Cozy Tavern with delicious food /Bauernschänke

Y April 2023

SCORE: Tell 'yo friends. This is good enough to bring to people.

ORDER: Caviar add on, Smokey negroni

VALUE: 250 CHF / person including wine pairing, cocktails and caviar

This summer trip to Europe I was catching up with a friend in Zurich. For context, by the time I had gotten to this tavern, I had been traveling for something like 22h on end (SIN-FRA, wait, FRA-ZRH by train) and was exhausted. This restaurant is located down the hill from the ETH campus, and walking up the cobblestoned alleys to the restaurant was just such a joy on a spring evening.

Upon entering, it just evoked the word "tavern" in my mind because it was wood lined, cozy space with tables close to one another, and a myriad of different types of groups dining and having a wonderful evening. I had already pre-requested the tasting menu, with caviar and the wine pairing. Which was a good thing at that point, because I was definitely facing decision (and regular) fatigue by this point in the evening. This restaurant will challenge your preconception of restaurants respecting personal space as I was butt bumped at least 4 times through the course of the evening.As an aperitif I had the smokey negroni, which was deliciously heavy, and suitable for a 10C evening. It was surprising that in spite of it being made with vodka, it was not overly spirit forward. I was expecting (yearning for?) a punch in the face with booze, with the misconception that this brilliant idea might wake me up. The flavour profile definitely did, and it was the start of a very memorable meal

First up was mackarel with a cumin dashi. Beautifully rich dashi with just the right balance between the radishes and the mackerel, and the cumin added an interisting and appreciated earthiness to the whole affair.

Their take on the caviar course was quite interesting - with two 'aioli's instead of the usual grated eggs and onions. I loved the richness of these sauces, I would have had them on their own with the blinis... but you know there was a palate of caviar waiting, so couldn't not top it up with caviar, could I. The caviar was from Kaviari, and a refreshingly lighter caviar, unlike the heavy and overly salty stuff that's been making the rounds lately.

Then came a few more snacks - an egg salad, grilled octopus with aioli, consomme with a basil oil and a sourdough with fresh whipped cheese. The egg salad was decent, but nothing spectacular, same can be said for the octopus. In fact I found the octopus a bit too chewy for my liking. The bread and soup was fantastic. It brought back memories of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup from when I was a kid, except this was whipped cheese dipped into with a crusty sourdough loaf. Highly recommend this course just for that.

The main course was a veal flank grilled and served with carmelized onions and a jus. It was not a ton of veal, so it did not feal like i was being overwhelmed, but it was sufficient to think, ok this finishes the meal up.

I'll have to be honest at this stage of the meal, the food coma was starting to hit, and coupled with jet lag and travel fatigue, I don't really remember what the dessert was - however it was rich and creamy, without being decadently sweet. it was almost as though the sweetness was planned to come from the riesling spätlese, and it did.

All in all, definitely a place I would come back to again, and would bring friends to. Don't expect a quick and efficient meal though, even being in the German part of Switzerland - the service staff were routinely overwhelmed by a full house on a Friday evening.