Choosing a restaurant

Switzerland is very organized at the federal level, and this also applies to gastronomy: it’s hard to believe how many different flavors can fit into 44,000 square kilometers, roughly the size of the state of Espirito Santo. As a tourist, you know fondue, raclette and perhaps rösti with bratwurst as Swiss specialties. But if you think you can find raclette (a specialty from western Switzerland) in every restaurant in Zurich or rösti (a potato dish from the northern Alps) in Ticino, you’re very much mistaken. Each region and canton knows its own specialties, and anyone with a bit of culinary courage will try one of these dishes, at least as a dish to share among themselves (more on this later).

However, in addition to the specialties mentioned above or the regional classics, such as Lucerne Kügelipastete or Capuns from the canton of Graubünden, Berner Rösti or Zürcher Geschnetzeltem, which are offered regionally throughout Switzerland, there are also highlights that have been imported to Switzerland. These, however, are not of Swiss origin, but come from our southern neighbors, whose cuisine traveled with them in the wake of the many immigrants who came to Switzerland some 60 years ago: Italian has become the preferred cuisine of most Swiss, and even Italians confirm that the quality of many pizzerias in Switzerland is close to the original Italian. So for many locals, it’s also true that if in doubt or if they have very different food preferences, it’s never wrong to go “Italian”.

Personally, I prefer places that have a small menu, regardless of the cuisine: 3 to 5 starters, a few main courses and a small but fine dessert menu are usually a guarantee of good quality and carefully prepared dishes. Too large a selection overloads the kitchen (usually the brigade is made up of a small team of 3-4 people, plus the chef) and requires many ingredients to be stored in large quantities (and possibly frozen), which is not compatible with quality regional, seasonal and organic meats, fish and vegetables.

Greeting and choice of drinks

The start of a visit to a restaurant usually begins with the presentation of the menu and the ordering of an aperitif, a drink chosen before the actual meal to quench thirst or set the mood. Everything is commonplace, from a refreshing draft beer to a “sprayed” white wine or a cocktail. The waiter can also mention the house specialties or refer to dishes that are not on the menu, but on a blackboard on the wall. This is usually good advice, as these are dishes that the chef is particularly proud of or that are especially recommended in season. By the way, it’s quite common for you not to rush when choosing dishes. And how to get to your chosen dish is what we’ll see in the next section.

What’s on the menu?

Now we come to one of the challenges of eating in restaurants in Switzerland: although there are now many restaurants that offer a menu in English, and possibly even in Spanish, Italian, Chinese (!) and Japanese (!!), there are hardly any where Portuguese is spoken or written (an exception will be presented at the end of the article).

And, as I mentioned at the beginning, in my experience small restaurants are preferable to large establishments, often the menu is only available in German or French, with a short description in English underneath. What to do? It’s worth looking up the most important terms with your cell phone’s language translator or asking if anyone in the service or kitchen speaks Portuguese: the Swiss are talented linguists and a large number of people who work in gastronomy are from Portugal. In any case, the following question is always welcome (and has always led me to local specialties on my travels that I would otherwise have been unlikely to find): “Welche lokale Spezialität können Sie mir empfehlen?”.

Changes to the menu

Once the choice has been made, it’s time to place the order and, if necessary, ask for changes: this is common and is done with pleasure, as long as the dish as a whole still corresponds to what the kitchen wants to show. There are a few tips (to make you smile) that should be taken into account: Side dishes are considered a central part of the meal in some dishes and should not be replaced. So if you ask for rice instead of Röstei (potatoes) for a bratwurst with rösti, or ask for Älplermagronen with spaghetti instead of noodles, don’t be surprised if you get a shake of the head. And a note about the famous fondue: Without further designation, this refers to cheese fondue which is served with bread and consists of a mixture of different types of cheese and white wine. No meat included! This is called something else and is known as “Fondue “Chinoise” (with meat broth) or Fondue Bourguinonne (with hot oil, almost never served). While raclette is eaten all year round, especially in French-speaking Switzerland, fondue is generally considered a winter dish and is now served all year round in tourist resorts to cater for foreign guests.

By the way: if you’re unsure, order one of the unfamiliar dishes on the menu that takes your fancy and, if not, opt for dishes you’re familiar with. It’s common to share or pass on the dish. And if it tastes particularly good, you can ask for a complement without shame. In good restaurants, a second portion is often thoughtfully offered when the plate is empty, but the cutlery is not parallel on the plate, and asking for it is usually taken as a compliment to the kitchen and is done with pleasure.

Payment and farewell

With the end of the restaurant visit comes the question of proper tipping. Various travel guides and digital guides published regularly on the subject arrive at very different results in the case of Switzerland. This is correct in itself: there is no clearly applicable rule, but rather a great deal of discretion. Tipping is not prescribed by law and is not included in the price. The general consensus is that restaurant workers have long, irregular hours and work for comparatively low wages. Most restaurant customers assume that if they receive adequate service (friendliness, waiting time), they will round up the price of their bill by around 10%. If the service is exceptionally competent and courteous, for example by providing an additional dish without being asked in the case of shared meals, competent advice on wines or particularly friendly treatment of children at the table, the rounding will tend to be corrected upwards, but in the case of extremely long waiting times, inadequate reaction to complaints or lack of patience with questions and special requests, it is also possible that customers will waive the tip altogether and receive the money in exact figures. By the way, in most establishments, the tip is divided among all the employees, so that even the hard-working kitchen staff are rewarded for their services.

And a word about the way home: more and more locals are also recognizing the advantage of public transport when visiting restaurants and going back and forth by streetcar, bus or train: in addition to the search for a parking space, the issue of alcohol consumption is also eliminated. In Switzerland, a tolerance of 0.5 per mile applies, which is already reached with two glasses of wine or a large beer. Tourists with a valid Swiss Travel Pass are at an advantage. It is also valid on local public transport in the cities and takes guests, for example in the city of Zurich, right to the door of the hotel: According to information from the city’s public transport company, there is hardly a residential address in the city that is more than 300 meters from the nearest streetcar or bus stop!