It feels strange to write a restaurant review in times of a quasi shutdown of the public live in Switzerland. But just a few days before - I was anticipating that measure - I went with my Miss to the recently new opened restaurant "Kle". As their cuisine is dedicated to vegan / vegetarian, I great match for my Miss.
Kle
The restaurant is located in Wiedikon - it's the successor of the former "Dreierlei" restaurant.
Ambience & service
Upon entering the restaurant, my first thought was: wow, this is quite small and tight. But once seated, it was actually ok! We shared a table with another couple, but there was an empty place between us, so intimacy and privacy was ok. In addition, yes, the restaurant is feeling busy but not cramped. The interior features some smart and nice touches, e.g. the kind of cloud in the ceiling as a light source. Tables are from of a pale wood - providing a nice contrast to the darker wooden parquet. Service was very attentive and calm - which also helped to give a feeling of ease despite the small room.
Food
Kle also follows the concept of sharing plates. The menu features about a dozen of dishes (excluding desserts) in the range of 12 - 24 CHF, quite reasonable I would say. We started out with the "Kissenbrot mit Aioli, Hummus und Gewürzöl"! What a start, the little breads were fluffy, fresh and hot! Good that I ordered a small apéro - a sparkling rosé to go with it - it marked a wonderful start into the culinary endeavour at Kle.
We then followed up with "Bio Rote Zwiebel, Aguachile, knachiger Kohlrabi, Gerste und Nüsslisalat" as well as Schwarzwurzel and Pastinake Tatar mit Leinsamen Chips". Overall, I liked both dishes - I would coin them as solid and good cuisine. However, I felt that in the first dish, the spicyness of the onion and aguachile was too dominant. With the second dish, again, I also thought the Leinsamen chips to be too dominant leaving the two wonderful vegetables salsify and parsnip a little bit left behind.
In the second round, we opted for the "Hausgemachte Sardische Pasta, gesalzene Zitrone und Mandeln" as well as for the "Oca Sauerklee Wurzel, Rote Bete Dressing and Miso Mayo". In particular the pasta was a very pleasant dish, all the ingredients harmonized well, a nicely balanced pasta. The "Oca" dish was also a pleasant experience, there I would have wished some more strength of the beetroot dressing and miso mayo.
Unlike other sharing restaurants, the servings in Kle are of a decent size, so there was no more room / need for a third round. But having the nice waitress reading out the desserts, we spontaneously opted for the one with chocolate and pear! We did not regret it - chocolate and pear is a classic combination and it was cooked in a way that the taste of both products were really enhanced.
As always a few words also to the wine list. For the apéro we had two classes of a sparkling rosé from Grison, from the well-known producer Obrecht. Great color, easy to drink - didn't know that they do such promising sparkling wines in Grison! If I remember it right, the wine list consists of biological / natural wines. For the main courses I opted for a wine from Spain - Celler Comunica vi del Mas - was a good, solid choice, nothing wrong with it.
Conclusion
All in all, the bill amounted to 204 CHF - which I consider ok for Zurich and considering that we had two glasses of sparkling wine for apéro.
Overall, it was also a nice culinary experience - I would say the Kle follows an ambitious vegetable / vegan cuisine on a promising level, yet sometimes misses on the final touch. But add in the attentive service, the ok prices and the Kle does make a pleasant destination for a night out with your loved one.
If comparing it to Neue Taverne, which follows a similar concept, I would say Neue Taverne is more audacious in the combinations and yet more well-rounded in the savours.
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