Cozy German-Swiss dining @ Restaurant Stägerstübli, Murren (Switzerland)

During our (too short) stay in beautiful Murren in the Swiss Alps last year, we ventured out of our excellent lodging for an early dinner at Stägerstübli on our final evening there. It is family-friendly with hearty meals to warm the body and soul up. The meat menu came with the choice of sides, carbs or vegetables and sauce, so between the three adults, we got to try different options. We found the service to be friendly and helpful, and the cozy and homely atmosphere was very inviting. I remember being satisfied and happy with our meals at Stägerstubli.

This was where I tried aperol spritz for the first time:

Can't go wrong with fish fingers and chips for the fussy kids:

Kalbsgechnetzeltes en Rahmsauce - sliced veal in a cream sauce, with rice and vegetables:

Lammfilet mit Knoblauchmayonnaise - lamb fillet with garlic mayonnaise, with rosti and vegetables:

Schweinsrahmschnitzel - escalope of pork with a mushroom cream sauce, with rosti and vegetables:

Dessert was a trio of delicious ice cream flavours:

Restaurant Stägerstubli
L. & R. Gertsch-Betschart
CH-3825 Mürren
Tel. +41 33 855 13 16

Comfy lodging and delicious Swiss food @ Hotel Bellevue, Murren (Switzerland)

I am still going through my photos from our trip to Europe last year, and I do hope to get through them all by the end of 2019! It had always been a dream of mine to visit the Swiss Alps, and last year we actually stayed on the Swiss Alps for two days! Choices on where to base ourselves on the Alps were plenty, and many online have raved about how scenic Murren is, so I booked us in to stay at the highly rated Hotel Bellevue in Murren. Service was excellent from the moment of my email enquiry, right up until we checked out and departed. It's a fact that Murren is car-free, so the complimentary pick-up and drop-off service between the station and the hotel was greatly appreciated, especially with our large group of three adults and three children, and the sizeable number of luggage that accompanied us. The rooms were well equipped and we slept comfortably and cozily each night. Our family stayed in a suite and my mum enjoyed her solitude in a single room. The suite had a back door directly out onto the snow, which delighted the kids. Breakfast was included in our rate, which is super convenient when travelling with three kids. The breakfast fare was lovely, and I loved the hot freshly made coffee each morning. We enjoyed one dinner at the hotel, and it was delicious.

The single room:

The living area in the suite:

The bedroom in the suite:

The breakfast room:

The view from the breakfast room:

Bread basket:

Fruit and bread corner:

Muesli, yogurts, cheese and cold cuts. There's even a pot of boiled eggs!

Swiss muesli with various cheeses:

The restaurant dining area:

Hubby's first taste of Ramseier Suure Moscht (Swiss apple cider), and the kids' first taste of apfelschorle:

Snow-covered scenery to be enjoyed from the dining room window:

Special order of sausage and chips for the boy to share with his sisters:

Mum's choice of deer fillet, smoked and pan-fried with a creamy mushroom sauce, glazed chestnuts, red cabbage, poached pears with cranberries, served with homemade spätzle:

:

Hubby could not resist finishing the meal with something sweet. This mixed berries tart was delish:

If you're looking to stay on the Swiss Alps, I can highly recommend the alpine village of Murren, and Hotel Bellevue is a superb choice for accommodation.

Hotel Bellevue
CH-3825 Mürren
Switzerland
Tel. +41 33 855 14 01
Email: bellevue@muerren.ch

Delectables @ Confiserie Sprüngli, Zurich

Last April, we were in Zurich for the first part of our epic European trip, and because I had been so busy and occupied with packing up 7.5 years of life in Hong Kong for our big move to Melbourne, hubby was in charge of the itinerary for Zurich. It was no surprise then that come lunch time, sweet-toothed hubby would lead us to Confiserie Sprüngli, a Swiss luxury confectionery manufacturer. This is the same Sprüngli as the world-famous Swiss chocolate brand Lindt (short for Lindt & Sprüngli), sharing the same founding father. This location at Paradeplatz is the confectionery company's headquarters, and upstairs is a cafe and restaurant, apparently a traditional meeting place for the elderly ladies of Zurich's upper class. It is a popular option for lunch, and hubby had the foresight to book a table in advance for us so we did not have to wait. Service was pleasant and efficient, and the menu had a nice variety of food. Our lunch experience at Confiserie Sprüngli was lovely, and even the pickiest eater in our family enjoyed the food.

