So long story short, I’ve been wanting to go to this restaurant forever! I had a wonderful trip to Switzerland planned… and then COVID happened. Luckily, I’ve obviously been able to now, and this was my experience. I’m going to go straight to discussing the food since I’m sure everyone knows the location/surroundings/”feel” of the restaurant are incredible.
First, we were taken directly to the dining room instead of the apéritif lounge since it was being used for a photo shoot for a book (I don't know if the book will be from Andreas Caminada).
The restaurant starts by giving you a menu at your seat with everything you’ll eat, including the amuse-bouche and mignardises. You then later get another menu that explains the same main courses over again, but this time with prices. I felt this was completely unnecessary and a bit complicated, especially since not everyone gets the tasting menu (everyone other table for my lunch reservation ordered à la carte).
First came the amuse-bouche, which were spectacular. They were easily the best amuse-bouche I’ve ever had, among many, many other 3* places! Every snack provided something different, whether it be acid, fat, or a little spice.
Next is something Schauenstein does that I don’t particularly like. They serve five dishes that aren’t canapés/snacks but aren’t full courses/dishes either. Each of these dishes were all “only” at the 1-2 star level. I didn’t really see the point of them instead of adding an extra course. This is just personal preference though I suppose. The veal consommé with elderflower oil was phenomenal though!
The bread was lovely, though I’ve had much better in quality and variety at many other places. The butter was excellent, though lacked salt.
The main courses then started, and next (picture #9) came Schauenstein’s “signature” langoustine and lemon/lime dish to celebrate the restaurant’s 20th year as a Michelin-starred restaurant. This replaced a perch dish that was on the actual 5-course menu. All the parts of this dish (served in two courses) were lovely, and the langoustine was perfectly cooked, but nothing about this dish was truly exceptional. Though it's in the dish’s name, I couldn’t get almost any citrus/acid/lemon-lime notes in any of this dish’s preparations.
Next came the sweetbread. I personally like restaurants to finish serving all the seafood courses and then go to the meats, but again, maybe this is just personal preference. The sweetbread was cooked perfectly, but they didn’t add enough glaze or sauce underneath, and the fresh vegetables weren’t enough to truly complement anything about this dish. This was a 2* at best.
The trout with leek and a creamy buttermilk sauce was good, but nothing spectacular. The creamy buttermilk sauce tasted purely of butter, and the other sides to this dish were all very lackluster. The trout was cooked very nicely though.
The final main course was the lamb, which was definitely worthy of 3* in my eyes! The lamb was perfectly cooked with a nice spiciness, and the stock-based sauce was lovely. The lamb belly with mint was also perfect, served with a wonderful creamy sauce.
Next was the cheese course, which you have to pay extra for. Quite simply, this was easily the worst cheese course I’ve had at any 2 or 3 star restaurant. All the cheeses I got were flavorless with quite poor texture. The accouterments for this course were also all quite bad.
Finally came the dessert course, which was similarly dismal. The main white strawberry and white chocolate dessert wasn’t good at all. The dessert had no discernible flavor besides some sweet citrus, and the fresh white strawberries with their stems tasted terrible. The red strawberry dessert with a strawberry sorbet and strawberry candy was good, I guess, but it was hardly something a 3* restaurant should be serving. The vanilla soufflé was also good, but horribly uninspiring. The soufflés I had at Crissier and L’Ambroisie were magnitudes better than Schauenstein’s, to say the absolute least. Finally came the mignardises, which was quantity over quality. Everything besides the donuts was only okay.
The service at this restaurant was beyond fantastic… except that they committed the largest restaurant hospitality sin and overcharged me by a fair amount. A course on the 5-course menu had to be switched out for a member of my table, so everyone went along with the change since we all wanted to try the lamb more than the pork. Ultimately, each person was charged for a full 5-course menu plus the lamb dish as if we’d added it extra from the à la carte menu. They refunded me the money when I called the next day, but overcharging by 350+ CHF at this level is beyond unacceptable.
This review is already super long so if you want me to clarify/talk about something else more, please comment! I’ll be making several new posts on this sub in the coming days, so tell me if this “format” is too long.
by SeniorCitrus007
9 Comments
Thanks for the review it was enjoyable. Sorry you had a disappointing meal.
I appreciate the review but I think you’re a bit fixated on arbitrary classification. There’s no such thing as a single two star type of dish, cooking or preparation vs a three star.
I think you’re extremely analytical and I really enjoyed reading your descriptions. I just don’t think it adds anything by saying: “this was a 2* at best”
Thanks for the detailed review, it’s really appreciated. The lamb looks and sounds incredible. Very interesting to see that several courses were comprised of multiple plates – seems potentially intriguing but also unfocused.
The main thing that compelled me to comment was when I saw that charcuterie was served with an end of meal cheese course. This is pretty unusual, no? Seems odd to me, although that might just be my impression.
Great review!! Thanks for the details
Thanks for the review. Whats the best bread and butter serving you have had? Always on the lookout for new spots
Butter isn’t typically salted in this part of Europe. If it was supposed to be salted butter it would have been declared as that. It looks like they were going for the „pure“ route with that course
I am very surprised it didn’t meet expectations, I’d heard all three of the Swiss 3* places were outstanding. The dishes certainly look nice but a shame it didn’t do it for you.
The star ratings for dishes is really odd to me. There are exceptions but I haven’t found 3 star restaurant to inherently have better food than one or two star restaurants. Some do, some don’t. Often I find restaurants that go from 2 to 3 stars isn’t because the quality of food increases.
I love long in depth reviews. Thank you for your service