29. July 2010: Restaurant Don Leone
The Restaurant Don Leone is located in central Zurich close to the Stauffacher and can easily be reached by either bus 344 or one of the trams 2, 3, 8, 9, 13 or 14 (stop: “Stauffacher” or “Helvetiaplatz”). There are plenty of parking lots around the place though, so you can also come by car.
The restaurant is clearly marked outside with a large sign and the whole corner occuppied by the restaurant is covered with a glass window.
The inside is nicely decorated – the walls are full of shelves with bottles of wine and the tables are made of old wood and the whole thing fits together quite good. The only disadvantage is that you don’t have too much space – the place gets quite cramped.
I was there a bit early when only three people (guests) were there and I had to wait for more than 10 minutes for a bottle of water – a bit too long for my personal taste. Although you have to expect somewhat long waiting times when the place is cramped (around 40 to 50 guests maybe and only two waiters; technically seen even only one and the one who runs the place, Massimo) it’s definitely too long when there are only three guests.
As a starter we’ve had a large plate with different kind of cold meat and cheese. The selection was huge and the quality was really good. Nothing to complain about here.
As a main dish we’ve had pasta with seafood (including lobster and mussels) which was quite good – only there wasn’t too much pasta for four people. The seafood was comparatively good looking at the fact that we weren’t at a place close to the sea.
Finally, we got a huge desert plate with Tiramisu, mousse au chocolate, flan, etc. The desert was really tasty and also definitely enough.
The discerning eye for the detail sometimes makes the difference. Although it’s not impressive per se, it was quite nice to see that they’ve put the name of the Restaurant “Don Leone” in liquid chocolate on the plate.
Finally, the dinner was ended with a good Grappa and a nice cup of coffee (espresso).
All in all we’ve paid CHF 100 each and for what you get, the price is quite fair – especially taking into consideration that we’ve also had a bottle of red wine on the side. Definitely worth it.
If you are aware that you might have to wait a few minutes from time to time in order to get your dish and if you don’t mind that the place gets quite cramped and some random chairs are just additionally put to your table so your personal space keeps decreasing, the Don Leone is a perfect place to go to enjoy a lovely dinner with friends over a good bottle of wine.
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Contact Details:
Restaurant Don Leone
Bäckerstrasse 31
8004 Zürich (CH)
Tel.: +41 44 241 01 01
E-Mail: info@donleone.ch
Homepage: http://www.donleone.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. 
