Restaurant Greulich, Hermann-Greulich Strasse, Zurich

Rettichpilzravioli mit Salat und Rüeblichip

Coquilles St. Jacques auf Krautstiel mit Perlzwiebel

Thonfish auf Lauch und Brot mit weissen Bohnen

Saibling auf Linsen mit Tomate

Entenleber mit Ochsenschwanz

The Greulich named itself after the street it’s located on, quite a decent idea if you have an uncommon address such as Herman-Greulich-Strasse 56. The reception of the hotel also doubles as the host which welcomes you to your table, pretty neat, because it guarantees that there is always someone there to greet you. The Greulich boast 16 Gault Millau points and depicts itself as a place with spanish, catalan and oriental influences. I was getting excited to eat here. The maitre d’ was quick to attend to us and spoke fluent swiss german, I was a bit disappointed with the regular waitresses, their german skills were not up to par. In a dining establishmend of this class, perfect german is a must. We shifted our attention to the oliveoil on the table, it tasted of fresh olives and it had a clear and transparant complexion. I asked the maitre d’ what oliveoil it was, he told me knowingly that it was a Greek one. Five minutes later he reappears smiling saying he was mistaken and that it was from Spain and is being imported on a private basis to Switzerland through Meier & Rüegg. I ordered the 6 course menu, which is the same as the 7 course menu, save the dessert. In terms of food the Greulich lived up to it’s reputation, most of the dishes I had of the menu were good, with some minor detractions. It started with a Ravioli (no dough, radish circles) and mushrooms. Nice balance of sweetness and acidity, the salad and the carrot chip in the middle were forgettable, the raviolis nice. Followed by a perfect scallop on swiss chard and a confusing pearl onion, skip the onion and enjoy the scallop. The next dish consisted of boring beans and a lovely seared tuna on leeks served on a cocodolli (?), which is a crunchy bread. A great exercise in texture – from soft and feeble (tuna) to fibered (leek) and ending with a crunch (bread). A sweet and luscious tomato was served on top of a charr (Saibling) and lentils with green beans. I am a fan of tomatoes and together with the charr and the lentils that was a very harmonious triad. The green beans added a nice texture change, to the softer lentils. I like the english word of offal in cooking which refers to products which are typically not used that often, such as sweetbreads, lungs or oxtail. The last dish was a piece of duck liver served on top of oxtail meat. I liked it very much since it was intense, rich and very creamy as well as a perfect example to show that a heavy red wine still works best with red meat. I finished with some cheese and was a bit disappointed, that the waitress had to read every cheese from a piece of paper. She was also too generous in the amounts per serving. Luckily I didn’t order any dessert, since a friandise platter was served with another half dozen of sweets. Greulich is an expensive gourmet restaurant which fulfills on its promise of high-quality, imaginative food of spanish/catalan decent (I wasn’t to sure of the oriental influence). On the downside, if only 8 diners are left in the main dining room and are lingering over coffee, smoking should be allowed. We moved to the bar, as did most of the other guests. Prices:

Rechnung

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10 Nov 2008