An absolutely delicious food experience with an even better wine pairing: Restaurant Pavillon (9. February 2023)
To visit the Pavillon was on my to-do list for quite a while. But eating 2 Michelin stars in Switzerland come with a price! The “Tasting Menu ‘Harmony'” accounts for CHF 330.00 per person, and the “wine pairing” for CHF 180.00. So, with ‘only’ CHF 510.00 per person, you are all in! To be fair though, it was quite a journey, which I consider worth the price – especially the wine pairing!
To get started, a small amuse bouche was served – more concretely, “brisslet with caraway, sous-vide Jerusalem artichoke with cheese, chouche with truffle, and beef tartare with anchovies”. And while I found the cracker relatively unexciting, but not bad, the rest was definitely perfect to get your palate started! The evening started with a glass of “Dézaley Chemin de Fer Grand Cru, 2021, Luc Massy Vins”, which was quite interesting and refreshing to start with.
The “sourdough bread with salted butter” was nice, but nothing out of the ordinary.
The “Oeuf Surprise ‘truffle egg’ (truffle crème, sabayone, leek)” though, was incredibly nice. The intensity of the flavours, combined with the lightness and smoothness of the same, was just excellent! I should have got the same glass as a start to the wine pairing, so, the sommelier was sufficiently flexible to offer me the “Grüner Veltliner, Lamm 1 ÖTW, 2017, Schloss Gobelsburg” to start with, which worked as well as the previous one.
The next course was a “vichyssoise (potato, truffle)”, which was something, I think, I’ve never had before, so, I had somehow expected a soup-like dish. Turns out, the ‘soup’ is not really a soup, but more of a cream, which turned out to be very enjoyable.
The next course were “scallops from Norway, fried, parsley root” and, as almost always, the scallop was nice, but it just didn’t match the one I’ve had in 2014 in the O Paparico in Porto.
The “pike-perch cam, poached, Riesling sauce” was overall lovely too. Not the most exciting of flavour profiles I’ve seen, but all in all enjoyable. At least the “Pessac-Léognang Blanc (Grand Cru Classè de Graves), 2017, Château Carbonnieux” was in line with the dish.
Especially, once the “black truffle” was quite generously applied. Usually, I’m not a big fan of black truffle, but I must admit that this particular dish worked incredibly well. And it also went well with the “Les Vaudevey Chablis Premier Cru, 2020, Julien Brocard”.
Next in line was an “oxtail ravioli, braised, onion compote” and I loved it. The intensity of the onion with the oxtail, all in a ravioli, just worked so damn well! And it’s one of these dishes, where you just want to lick out your plate, although you clearly don’t do it at that level. The “As Sortes Val do Bibei Godello, 2017, Rafael Palacios” was a surprisingly amazing white wine with the oxtail! Loved it!
Then it was time for the “lobster thermidor, au gratin, spinach à la crème”, which was almost equally a good. I’m always a bit sceptical on the lobster bit since lobster is great, no question, but it always somehow feels that it’s just an expensive ingredient with flavour, so you don’t really have to do anything to achieve that experience. In this case though, it was a great combination of flavours making it not great only because of the lobster, but just because the ingredients worked very well together. Funny enough, they served a “Daniel & Marta Gantenbein, Pinot Noir 2019” with the lobster, which is quite uncommon. However, since the Pinot of Gantenbein is super light, it went well with it (and I’m still not a big fan)
Then it was time for the beef – which, it seems, was not mentioned on the menu. So, maybe we got this extra course just like that, or there was something missing on the menu, who knows. However, it was definitely a tasty dish. With the beef, it was time to go to Argentina with the Nicolás Catena Zapata, 2007″, which was right down my alley. Complex, structure, length!
The “pomelo, confit, gin”, which kind of acted as a palate cleanser and the first dessert, and I must admit, it was super niece, and refreshing.
The second dessert was “pac, black truffle, kayambe chocolate”, which was interesting since one part actually looked quite similar to truffle. Of course it wasn’t, but it was made of chocolate, however, it was enjoyable! For dessert, we got a “Late Bottled Vintage Port, 2015, Quinta de la Rosa” which was nice, fruity, light, and yet had the intensity you’re looking for in a good port.
Then it was time for the mandatory “friandises”, which were also rather nice. But after all this and nine glasses of wine, you are definitely done for the night!
What I liked is the interior of the place, since it’s quite small yet spacious and despite the proximity to all parties (somehow), you have your privacy! Other than that, the place is lovely, the service is excellent, and manages again to have the right balance between friendliness, being jovial, and professionalism. So, all in all, I absolutely enjoyed the evening at the Pavillon! Amazing dishes, excellent service, even better wines, and a lovely atmosphere, but with quite a hefty price!
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Contact Details:
Restaurant Pavillon
Talstrasse 1
8001 Zürich (CH)
Tel.: +41 44 220 50 22
Homepage: http://www.aupavillon.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. 
