Situated on the west bank of the River Limmat in Zurich with tables outside, Cafe Wuhre is an ideal place to have lunch on a warm sunny day such as it was at the time of my visit. It was around 1.30pm and notices on the tables advertised lunch from 11am to 2pm only, so we thought we had better check that it was not too late. We asked a middle-aged waitress inside the cafe if she spoke English, but she indicated to us to wait and beckoned a younger waitress. When the younger one came over she told us that we were indeed in time for lunch. We went outside again and found that a table right beside the river had just been vacated, so we sat ourselves down right away. The tables are actually small round ones in rows of three, so one of these remained empty but anyone else arriving would have been free to sit there. We were glad that there were parasols as the temperature that day reached 31 degrees Celsius.
The waitress brought menus, and we all thought salad would be the best thing on a hot day. I chose a tuna salad while my son and his partner both decided on the chicken curry salad. When they asked for a light beer each, the waitress claimed that she would bring the very best Swiss beer. I ordered an orange juice which came in an attractively shaped glass. I do, however, lament the fact that fruit juice in Switzerland almost always comes in a 2 dl (200 ml) serving, which does not go very far in hot weather. A basket of four slices of granary bread was brought at the same time as the drinks.
It wasn't long before the waitress came out with our salads, which were served in round white bowls. My tuna was dressed with herbs and oil, and the accompanying salad consisted of lettuce, cucumber, tomato and onion rings. It was very good, but the memory of the wonderful tuna salad I had had at the Tenth Hole Tearoom was still very vivid, and there was really no comparison. My son and his partner enjoyed their chicken curry salads, which they said resembled coronation chicken and were served with rice and lettuce. I asked if their Cardinal beer was the best they had had in Switzerland, to which they replied that whilst good, they had had a slightly better one the previous day.
Desserts at Cafe Wuhre seemed to revolve mainly around ice cream and cream, and we decided not to let ourselves be tempted.
The location of Cafe Wuhre is perfect in fine weather if you are lucky enough to get a table from which you have a view of the river and the buildings on the eastern side of Zurich, notable the Grossmunster (cathedral) with its two towers. The interior of the cafe looked very comfortable with easy chairs, and original contemporary works of art added to the stylish feel.
There was just one ladies' toilet at the cafe and it was clean enough.
Our bill came to 85 Swiss Francs altogether – about £50. A service charge is added automatically, so there is no need to leave a tip. We were able to pay by debit card.
Cafe Wuhre is in an ideal location, has excellent service and a high standard of cleanliness. I would recommend it, and it is of course a place where you could just stop and relax over a drink if you did not want a full meal.
Cafe Wuhre Wuhre 11 CH-8001 Zurich Switzerland
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Cafe Wuhre, Zurich
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Well, Duncan did say that prices were expensive in Switzerland (when he was promoting the country in the "Spacemonkey's World Cup Challenge" reviews ~ June 2006) . . . but, like Peter, I do like the views!
. . . ♥ jes ♥