Zurich – After the holidays and all the feasting, you’re actually always a little tired of eating out. However, my friend had been telling me about the restaurant KIN for a while, so yesterday I went there with her. The interior follows the concept of “reduced to the max” with dark colors. The incredibly good food has a wonderful stage to shine (the perfect lighting on the table helps too :-). We opted for the surprise menu and were definitively surprised with dishes that we might not have ordered on the normal menu. My highlights were the marrow bone ravioli and the dessert of pandan leaves ice-cream with pear and chocolate crumble. But try for yourself, definitely make a reservation.
Zurich – Japanese food is not limited to sushi only and the restaurant Bimi has been spoiling its guests with a variety of non-sushi Japanese delicacies since 2004.
I visited Bimi again yesterday and could not believe that I had never mentioned it in my blog before. My conclusion from last night is that everything was super tasty – as it actually has been every time that I visited the place before. Every dish, from the sardine sushi (first time raw sardines for me) to the grilled eel, the seaweed salad, and the yellowtail collar was equally delicious. I have never knowingly eaten yellowtail fish collar before, which is a cut of the fish that is located above the gills and below the head. It’s cheaper than the fillet but richer in flavour. The yellowtail belongs to the mackerel family and is a rather fatty fish which gives it even more taste. For dessert I treated myself to a matcha sorbet. The sake selection is great too. Or, if you prefer a glass of Franciacorta….it’s all available. A reservation is highly recommended
At the moment it is difficult to travel because of corona. Since I miss Japan and the food there very much, I wanted to enjoy some authentic Japanese “pub” cuisine again. In Zurich, I like the Ooki very much. I have been there three times in the last two years and every time the food and the sake was very good. Unfortunately, I never took the time to write a blog entry until today 🙂 For the start we had a breaded pork schnitzel “Tonkatsu” with spicy Tonkatsu sauce with thin sliced white cabbage. We also had the Taki no Tatsuta age, fried octopus with homemade Yuzu mayonnaise, and to add up a bit more, we also took the crispy fried Gyozas….very yummy.
Ooki Izakaya restaurant Zurich
Ooki Izakaya restaurant Zurich
Ooki Izakaya restaurant Zurich
Ooki Izakaya restaurant Zurich
Tonkatsu and squid
Sake
As a main course my hubby enjoyed a spicy ramen soup with extra pork and I had an udon noodle soup, with extra seaweed and pork. I rarely got a soup in another place where I had to look for the broth – the ingredients were a lot! So the soup would not stain our shirt or trousers, we got a bib 🙂
Udon noodles
Ramen noodles, bip
Ramen noodles
As usual in Japan, we got the matching sake in a glass, which is kept in an additional container (here a little bowl), and the sake is poured over the edge of the glass, that’s how it has to be. It was a really great evening. Make sure to reserve in advance.
You crave REAL Japanese ramen soup? I can understand that, but the flight from Zurich to Japan is simply very long.
But now there is finally an alternative in Zurich near Europaallee: the Yume.
The small restaurant could really have been beamed directly from Tokyo to Zurich. You are even greeted in Japanese (very loud and friendly) and said goodbye again when you leave. The ramen broth was just wonderfully spicy, the onsen egg is cooked perfectly and the noodles are almost the minor matter in the whole dish. Make sure to reserve for lunch or come early.
Zurich – I love Peruvian cuisine even though I’ve never been to Peru. Therefore, Peru is still on my bucket list.
Pisco sour
I wanted to go to the Barranco restaurant a few times, but it was always fully booked. This seemed to me to be an indicator that the food had to be good. It is also one of the (still) few restaurants that offer “planted.chicken”. This is a meat analogue made of pea protein. The ETH startup “planted” has developed it and is now really taking it to the next level. Since we were a party of four, we simply ordered the whole menu. I was very positively surprised by the taste, presentation and quality of the food. We were particularly impressed by the vegetarian dishes including planted chicken, but also by the pork belly dish. The wine list has some good drops. I also recommend a Pisco sour for aperitifs and/or to finish off: one of my favourite drinks from South America since my first trip to Argentina.
Mallorca – Winter in Mallorca is boring? Not at all.
First of all you have space, because it has fewer tourists. Second, the sun shines more often in winter than elsewhere and the temperatures are still pleasant. Only one should note that outside of Palma (the the capital city of Mallorca island) a lot of the hotels and restaurans are closed from November to March.
A friend recommended Fera restaurant in the centre of Palma and it was really worth going. You can choose between different menus and if you like wine pairing, you can even do sake pairing. The food was not only very good in taste, but the presentation was very elaborate and unusual.
Zurich – I have heard many good things about Kokoro (the heart) but never managed to get a table. Some weeks ago I finally managed to book one. I was amazed and thrown back to Japan. The food was amazing, the staff very friendly and efficient and even the toilets are Japanese style (insiders know).
So if you are looking for an authentic Japanese dinner – not only containing sushi – you should reserve your table already today.
The prizes for the food are reasonable, but beware, the sake prizes add to the bill….
Lyon – Finally we managed to visit Lyon, the gourmet capital of the world…some say.
I found this small restaurant in an article and was not sure to really trust it. When the restaurant called me to confirm the reservation one week in advance, I realized that it was definitely not a small, simple pub.
My expectations rose and we were not disappointed. We knew the chef was Japanese, but when we were there, we felt a little like in Japan. All staff was Japanese and no small details in service, table setting was left to chance.
The menu costs 92 Euros but it is really worth it. It would not be surprising if Tsuyoshi Arai soon got an award for his kitchen.
Unfortunately the battery of my mobile was empty, so there are not so many pics of the delicious food.
Toast Lyonnaise
Street name “du beouf” (beef) where 14 février is located
sybillesbeenthere 