Zurich like any other great city has a huge variety of things one can eat and enjoy from fresh sandwiches and pastries to fully vegetarian buffets (lacto+ovo). Yes, you can go ahead to taste traditional Swiss foods like fondue etc., but this post is more about the variety of cuisines and snacks that you can find in Zurich. So lets get into where all I ate in Zurich during my recent trip there in May of 2023. Please be advised that Zurich has countless other options too so please do your own research as well based on your likes and dislikes.
1. Haus Hiltl
Haus Hiltl is advertised to be the oldest vegetarian restaurant in the world as per their website. This place has four branches in Zurich and whichever branch you go to it is always packed with people enjoying their delicious vegetarian (lacto+ovo) buffets. The extensive range of items this buffet offers includes unique salads, all sorts of dips, dressings and chutneys, fried and baked starters, unique hot dishes featuring not only Western but Indian and Asian delights as well and of course a range of vegetarian desserts. Their buffet system is based on weight and I love this concept as it avoids the wastage often associated with buffets. You take whatever you like on your plate and pay by weight. It is on the expensive side but the quality, flavor and variety of the food here really makes it a must-visit at least once. We loved it so much that we went to this place three or four times during our stay in Zurich. We just couldn't get enough of the extensive variety of delicious treats in a region like Europe where meat-based dishes are more popular. Many a time we took takeaways to our room from the Sihlpost branch right next to Zurich HB. If you wish to visit this place just once I suggest going to the Haus Hiltl branch, which is the main branch. Here I also got to check out their a la carte menu items which looked equally delicious. In all the times I visited here, I was never once disappointed. Even the flavor of the Indian dishes here was reasonably authentic. Overall this place is a must-visit in my opinion.
2. Confiserie Sprungli Cafe & Restaurant
There are many outlets of Confiserie Sprungli, but only one of them at the Paradeplatz and Bahnhofstrasse intersection has this amazing concept restaurant. While you can eat a variety of savory dishes here, I always go there for their desserts. On a lucky day, you will get to see the full display of their assortment of pastries and macaroons in their Confiserie below. Once you have seen what you liked, you can then head to their restaurant to have not only those pastries (which you can also take away) but also enjoy some unique sundaes and hot chocolates made from their indulgent top-notch chocolate. My favorite to have there is the hot chocolate of course, which is so rich and creamy due to the fine quality of their Swiss chocolate. I also absolutely love their Denmark sundae which has Sprungli grand cru chocolate sauce served with bourbon vanilla ice cream. It is a match made in heaven! Another dessert I enjoy is their "Himbeer" pastry or their raspberry pastry. Those fresh tart raspberries combined with the creamy sponge and cream cake is heaven. If you wish to enjoy some great Swiss chocolate desserts and pastries in general, this place should be on your list. Please be notified that this branch closes usually by 6 pm (check the latest timings on their google listing), so if you wish to head there after your dinner for dessert you will be disappointed. So I advise heading there after your lunch.
3. Tibits
Tibits is another vegetarian buffet chain like Hiltl, which is present not only in Zurich but in many other cities of Switzerland. It is very similar to Haus Hiltl and also has many delicious treats to offer. It also has many innovative drinks, sandwiches and desserts. Tibits used to be there in London as well but it appears that they shut down all their branches in the UK. Tibits was my first introduction to fully vegetarian buffets when I stumbled upon it in Bern on a trip to Switzerland around 15 years back. This place is also usually packed with happy customers enjoying various treats. So if you are not visiting Zurich but another city, you may check on google maps to see if it is located in the city you are visiting.
4. Movenpick Ice Cream
This place is a must if you appreciate Swiss chocolate. Their Swiss chocolate ice cream is divine and better enjoyed in a cone than a cup. It has flecks of Swiss chocolate in the ice cream giving their creamy ice cream some great texture.
5. Nooch Asian Kitchen
No matter how great the options of food are in a European country, I have realized as an Indian, I do start missing spicy food. That's where my search on google maps lead me to this amazing place. They had a limited number of vegetarian/vegan items but the dishes they had tasted excellent. Our favorite was the Flower Power fried rice. It consisted of fried rice with lots of crunchy vegetables, it also had mushrooms and was garnished with fresh mango, bean sprouts, chili and coriander. You can also ask them to make it without eggs. The ambiance was fantastic with community tables type seating and some really great wait staff. So yeah if you are missing out on spicy food like we did, you can check out this restaurant.
6. Sapori d'Italia
An initiative by Coop, this place sells all things Italian. We had tried this tasty lemon drink in Milan and we were surprised to find it here as well. It is located at Zurich HB and things to must try there are their square pizza slices, sfogliatelle (so crunchy and amazing filling), Fonzies (these cheesy Italian snack packs) and we also loved this lemon drink from Italy called Estathe. Basically, this store was filled with all the Italian teats and snacks you desire and we found it to be quite interesting. And the service was one of the best, shoutout to the lovely people running the store!
7. Coop and Migros
These are two famous supermarket chains in Switzerland and their outlets at the Zurich HB not only offer all sorts of snacks, drinks etc. but also fresh salads, sandwiches, tea/coffee etc. We could see many locals picking up their daily breakfast/snacks and heading to their trains. I personally just love to take some time and explore the entire store to find some interesting snacks, drinks and chocolates that I can try. We found some amazing Kinder wafer chocolates that we don't get in India, some paprika-flavored chips which are famous there and also my absolute favorite Swiss drink called Rivella. Which is in my opinion a more refreshing version of Coke/Pepsi. If you want to take something back to your country, I would definitely suggest instead of Lindt give this brand called Kagi a try. Their wafer chocolates especially their classic flavour is heaven!
I love Zurich and Switzerland in general because of the strides they are making toward innovative vegan and vegetarian food. It's refreshing compared to other European countries which are still trying to catch on to this trend. No wonder this is one of my favorite countries to visit in Europe.
Thank you for reading❤️
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