on Wednesday, I was dining out in the Cèdre Bellevue, just a few steps down the river from the Bellevue. A good service, whenever not as good as in their main outlet on Badenerstrasse where the boss himself is managing everything, excellent cuisine and good beverages are on top standard. Had an Arak Kefraya at the start, followed by a Lamb Mechoui, accompanied by 3 dl of red Saint Thomas Emir, and at the end a good Lebanese Cognaq. The exercise with a total of CHF 69.-- was not exactly cheap but excellent dining along the Limmat with a view onto the moon and the river, producing an ambiance almost as in Beirut was worth it.
It's also good during the day as a cafe. This place used to be called the 'Raben' (Raven) cafe and was diabolical. I was there for coffee yesterday and the service, drinks and hot 'n' fresh gipfeli were great. Not to mention the Autumnal sunshine and Zurich Film Festival hotties wandering about Not quite the Cafe Presse, but better than Strbcks around the corner.
Went twice and I agree, both food and service were good!
A bit pricey but can be cheaper if you go in a group and want to try their various delicious meze.
Last time we went there, it took nearly 2 hours for our mains to arrive. It seems that the kitchen forgot about us.
When I arrived on Wednesday evening, on the table I wanted to "capture" were two young women sitting who wanted to pay but were forgotten for quite a while. When I was at that table, service was nice and good. The person in charge was a nice girl, and so macho'ism could not have been the reason. True, I usually take waiters/waitresses in restaurants as commercial partners and neither as servants nor as sh... . It usually helps. With "partner" I do not mean physical closeness but rather "c'est le ton qui fait la musique" .
We are thinking of trying Lebanese food for the first time on Friday. Is this a good place to go to try it out? Is booking recommended?
Try their parent Restaurant Le Cedre on Badenerstrasse - tram stop Bezirksgebaude - which is a more formal place, although still relaxed with mandatory Bellydancer. The Bellevue branch is more of a cafe.
We're at cedre bellvue most Sundays for lunchand its really excellent and the quality of the fattoush is up to Beirut standards. Perhaps the informality of a lunch there would suit you better for a trial.
There is a place off Langstrasse - run by some mad old hippy who does excellent food - can't remember the name of it - nor the exact location of the food source - lebanese/iranian/etc
So there's some sort of place serving some sort of west Asian food somewhere near Langestrasse... helpful.
If it's the same guy I am thinking of, unfort he is gone. I enjoyed his company and wonderful food once.
The Lebanese take-away on Haffnerstr at Josefstr comes highly recommended from me. Good and cheap. And very popular for lunch.
Not sure why I cant seem to thank you Wolli, cheers for the heads up. Am off to try it very soon - sans the lamb.
We've avoided Cèdre Bellevue after a bad experience there last summer (one of the waiters who apparently didn't realize that yes , when we say "no wheat" that means "no couscous" too.)
After reading the above recommendations though - maybe we ought to give it another try, and just spell things out a bit more clearly.
I should also mention that I finally tried the Lebanese at the Wed Market last night, in between beers with MN*DB, and it was wonderful.
Please also remember that tabbouleh which is a green salad served with everything will have hidden bulgur wheat in it.
Neugasse, the Meridien. Yes, it was wonderful, yes, it's gone. He served Iranian vegetarian food. Bah.
Seconded.
"We": lol
The thread was started last October, and you can no longer thank posts after a certain lapse of time.
Table is booked. Any recommendations as to what to order? I have no idea about Lebenese food so any guidance is welcome. We eat almost everything by the way.
Order a selection of mezze you won't be able to finish (moutabal, hummus, fattoush, kibbeh, wara inab etc). If you order a lot of that, then don't order a main (it'll all come with bread). Otherwise you can order something grilled and meaty for main and get kunafi for dessert