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Adler's Swiss Chuchi
Adler's Swiss Chuchi may be touristy, but it remains one of the best places in the city to enjoy decent, simple versions of national specialities. Watch out for their fondue and the raclette (melted cheese bolstered with rib-lining additions like ham and potatoes). A great cockle-warming experience.
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Angkor
Angkor's opulent Oriental interior and papyrus menu of authentically spicy Thai, Cambodian, Japanese and Chinese cuisine more than makes up for its concrete-wrapped Technopark location.
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Blindekuh
Blindekuh (Blind Cow) offers a fresh perspective on the balance of the senses by offering meals served in darkness. There are quite a few of these eat-in-the-dark restaurants around the world now, but this was the original, designed to give you a small taste of what it feels to be without sight. Book a table and see if you can manage to eat your meal without picking it up in your fingers. You're more dexterous than most if you can!
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Caduff's Wine Loft
A light-infused but deliberately understated interior draws your attention to the wine behind the long bar here. There are 2500 varieties on offer, which the waiters will helpfully match to your Mediterranean/Swiss meal.
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Café Du Pont
There's no question this is a kitschy spot that takes the movie scene a little overboard - all the entrées are named for classic films and TV screens periodically play previews. Still the cavernous place (think industrial) has a feisty vibe. The mostly American menu serves lots of Tex-Mex, pasta, burger and seafood dishes with better than average results. A favourite with the expat community, it's also a good (and noisy) spot to bring the family.
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Café Schober
With marble columns, huge bouquets of flowers tied with ribbons to ceiling arches and little nooks and crannies, this chocolate shop-cum-cafe really looks like something from a picture book. It serves a serious hot chocolate, too - made from real schoggi (chocolate) instead of cocoa powder, and infused with rum or whisky should you wish.
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Café Zähringer
Zürich's cuisine is not exactly known for its kindness to animals, but there are a few places where meat-spurners can get a feed. Café Zähringer is a groovy alternative-style café, serving up mostly organic, vegetarian food around communal tables. Pull up a chair and make friends over the lentils.
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Eat And Meet/Schipfe 16
A pleasant dining room overlooking the Limmat River from the historic Schipfe area, this serves humble lunches, from Mediterranean to Indian to Swiss.
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Giesserei
This former factory in Oerlikon is a winner with its scuffed post-industrial atmosphere and pared-down menu (three starters, three mains and three desserts). Sufficient hip customers offset the suits from nearby PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Take tram No 11 to Regensbergbrücke.
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Hiltl
Hiltl has been a fixture of the Zürich health-nut scene since the turn of the century. It endured some lean times as it tried to establish itself in a hostile, meat-munching culture, but these days its combination of stylish vegetarian dishes and warm, family-run ambience pull in the crowds.
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Il Posito Solito
A meeting spot for the city's young trendsetters, this hectic, familiar Italian eatery reputedly serves Zürich's best pizzas. While not entirely convinced on that front, we'll always be tempted back by the pumpkin gnocchi and other homemade pasta.
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Josef
A Züri-West stalwart, Josef frequently changes it décor and Swiss-Italian menu, but always has a good wine list and remains constantly popular with the 'in' set, even if just for a drink.
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Kronenhalle
This is Zürich's top restaurant and it is a very upmarket brasserie-style establishment upholding old-fashioned standards of service but with some very modernist (and expensive) artworks on the walls. You'll spot works by Chagall, Picasso and Matisse. Giacometti made the brass lamps in the bar. The food is excellent.
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LaSalle
Treat yourself to fantastic modern Italian cuisine inside this trendy former warehouse (the so-called Schiffbauhaus). A spectacular glass cube inside the outer walls is bedecked with chandeliers and houses the dining area, while Zürich's beautiful people pose at the nearby long bar.
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Le Dezaley
Tucked away in an alley below the Grossmünster, this is a little part of French Switzerland in Zürich and regarded as one of the places to try fondue.
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Lily's Stomach Supply
This trendy noodle-bar's convenient location and casual, upbeat atmosphere is what's most appealing, although its food is generally quite respectable.
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Mollino Pizzeria Ristorante
Head to this lively restaurant for mouth-watering pizzas, delicious cappuccino and exquisite lake views. Sit outside when it's warm, inside amid the cheery frescos when it's blustery.
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Restaurant Kropf
Notable for its historic interior, with marble columns and ceiling murals, Kropf is more favoured by locals for its hearty Swiss staples and fine beers.
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Schoffel
On weekend mornings, locals flock to this café for a leisurely coffee and newspaper read within the cheery yellow modern-art-filled walls. Soups, salads and big bowls of yogurt and fruit are on the menu.
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Seidenspinner
A favourite with the media and fashion crowd (it's attached to a leading fabric design shop), Silk-spinner boasts an extravagant interior, with huge flower arrangements and shards of mirrored glass covering the walls. Russian stroganoff and borsch stand out on a mainly modern international menu.
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Spaghetti Factory
With a fun, buzzing atmosphere, this restaurant serves delicious bowls of its namesake dish (22 choices). The spaghetti with pesto sauce is delicious. The place often has long lines. Portions are just right.
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Spice Gourmet
It's well worth the short trip south of the centre to eat in the familiar surrounds of this 30-seat restaurant/shop, whose menu travels between India, Southeast Asia and South America.
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Sternen Grill
This is the city's most famous - and busiest - sausage stand; just follow the crowds streaming in for a tasty grease fest.
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Tibits by Hiltl
Tibits is where with-it, health-conscious Zürchers head for a light bite when meeting friends. There's a tasty vegetarian buffet, as well as fresh fruit juices, coffees and cake.
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Zeughauskeller
The menu at this huge, atmospheric beer hall offers 20 different kinds of sausages in eight languages, as well as numerous other Swiss specialities of carnivorous and vegetarian varieties.






