Hiltl Akademie — Local services in Zurich

One of my favourite vegetarian restaurants in the world (and amazingly the oldest in Europe - who would have guessed it would be in Zurich?). I particularly like their version of the Zuri Geschnetzeltes, served with a very good rosti. Have never actually tried the buffet here as we have a Tibits back in London, so I always order from the menu. It's a fairly upmarket sort of a place, with nice table linen and so on, and can seem quite expensive, especially if you're from outside Switzerland (CHF is quite strong at the moment). However I always make sure to visit every time I'm in Zurich. I think this place is also really popular with non-vegetarians - it's always packed - and I struggle to believe there are really that many...

Rather surprisingly this is one of the older restaurants in Zurich and has been a vegetarian restaurant since it opened in the 1800s!! Who knew there were vegetarians back then?! Anyway, I've only ventured from the buffet once and was hugely disappointed. Stick to the buffet and there is lots of choice, quite good Indian food and a relatively full plate costs about what a main course would elsewhere. Only do the all you can eat if you really are starving as it's pricey. Also they refuse to serve you tap water, or at least they did me, and will only give you these stupidly small bottles of water...annoying but given the lack of decent places to eat not a deal breaker...

Probably the fanciest buffet I've seen so far. There is a huge vegetarian selection including (organic) milk and egg products. Ingredients are clearly marked and they take pride on quality. The place seems to accommodate well all ages. Tip: they have some trolleys with kid stuff which you can bring close to your table and we found it reasonably spacey for families with kids. That being said, it's not very cheap, but this...