Le Rawyl — Attraction in Crans-Montana

We first dined here a year ago with a couple of friends who are serious food fanatics. All of us were impressed by the meal, the wine and the service. Consequently, when we had some American visitors over Xmas who are equally dedicated foodies, we were curious to get their opinion this new place on the Valais gastronomic map. It was clearly better than the last time and in the interim its evaluation by Gault & Millau increased from a 14 to a 15 which confirmed our previous personal evaluation. This time all of us agreed that it was yet again worth yet an additional G&M point. We all had the same 5 plate tasting menu. We started with a series of 4 creative amuse bouchées which were uniformly delightful, and intense in flavor. This was followed by the 5–course tasting menu which involved foie gras, scallops, salsify, venison and finally, a chocolate extravaganza. For me 4 of the 5 dishes were perfect and the other (salsify) was very good but I am not a really a salsify fanatic. We were all enthusiastic about the service, which was excellent. The accompanying 5 wines were in good accord with the food served. With one exception they were all the highest quality local wines. The exception was actually an old favorite of mine, an excellent Red Banyuls from the southwest of France which was served with the venison at the end of the meal. A perfect termination for a really exceptional meal.

In general, I am negative about complex multiple course “gastronomic menus”. I prefer to choose fewer courses myself that I know that I like, rather than be overwhelmed by an excessive variety of dishes chosen by somebody with unknown taste preferences. I got out voted by my table mates into having the chef to make the choice of our meal's composition. He did it brilliantly and I would happily let him make the choices the next time we eat with him. Our joint opinion was our meal was worth a G.M.16 or 17 and could go even higher...

We had our Christmas dinner here. The food was really good and to the highest standard, tasty, Swiss, great presentation; the environment inside the restaurant was very Christmas-y and cozy. We did not like the service, which was less than average for this type of restaurant: inattentive and most importantly rushed. Parking is not good, no one welcomed us at the door, All the evening we had the feeling that the waiters were aiming to serve us as quickly as possible and make us leave: they were serving meals too quickly, not allowing for socializing time in between, at the end they brought us a bill without us asking for it, after which at 22.20 they asked everyone to leave. This was surprising, considering that the Christmas menu was an 8-tier menu. We will not go there again. This was unfortunate, considering that the food was really amazing. In reply to the restaurant: thank you, I’m very well aware of the virus and that is great that you are following the rules, much respect to you. We indeed felt very safe in the restaurant in that respect. It would have been beneficial if you had informed us in advance or at least from the beginning of the evening about the situation, so that we could have arrived earlier, as well as set our expectations. The specific rules in cantons are different - please do not assume your tourist-clients know all of them. For example, we did not. The way you replied once again demonstrates your...

We absolutely loved it! It's definitely not cheap but worth every penny. Everything is sourced localy including the excellent selection of wines that were accompanying the courses. Just be aware they are no longer a bistro but a haute cuisine restaurant. They changed style...