On the ground level of Confiserie Sprüngli is the bakery. We had a brief walk-through, and the offerings were much the same as the branch we visited in the main train station:

The upper level is the cafe and restaurant space:

Big girl wanted pasta, so she got the kids' tagliatelle, with a separate container of cheese for her to add to her heart's content:

The boy and I shared the Club Sandwich Classic, with chicken, ham, fried egg, tomato, salad and mayonnaise:

My mum ordered the Pan-fried Halibut with tomato risotto and sauteed spring onions:

Hubby's eyes were on the Sprüngli puff pastries, and chicken was the meat filling of the day:

From the display cabinet, hubby selected two desserts: a streuselkuchen (crumb cake) with mixed berries filling...

... and a chocoladen-kuss (chocolate kiss):

Within the chocolate coating for the chocoladen-kuss, was cake with a custard-like filling:

We visited the shop branch at the main train station when we first arrived in Zurich, and bought a few things to try. There were plenty of delectable-looking delights:

A whole display cabinet filled with chocolate truffles:

The bunnies were a special edition of the traditional zopf bread. Such a nice introduction to zopf, and I became slightly obsessed with zopf, buying a loaf whenever I could even after leaving Switzerland and Austria:

The famed Luxemburgerli, Sprüngli's signature mini macarons, of various flavours and a cream filling. These are lighter than the traditional macarons, and smaller, which makes it easy to eat a few of them in one sitting!

Confiserie Sprüngli [Paradeplatz]
Bahnhofstrasse 21
8001 Zurich
Switzerland
Tel. +41 44 224 46 16

Cheesy lunch @ Raclette Factory, Zurich

Hubby was in charge of the itinerary for our first day in Zurich, and he led us to Raclette Factory for lunch. This casual diner offers the Swiss specialty of raclette in tapas-style portions at the counter, giving the opportunity to try out the different cheeses on offer. The menu was simple, offering some raclette classics, three varieties of tarte flambée and what they call 'raclette tapas' where you can choose two or more cheeses (including blue, goat, sheep and truffle) to go with your choice of sides (potatoes, bread, or mashed potatoes) and additional toppings (ham, bacon or sausage). There was also the all-you-can-eat option, which would be a great option for cheese-lovers! Raclette Factory was a good kid-friendly choice for lunch, and needless to say, the kids enjoyed the food very much.

The interior in wood and bright red is very Swiss in design:

Raclette Heidi, a classic with raclette cheese, potatoes, pickled onions and pickles:

One of the raclette specialties with sausages to appeal more to the little ones:

The Original Tarte Flambée with crème fraîche, onions and bacon:

Raclette Factory
Rindermarkt 1
8001 Zürich
Switzerland
Tel. +41 44 261 04 10

Fine Swiss @ Chesa, Hong Kong

We expanded our experience with European cuisines eating a Swiss lunch at Chesa last weekend, inside Hong Kong's most historical (and expensive) hotel: The Peninsula. We were brought to this hotel (to visit, not stay!) 7 years ago by my aunt-in-law during our honeymoon trip to HK, and I remember being awed at the beautiful antiquity of the ceiling designs and pillar carvings. We were told of the famous English-style afternoon tea served here, something I would love to experience if not for the perpetually long queue for a table. The YMCA is just next door, where my little boy used to have his toddler class, and it's funny how I never clicked that THE Peninsula was just across the road. Anyway, here we were, 7 years later and this time with our toddler, but the architectural beauty of The Peninsula was somewhat wasted on our boy. He did appreciate the lunch at Chesa though, so at least the trip wasn't entirely a waste for him.

