16. May 2015: Restaurant Maison Manesse

I have been a couple of times at Maison Manesse and I was always very happy when I left – and I was also happy this time. The menu (CHF 137.00) started again with a “sezchuan blossom” which has an interesting effect on your tongue – it really awakens your taste buds for the upcoming dishes.

The amuse bouche was a “suckling pig cooked for 14 hours, melons, kimtchi, coriander” which was a nice start taste-wise but I must admit that the suckling pig was too chewy and hard for my personal gusto.

The next course was “razor clam. tamarillo. samphire.” which was a great combination of flavours. I have had razor clams before and it was often chewy but this one was very tender and aromatic.

One of my favourite courses of the night was the “duck. pistachio. mustard”. The dish had a great intensity in flavours and the consistency of the paté like duck in combination with the crunchiness of the pistachios and the creaminess of the mustard was super-lovely!

The “63° egg” is something they have in various forms on the menu since the beginning – and while it is absolutely a generally delicious idea I must admit that previous versions were definitely more to my gusto. This was interesting but somehow lacked the “edge”. However, the “63° egg. fir. starweed. broccolini” was a fine idea.

The next course was not really on the menu but a surprise from Miguel and the kitchen. The dish “asparagus. strawberry” had one rather standard element – the asparagus – and one rather interesting element, the strawberry in combination with black salt. The sweetness of the strawberry with the salt tickled the taste buds quite successfully.

Next in line was “lamb. green. asparagus. chorizo. tuna” which was finalized right in front of you with a Bunsen burner.

Once it was done, it did not look that spectacular but it was definitely great in taste. The slight grill taste in combination with the topping of the lamb was mouth-watering.

The next course was a lovely combination of “char. pineapple. dashi” which was served in two parts …

… and finalized with a “fish broth” in front of you.

I love the bowl – its design is superb and the idea how to use it is even better – basically you get a starter of the dish on top of it (and you’re also told to start with the upper part) and then you dig into the bowl and you find the second part. Overall, the dish was sound and refined but lacked the surprising element.

To start off dessert, there is this course which is always called the same – “Sweet. Nothing” it is actually something different each time. Today it was “champagne. black tea. mistletoe” which was on one side very cold almost causing brain freeze and on the other side also quite interesting in flavour with the mistletoe.

The official final dessert was “rhubarb. cress. jersey” – I liked the cress sorbet a lot as it has a taste you would not expect from ice cream / sorbet. The combination with the slightly sour aftertaste of the rhubarb makes it an interesting dish.

The final “friandises” served caused some trouble at the neighbour table as on the “white friandise” there was a little worm which apparently caused quite some confusion. The friandises are nice but you don’t get much of the “worm effect”.

Again, the selection of wines was again marvellous. Miguel, as always, makes your stay a very pleasant one as he is very dedicated to be a great host – and he definitely succeeds. In addition to that, he offers you to try different wines – and you always get to try something which pleases your palate. But sometimes, you also “discover” funny things like a wine called “if you see kay” … which basically pronounces “f.u.c.k”. I thought that was rather hilarious for an Italian vineyard as a name.

The selection of wines I was able to try this night was “Orrizonte, 2000” (1dl, CHF 24.00), “Grosser Satz” (1dl, CHF 14.50), “Riffault Sancer” (1dl, CHF 16.00), “ÉO” (1dl, CHF 14.00), “if you see kay” (1dl, CHF 15.00) and finally a sweet wine “Prüm Auslese, 2006” (1dl, CHF 16.50). While the prices for the wines are not exactly on the cheap side, the prices for the other beverages are absolutely decent, i.e. a double espresso accounts for CHF 6.50, a 0,77l mineral water Passuger for CHF 8.00.

Overall, I can still absolutely recommend the Maison Manesse – great place, great atmosphere, superb host! However, the dishes have been more to my gusto in the past – complaining on a very high level. With regards to the prices – it is a rather expensive experience for a night if you like to try a couple of glasses of wine. If you are willing to kind of ignore the prices you will definitely have a blast though!

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Contact Details:

Restaurant Maison Manesse

Hopfenstrasse 2

am Manesseplatz

8045 Zürich (CH)

Tel.: +41 44 462 01 01

E-Mail: info@maisonmanesse.ch

Homepage: http://www.maisonmanesse.ch

About the Author: Sven

I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org. Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City.