Switzerland – the country of cows, alps, Nestle and more food adventures. I discovered recently that cheese fondue is in fact Swiss food and not French (excuse our previous mistake from Au Village Restaurant, Val Thorens), and so I needed to try cheese fondue here.
Towards the back end of the Old Town is Le Dezaley, a restaurant claiming to have some of the best cheese fondue in Zurich. The restaurant is quite large and occupies two spaces on a steep slope near the water and a church. Inside it is wooden and beautifully decorated, giving it a rustic feel with a modern touch. There are still some Christmas decorations remaining which lends some festive spirit to the place.
After a brief glance at the menu, I’d like to make a note to all those who want to come to Switzerland to dine. The Swiss Franc is an extremely strong dollar and the cost of living here is very high (more so than Sweden). Food is expensive and mains at your average local restaurant range from CHF 20-40, so be warned that eating well here will cost a lot!
Cheese Fondue with family recipe (includes bread basket) – CHF$28.50
The first dish which comes out is the cheese fondue. After remembering the dish from Au Village Restaurant, I was extremely excited to eat this dish again. However, when dipping the bread into the cheese and eating it, there was an extremely strong wine flavour. I found this ruined the cheese flavour as after a while my mouth just tasted like wine with little to no cheese flavour at all. After enquiring with the waiter, we were informed that there was a glass of white wine added and that this is how the Swiss prepare their cheese fondues. Quite unfortunate really, but I much prefer how the French cook cheese fondue where I can actually taste the cheese.
Fried sausage Vaudois with Rosti – CHF$27
Following this was our meat dish. It come out on two plates and as our waiter told us, the servings for this dish was particularly large hence the need for two plates. What value! The sausage was grilled nicely and was still tender on the inside and the potato similarly crunchy outside, soft inside. The onions seemed to have an alcoholish flavour when eaten separately but it was not as apparent when eaten with the sausage.
Overall, I don’t think I am a huge fan of traditional Swiss food. Given than the Swiss is a mix of French and German cultures, I much prefer having food from those two cultures separately rather than having Swiss food. I know that if I return, it will be more for their beautiful alps and countrysides and not so much for the cuisine.
Le Dezaley
Romergasse 7+9 8001
Zurich beim Grossmunster
Ph: 044 251 61 29
I’ve never had Swiss food before, but it’s a shame you weren’t a fan of the fondue. The food looks very rustic and comforting, I’d love to try it 🙂
I’d say definitely give Swiss food a go! I’m not a wine person so I didn’t really enjoy the fondue but if you love wine, you’ll probably like the fondue