. One of the most traditional restaurant in London locating on Piccadilly street.

I could not make reservation for dinner but able to squeeze in on Sunday afternoon.

The restaurand is "all-day dining" and it seems to be continuously full.

High ceiling and classical interior. The old clock on the wall is it's symbol.

Afternoon tea is something proper to order considering the time a day.. but we have ordered something different..

In stead of afternoon tea plate, we ordered "seafood plate"!!

Look at this huge crab on the top! I even digger whole the brain! My husband freak out to see me finishing everything:)

It was such a long battle fighting with all the shells and shrimps..

What we couldn't miss is of course SWEETS! and GOOD TEA!!

My husband was more that satisfied with his cheese cake. He said "it is like a poem!!" and didn't share it with me!

Mein was Sachtorte,,a huge chocolate cake. It was good but too heavy. The one in the middle is "Assortment of cookies". Shortbread was very good. Tea in the huge pot was also amazing. We ordered special darjiling tea which has described as a "first pick".

After this huge dessert in the afternoon, we had to skip our dinner.. but it was absolutely worth! It was great "English afternoon".

The WOLSELEY
160 Piccadilly
London QIJ 9EB
020 7499 6996