Gorgeous dark wood panelling allowed us to dream of being in a Swiss chalet somewhere in the Alps. This was the restaurant at the start of the lunch opening, shortly before diners arrived for their reservations:

Chesa has been operating for more than 40 years, so it is almost as historic as The Peninsula itself. It is a fine dining establishment, and the restaurant has a dress code of smart casual with a couple of additional restrictions that applies only to the gentlemen. Kids under 3 are not permitted, but our boy (who will be 3 in a few weeks' time) can easily pass as a 4-year-old with his height - though his behaviour may have given his age away. Service is professional and impeccable, as to be expected from a restaurant like this. he a-la-carte menu featured some classic Swiss dishes like the traditional Swiss fondue, rösti and raclette. Chesa also has an affordable 3-course set menu for lunch (HK$298) which gave four choices for each of the appetiser, main and dessert courses, and mocha/tea and petit fours are also included. This was great value considering many of the dishes from the a-la-carte menu cost more than the set menu. Hubby and I both went for the set lunch, and ordered an additional dish for the boy.

The bread basket full of delicious fresh bread. The boy ate 3 crusty rolls and kept asking for more!

Raclette du Valais (hot melted cheese with new potatoes, pickled onions and gherkins). We weren't quite sure of the proper way to eat raclette, but the grilled crispy cheese was lovely and fine on its own:

The pickled onions and gherkins, olives, radish and cherry tomato that came with the raclette. These were the freshest pickles I'd ever eaten (yes, I realise that's a bit of an oxymoron, but I can't think of a better way to describe the pickles):

Hubby's appetiser: Rillettes de canard au foie gras, purée de panais et reinette (duck rillettes with goose liver, parsnips and apple purée) - light, fresh and flavourful. The sweetness of the purée went well with the rillettes:

My appetiser: Savarin au fenouil, goujons de sole et vinaigrette aux crustacés (fennel savarin with breaded sole and shellfish vinaigrette) - very tasty, but honestly the breaded sole reminded me of fish fingers, but much better prepared and significantly less processed. The fennel flavour is quite pronounced in the savarin, and it went really well with the breaded sole. The savarin was slightly airy, like a creamy mousse:

Hubby's main course: Saumon en croûte d'herbes cuit au four, écrasé de chou-flew et sauce au Noilly Prat (oven-baked salmon in herb crust on coarse cauliflower and Noilly Prat sauce) - nicely prepared, but salmon has become a bit too ordinary for me. Hubby liked it:

My main: Filets de sardine poêlés, salade Parmentier et créme à la moutarde (pan-fried sardine fillets on warm potato salad and mild mustard cream) - crispy sardines, perfectly seasoned and tasty. Hubby doesn't like sardines, so he wasn't as keen on it as me, a sardine-lover. The boy was with me on this one, and kept asking for "mummy's fish":

Rob's dessert: Tarte fine au chocolat et à la banane, sorbet au yuzu (chocolate and banana tart with yuzu sherbet) - the highlight (for me) was the yuzu sherbet which was sharp with the lovely citrus flavour. The chocolate tart was rich and decadent and I loved the biscuity tart base:

My dessert: Parfait glacé à l'orange et son crumble à la cannelle, sorbet au pamplemousse (iced orange parfait with cinnamon crumble, grapefruit sherbet) - surprisingly light and refreshing, and the sherbet was a good palate cleanser. Cliché as it may be, I think I do indeed like parfait after all (the French version, not the over-the-top American-style layered ones):

Three sets of petit fours - strawberry with marshmallow-like mousse topping, passionfruit-filled dark chocolate truffle and chocolate-dipped glacé orange. Delightful bite-sized treats!

Chesa also made a good cup of cappuccino, and hubby's mocha was also delicious. This was a lovely experience, and a great introduction to Swiss cuisine.

Chesa
1st Floor,
The Peninsula Hong Kong,
Salisbury Road,
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Tel. +85 2 2315 3169