Chocolates, Snow & Fondue (VI) - Dec 2016

This Zurich blog will not be complete without the mention of Swiss Food - especially the fondue. First, we got our first taste of local food for lunch.  It was like our 7-11 concept and we chose the chicken fillets and a bowl of salad. Quite expensive but it was a nice meal after our long night flight. The food tasted a bit salty but we thought this was the norm of "fast food" concept.  Interestingly, many local "makan" here - a quick bite.  So we felt we also 入乡随俗 followed the local tradition of eating. The tables and overall ambience gave quite a cozy feel too.  



I could not remember when we started to google in trip advisor for nice restaurants to eat.  I believed it was during our Rome trip.  Similarly, we did the same to try to find exciting places frequented by locals. One "to-eat" list by my wife was the cheese fondue which you would dip bread into it. Sounds cheesy at the first thought.  

 
We got to taste our fondue at a very homely and apparently very traditional restaurant near the old town.  I had to book early to secure a seat.  While waiting for our fondue, we ordered a herb soup - and well, it was very saltish! I could not finish it and my wife had tried too.  We gave our comments to the waitress who told us "it was herbs".  Then, came out fondue. We tried out dipping our bread into the fondue and it was saltish. Too much sodium intake for us and we didn't finish.  Initially, we thought it was the "speciality" and style of the restaurant.  My wife googled and shared it seemed to be the taste for all fondue.



There was very good review at a restaurant known as "Federal" at Zurich Hbf so we went to try out. Well, I have the habit of ordering fish and chip to "test out" whether the restaurant was good or not. Without fail, the picture told the story. My wife was snapping photos of the food while I was out to the train station checking for the schedule of our Paris train the next day.  The food was okay and still a bit saltish but the waiter was very entertaining and "warm".  He had a good attitude of joking and making customers laugh, and he had such a passion for his job. Really admirable.

 
One surprise discovery was this "gingerbread"-looking bun which was a gift from the local post office.  So cute that we ordered another one for our journey to Paris at the second leg of our journey.  When we ordered, the service counter asked what do we call the name of this bun in English, and I just said "Gingerbread" man haha.  It was a unique discovery that trilled me looking for it and the background.  

It was officially called Grittibanz - christmas bread man.  Uniquely Swiss.