22. December 2011: Restaurant Camino

A hidden treasure – that’s the Restaurant Camino as the restaurant is located in an area where you would not think right away about fine dining but fine dining it is indeed.

To begin the journey, we were served ratatouille with wild boar salami from Puschlav (a little town in Switzerland) plus bread. The ratatouille with the salami was good, the bread with the olive oil and the salt was even better. So they already had me after the first impression.

My starter was a “Spicy Thai-Coco-Curry soup with lemongrass, ginger, cilantro served with pickeld tuna” (CHF 16.00). The soup was a bit spicy but very rich in taste, a perfect mixture of coco, curry and lemongrass. None of the tastes was too intense but they were rather perfectly complementary. The tuna which was served with it was supposedly to be put in the soup which I tried and it was good – but the tuna was that fresh and tasty that I ate the rest by itself – and it was marvellous! The only thing which was a bit surprising was the serving – it was quite a lot of soup for a starter.

As a main course I decided to have the stewed breast of veal from Ennetbürgen (another little town in Switzerland) with creamy sauerkraut (CHF 46.00). The breast of veal was perfectly tender and was almost melting like butter in my mouth. The creamy sauerkraut was also very tasty – quite a portion again but definitely good in taste. I also tried the duck my company had ordered and I must admit also that one was good but not as good as the breast of veal.

To finish the evening, I had a “Mousse of dark Toblerone on a mango passionfruit ragout” (CHF 13.00). The toblerone mousse was very soft, fluffy and rich in taste. The mango passionfruit ragout was a good mixture and fit the mousse as it balanced off the somehow heavy taste of the toblerone mousse with the freshness of the passionfruit. The mango pieces were a bit too big for my taste. Still, the desert overall was very good.

The prices of the dishes are absolutely okay and you also find quite some good wines on the menu. We went for a Bricco Paradiso, Il Falchetto, 2009, Barbera d’Asti (CHF 64.00). The mineral water (8DL; CHF 8.50) as well as the white wine to start the evening, a Grüner Veltliner (CHF 8.50) are fair in price.

Besides the very good dishes, there is more to the restaurant Camino. First of all, the interior. The place is just extremly ncie (or should I say cute). There are not many tables (only space for max. 20 persons). And if you are there early and only two of you, then you should absolutely get the separée right next to the entrance. It is a little (but still rather spacy) room where you can see everyone who gets in and out but you are kind of away from the bunch and while the rest of the restaurant can get a bit loud, you got your perfect calmness back there. Also, decoration-wise the place is great.

Last but not least, the service which is offered by the waitresses is great. They are very attentive (I only had to refill my wine glass by myself one time, which is okay given the location in the separée – still it should not happen), extremly friendly and know when to wait until both have finished, when to take the plates, and so on. Overall, great service.

We also got to talk to one of the two owners (or responsibles) and she told us quite openly about the difficulties they had in the beginning and the fact that they grow bigger (in the meaning of having a larger crowd of customers, etc.) and are on track. Good to hear that when new restaurants of such a quality have actual chances of surviving long-term.

In any case, to sum it up: The Restaurant Camino is a beautiful place to have dinner with a great atmosphere, very good food and service – and all for reasonable prices.

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Contact Details:

Restaurant Camino

Freischützgasse 4

8004 Zürich (CH)

Tel.. +41 44 240 21 21

Homepage: http://www.restaurant-camino.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.