An interesting article in the Tagi, written by a Swiss 'Gastroexperte', admonishing restauranteurs to clean up their act, especially wrt friendliness towards patrons. Essentially he is telling restaurant owners that if they are losing business it's likely a case of 'selber schuld'.
Tend to agree. A few years ago we were in Vienna and tracked down this little tavern place which both our guide books said have the traditional and best prepared Wiener Schnitzel in all Vienna. Well it wasn't grey, but it was less than 50mm thick, and on the other hand it filled an entire huge dinner plate (fries had to come on their own plate). It was totally delicious too .
This is so subject to experience, though, so I don't doubt Nicolaschulz's experience at all.
As Samweisevielleicht says, if you know the scene, it is easier, but as an ex-pat, I think it would be more difficult.
When I go to London, I don't have great dining experiences, but I would put this down to not knowing where exactly to go for good food and service. I wouldn't immediately assume that all London is crap because of my experiences there.
Before my partner and I moved here, we had friends back in the States who have relatives in Switzerland. They told us when they visited them, they never went out, adding that Migros/Coop will be our close friends. I've learned Geant is where I spend my time.
And after being here for only a few months, we find comfort in dining at our home with friends as well. It means much more.
I wonder who continues to pay these prices to keep these restaurants in business.
And with a restaurant/hospitality background, I would have been seriously reprimanded if I treated people the way the OP was treated. I would have lodged a complaint (of course, after the food was served...I've seen too much behind the scenes)...
Lucky (and clever) hubby to only have one date to remember. Wonder if that's why your wedding day was selected as 14th Feb too.....was it his idea by any chance?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_Marengo
Vive la France!!
I forgot to add that I write restaurant reviews in Malta for a friend who publishes a local restaurant guide. I would love to do that here, although I dare say if I did I would open my front door on a daily basis to a barrage of sheep's heads and the like (at best)
On another occasion I found some plastic foil which is used to seperate two pieces of frozen fish still between the two pieces. Last time I ate there, the cooks should be ashamed. And I grew up in Restaurants as my parents owned some. I also worked in a food laboratory and had some insight from that side. Sometimes I was really shocked.
I also don't get why Restaurant owners don't insist that the waitres grant at least a "normal" service. This means ask the client from time to time if he needs something, pay attention to the whole restaurant and so on. That would generate some more money and tips.
I guess the prices and the bad service is why we swiss invite friends rather to our place and cook something nice than eat out.
Just bring the booze ..!!
(I promise I won't do chicken marengo)
Another thing about "Wiener" Schnitzel is that it has to be veal. Pork or Chicken can only be "Viennese style" ("Wiener Art").
Perhaps that's why all the expats are considered loose and whiny?
I tend to frequent small places that remember me. Once you become a (friendly) regular, it's a much better experience.
Having lived in CH (Basel and Zürich) for more than 10 years, I have to say that my restaurant experiences have rarely gone above the mediocre, both in terms of food and service.
Now that we have NickJnr - and we are currently living on just my wage - we eat out very rarely. I much prefer to cook at home, spending my money on quality ingredients and finer wines than we can afford to drink in a restaurant.
We recently spent a few days in Edinburgh - we lived for a few years before we came to CH. Eating out in the UK remains a hit-and-miss affair but we were reminded of the eclectic mix of eating out possibilities and and a quality per price ratio that we have forgotten about. And not a po-faced waiter in sight!
To find anything comparable in Basel or Zürich to what we had in Edinburgh, we've easily paid in excess of SFr200 for a meal for 2.
Like adrianlondon, in Edinburgh we used to dine out in comparative style a couple of times per week. Here it is more like a couple of times per year.
Cheers,
Nick