Maison Manesse – Restaurant Review

Restaurant Manesse – Cubism on your plate

The Location:  Maison Manesse is located at unusual location close by Manessehof and not to be confused by Restaurant Manesse. On the way we pass by a restaurant called Restaurant Manesse which specializes on Turkish food but 5 minutes later the Kafkaesque journey ends and Maison Manesse’s stylish wooden entrance door, complete with a video screen,  is finally spotted. Fabian Spiguel and Migul Ledesma who helms the kitchen, opened the restaurant roughly 7 months ago and have renovated the location very tastefully.

Ambiance

The interior is kept in white black and the painted white wooden beam creates an intimate, rustic and pleasingly casual ambiance. The tiny restaurant can host roughly 20 people. The lively crowd is basically a mix of everything; hipsters, bankers and foodies fill up the small dining room. This is not your typical upscale fine dining restaurant and unlike other restaurants in the same segment, the service at Maison Manesse is very amiable and relaxed.

Menu

This is Zurich’s tiniest menu – and we mean literally. The menu comes in the size of playing cards and features a manageable and innovative choice of 10 dishes and 3 deserts. You can choose amongst a 3 and a 4 course menu or opt for your individual choice of dishes.

Despite the small-plate premise, many of the dishes actually do pretty well in the price to portion ratio, so it’s all too easy to over-order. To start, there is goat cheese with a delicious fruity jam, oysters with avocado and burrata with sashimi of citrus fruit. The “Onsen” egg ( an egg boiled at 63 degrees for an hour) on dark bread and with additional flavours fused together produce a delicious result. The idea is not nouveau however and we had a very similar dish at another restaurant already. The combination of potatoes with mushrooms and perigord truffle with its different textures is interesting. To finish off,  we can’t resist the almond honey cake which sounds dainty, tastes heavenly and brings our indulgences to an end. Every dish is artfully presented and shows the chef’s passion for food.

Conclusion

Maison Manesse offers very innovative, upscale cuisine in a refreshingly relaxed and trendy ambiance.

€€€