26. August 2010: Restaurant National

The Restaurant National is located right across the street of the Winterthur main station. It’s therefore easily reachable by public transportation. Also, there are various means of parking possibilities around the place.

The building in which the Restaurant National is located looks really appealing from the outside. Also, the terrace where you can have lunch is quite inviting.

Although the furniture is a bit cheap at least it fits somehow the environment with the logo of the National on the back of the chairs.

The waiter was very friendly and fast at first when I arrived. I’ve been brought bread and water within seconds accompanied by the menu. The menu is quite extensive and you get to choose a nice selection of different dishes. In addition, there is a daily lunch menu for CHF 20.00 which in this case included a rice salad as a starter (see below) which was okay but was more or less plain rice only so somewhat boring.

The main course was a “St. Galler Kalbsbratwurst von der Metzgerei Schmid, St. Gallen” with classic onion sauce, vegetables and noodles. The sausage was good (as usually when you have a Bratwurst from the Metzgerei Schmid). The rest was okay, but not really special. The sauce was somewhat tasteless and lacked in quantity to dip your noodles and the vegetables weren’t spiced up at all.

Still, for CHF 20.00 for both courses together, there is nothing to complain about the food. It is absolutely eatable and stuffs you nicely for a business lunch. The menu itself looks much more promising with regards to the different dishes present though.

What was really annoying was the excessive demands of the waiters. We had to wait quite a bit until we’ve been able to place our order. Also, when we tried to get the bill, we didn’t receive it at our table although we asked two different waiters and waited for about 15 minutes. Only when we walked to the cashier ourselves and said we wanted to pay, it was finally possible to get us the bill done (which took them like 5 seconds).

All in all, the Restaurant National is the perfect place to have a quick, cheap business lunch. The food is okay, the atmosphere is nice and the prices are more than fair (for the set menu). What lacks a bit in quality – at least that exact day – was the service. Not because they’re not friendly but there are just way too many tables for three waiters to serve.

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Contact Details:

Restaurant, Bistro, Brasserie, Bodega National

Stadthausstrasse 24

8400 Winterthur (CH)

Tel.: +41 52 212 24 24

Fax: +41 52 209 09 24

E-Mail: info@national-winterthur.ch

Homepage: http://www.national-winterthur.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.