Zur Werkstatt and Münsterhof - worth a visit?

As you can see, we are quite a bit into food! We used to dine out quite often a few years ago - but then cut it back as we cooked more and more of our own! Nevertheless, I would say I am still quite on top of the restaurant scene in Zurich! In this post, I will share my experience of two restaurants we frequented in the last two weeks. It's Zur Werkstatt and Münsterhof.

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Zur Werkstatt

It opened just recently! On a Sunday afternoon, we were strolling through Zurich and then discovered it! It's situated at the end of the new Gleistribüne, close to the main station. We stopped by for a little apéro. It turned out to be a cool stop! We had some nice glasses of white wine and shared one of the appetizers (some fresh cheese and dry meat!). The concept of Zur Werkstatt is originally from Lucerne. They feature an own cheese / dairy production (no joke) and I have to say their fresh cheese was delicious! Apparently, in a few months, you can also dry their normal, aged cheese - looking forward to that!

In the meantime, we returned twice to Zur Werkstatt! Once for a dinner with my Miss and the second time (just recently) we were invited to a birthday dinner in Zur Werkstatt.

Ambience & service

It's a sleek, modern interieur. From my perspective, two aspects are standing out. First, they have an open kitchen, from most of the tables you can actually watch the Chef prepare the dishes. Secondly, it's a cozy table setting, the tables are not too close to each other, it's easy for an intimate dinner! Service was good, very attentive and not pushy at all! We felt welcome and comfortable at Zur Werksatt!

Food

Ambience is nice, but I always judge the restaurant by the food! Zur Werkstatt is a good choice in terms of food! I would not call it a "wow"- cuisine, but very well prepared, regional cuisine!

They don't have an extensive menu, in fact, they have one menu and you can add or change selected courses - i.e. in case you are vegetarian. We started with the appetizer again - tasty!

Normally, their second course is a salad, served in a bowl! They will also bring a box to your table (actually hang it to your table) where you will find the bread and a few toppings (croutons, pomegranate, etc.) for the salad! I like the concept with the shared salad bowl! Their home made salad sauce is also very good! The main course was veal with mashed potatoes, a red wine sauce and green beans! The meat was cooked to perfection and worked well with the red wine sauce! The mash was homemade and melting in your mouth (I guess there was quite a bit of butter in it :-)! The vegetables, i.e. the green beans were not that numerous, much to the dismay of my Miss! They feature a good wine list - nice selection from different regions, not too pricey.

Conclusion

I can really recommend Zur Werkstatt. If you want to have a good, uncomplicated dinner with you Miss, go there!!

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Münsterhof

Münsterhof is a different kind of restaurant than Zur Werkstatt. It features 14 points in the current edition of the GaultMillau. Why did I choose Münsterhof? A few years ago, we went skiing in Davos for a weekend and I selected a cool restaurant to take out my Miss! Back then, we went to Waldhotel, the chef being a young guy called Karim Schumann. Turned out to be a very enjoyable experience. A few months ago, I then learned that Karim Schumann is taking over at Münsterhof, so done deal that we went there!

Ambience & service

You enter into the restaurant through Münsterhof square, which is one of the most beautiful squares in Zurich in my opinion. So, a good start! The restaurant is on the ground floor (even a little below street level, I think) and it feels very cosy! The restaurant actually has two eating rooms, one on the ground floor and a further one upstairs. We were sitting on a table at the ground floor. I like the big blackboards on the wall with the specialties on it! The only thing I did not really like is the fact that the table are too close to each other! You could easily hear what the people at the neighboring table were speaking about! That somehow always makes me feel uncomfortable, I find it somehow intrusive if you are out for a romantic dinner and the tables are so close!

Service was good, but it took a while to order and get the wine etc. The restaurant was quite full though, and I can recall only two people serving the guests.

Food

We opted to forgo the proposed menu and went for some à la carte choices. As a starter I had some marinated fish (marinated with sour cream!) from a local lake in Switzerland! Great presentation of the dish - and the taste was as good as the presentation! I followed up with a main course - home made pasta (I think Agnolotti)! That was a great dish - in particular the sauce was so intense and tasty, I could have eaten it as a soup :-)! My Miss had a vegetarian option (kind of Knödel) with mushrooms, a great choice as well! The wine list is quite extensive and as it is a gourme restaurant, also rather on the pricey side (from 60 CHF upwards). As a starter, we had a glass of German sekt - hmm, did not really live up to my expectations. For the red wine, we opted for a French one from Cotes-du-Rhone - was a good choice! We did not go for a dessert - due to some time constraints, we wanted to move on to the Polyball.

Conclusion

Food - I think the 14 points in the GaultMillau are an adequate rating; it's great food! However, if we are to return, i would ask for a table upstairs as the tables were too close to each other for me!

(I am not yet used to take pictures in the restaurants, forgot it in Zur Werkstatt, but below a few impressions from our visit to Münsterhof.)

Update!

I just learnt that starting from the beginning of 2020, Karim Schumann will no longer be the Chef at Münsterhof. The restaurant has been sold to Michel Péclard (owner of Milchbar etc.) and there will be a change of concept. I do hope that Karim Schumann will remain in Zurich (I have no doubt that this talented chef will be in high demand) and look forward to visit his new restaurant!