I started my day with a good masala chai and I head to the city where I had tonnes of things to do before lunch. After having walked for about 3 hours I was definiitely getting hungry and in need of a nice warm meal followed by an Espresso.
So I head to the Raclette factory which is in the heart of the old town, a very prime location, surrounded by many historical jewels like the Zunfthaus zur Schmeiden on the right, and in the front is the Stussifhof fountian and towards its right is the Rindermarkt and the place is located at Rindermarkt 1 and this building itself is quite historical. Its a Chalet kind of a building and inside you can feel a mix of modern and Chalet like.
As I headed for an early lunch, around 12.00 isch it was quite empty. There were two British guys having there rather early beer, I guess you could do that on a friday. Anyways I asked for a simple old fashioned/traditional Raclette with boiled potatoes, melted nature Raclette cheese, a few pickles which I love, especially the chornichos. They serve you a rather good portion and its good value for money for 13.50 per portion. They use all the local produce and the quality of food is good. Its also a great place for vegetarians too. And other then Racelette they also have one type of Soup everyday. The soup costs 8 Chf and its a good portion of Soup served with a slice of bread. So on a chili day, it serves us right!
To drink I took Züri Wasser (Zürich Water) which the Restaurants serve here. Its again supporting the Zürich Water and a bottle of Water will cost you 2.50 Chf and of course the refill is not charged. Pretty good value for money, supporting a good cause and much healthier then a fissy drink. Works for me all the time.
They also serve Flammküchen, which is a very flat and thin Pizza kind of a dish. Its topped with dates, cheese, creme fraiche, onions, leeks meat for meat lovers and its a great comfort food too. Flammküchen comes from the northeast French region and its also very famous in the South of Germany. Its a typical street food type of dish, which you can find a lot in the markets.
The interior is quite casual but its a service resturant, thats a bit of luxury I like. Your cutlery is on the table and also salt-pepper and some spices if you need for your raclette which yours truly always love. They are here since 1985, serving this swiss delicay.
Maira took my order and bought me my Raclette and Naomi made it for me. The two young girls are dressed in crisp Swiss design shirts and are super friendly. I loved the little cozy place, and the thing is it has three big windows looking out the open Stüssihof where in you can sit and see the life passing by. Today I had the opportunity to see this guy playing Gitarre while I started to dig in my meal.
While having my meal I got to know the Geschfätsführer/Manger of the place. To my surprise I came to know that we are neighbors too. Ian who is running the place comes from Nepal/Kathmandu and yours truly comes from Jaipur/Rajasthan. As most my mother's family are in tea business and my Uncle (mama, mother's brother) used to be working at Darjeeling Tea Gardens for a long time. Thats when I had to opportunity to visit the tea gardens in my summer holidays. My Mom and so many of the family members can speak Nepali too, I used to be very shy back then :>
Ian and me turns out are both big fans of the first flush of Darjelling tea and Indian food too. I have promised him to teach him how to make an authetic Indian chai and lets hope that the Raclette factory starts to serve Indian chai too in the future.
So, if you are travelling on a budget, are a student or even not. Do try this Swiss speciality here at the Racelette factory and you will not regret it. You cant miss the place and while in the old town some of the places could be expensive too but this is a great value for money to try something authentic and right in the heart of the city.
How to reach https://goo.gl/maps/JBufaGHXtKk