züri-schnürre mmh...

After this convincing argument by my significant other:

"It's not particularly good, but it's not that bad either. And you can only get it in Zürich, so you should try it."

...I decided to sample the Züri-Schnürre. It's like a hot veal spam sandwich. I don't know if it was "Mmmh..." (as advertised in the sign below) but it was tasty in a "I'm really hungry and I don't want a doner" kinda way. If you live in Zürich, you should definitely try it and maybe buy the accompanying T-Shirt. Pepito Snack is at Niederdorfstrasse 10, Zürich. Apparently, "pepito" their signature sweet mayo-like sauce that is applied to a variety of sandwiches. The sauce is tasty but they use a heavy hand so I'd recommend asking for less.  

finally, some real chow!

This post is for city people and particularly anyone from San Francisco. And when I say San Francisco, I mean the city. You know who you are. I'm posting this for people that appreciate places like Shalimar, Cordon Bleu, Home Plate, and Swan Oyster Depot.  I suspect that other people just won't get what I'm trying to say. Maybe I'm wrong.

My husband recently took me to this great little Lebanese joint, der grüne Libanon, at Haferstrasse 7 (I think) behind the HB, a "bad part of town" which, of course, also means fun stores selling interesting and delicious things. We had the mixed grill plate for two, which came with flatbread and spreads (hummus, baba ganoush, etc). It was so yummy, totally satisfying and good value: "only" 25sfr, about $11/person.



Now someone who reads this post might eat there and say, that food wasn't so special, I can get better food here or there, bla, bla, bla. These people don't understand what I'm talking about. I'm not saying this is the best food I've ever ate in Zurich or that I'm a connoisseur of Lebanese food. I'm just saying that this was good, tasty chow at a good price, something quite rare in Zurich. This place clearly takes pride in their food. It made me happy and made me want to go back on a regular basis.



Back in SF, I easily ate out five nights a week, usually spending under $20 for 2 people, with drinks! Not only can I not afford to do that in Zurich, I wouldn't want to. It is just not right to pay 60 francs for a couple curries and some naan. Usually when I say something like this to a Swiss person, they look at me like I'm crazy. "No good food in Zurich? But haven't you been to bla, bla, bla."That's not what I'm saying. I'm talking about chow food, not a special night out. I'm almost convinced this is a cultural divide that cannot be bridged.



Clearly, we were two very satisified customers. Can't wait to go back.

knödeling

r
Germknödel

It's fun how different food is just three hours away. Here's some of the food we ate in Fussen, Germany...

My strategy is two-fold. First, I like to order local specialities. Second, I like to order anything I can't translate. This dish met both criteria. It's called Allgäuer Krautkrapfen, which obviously contains sauerkraut. But I actually ordered a different special that I couldn't translate. Since I didn't know what I had ordered, I just ate this one and figured it out later. I didn't think I liked sauerkraut, but it was delicious! So much so that I ordered it again later in this next dish, Knödel mit Kraut.

This was also very delicious, the knödel being made of potato and speck, I think. Both meals were served at the top of different gondolas, which is where I've been getting all my good meals lately. I see more hiking in my future.

inside the Germknödel ... breakfast

Lastly, the sweet stuff. The first is the inside of the Germknödel, pictured at the top. The name didn't sound very appetizing. But I had seen it on every menu during our trip so it had to be tried. It was good, if not great. It was a steamed bun filled with a plum paste (so weird, I expected chocolate or custard), surrounded by a vanilla custard sauce, topped with Mohn, which translates to "poppy" but it wasn't quite poppy seeds.

The second is fresh apple strudel with ice cream. You can get this in lots of places but it gets special billing because it was served as the main dish in an elaborate breakfast spread done by our hotel. Being on vacation means ice cream for breakfast - yum yum!