Ristorante Grotto Cercera — Restaurant in Circolo di Mendrisio

I entered the restaurant at 11:25 am as my train was leaving at 13:30 and the breakfast buffet I had at 07:30 am at the Coronado Hotel (a 10 minute walk) did not satisfy me.

Grotto Cercera has a lively atmosphere ; a group of 12 - 13 local men in their 60's and 70's who are surely regulars and probably meet there every Sunday for many years was already there as well as the chef.

They spoke in the distinct dialect of the canton of Ticino : an interesting experience!

I sat on my own with an aperitif as the lovely waitress told me lunch will start at 12:00.

The waitress brought me prosciutto and cheese and white wine.

I asked her to replace the prosciutto with olives which she did (the plate of prosciutto was very large. Had I eaten it I wouldn't have had space left for anything else).

The white wine was probably a fresh local wine. It was pleasant and the amount in the wine glass was surprisingly generous.

The cheese chunks were good but the olives were too salty.

The group of men left at 11:55 am as if they felt their presence was not appropriate when families came to dine (surprisingly four parties appeared at 11:56 - 12:00. The Swiss are notorious for being punctual).

I explained to the waitress that my train leaves at 13:15 and they kindly made sure my food came before all others which was a sweet gesture.

The beef fillet with peppercorn sauce was very good in terms of the meat 🥩 quality.

I asked it medium and for it to be even better I would have kept it on the frying pan for another 45 - 60 seconds. As you can see in the photo the meat was borderline medium rare.

Unfortunately, the sauce was too salty. The french fries also had salt on them which made it worse.

The first rule in cooking is you can always add salt but never subtract so perhaps the locals are aware of the chef's habit and ask for less salty food but I had no way to know.

For dessert I had profiteroles. They were absolutely delicious.

The entire meal plus a one liter bottle of sparkling Swiss mineral water (including the aperitif) set me back only 47.50 CHF (not including the tip which I added)

Having visited five cantons in Switzerland three times this year I dare to speculate it is the best value for money establishment in the eateries that qualify as proper restaurants range in CH but it would be a lot better had the chef paid more attention...

This a part of an indoor bocce court and clearly a facility for locals.

I was able to order dinner with my very broken Italian and the meal was fantastic. The menu has a lot of options including a children's menu. There's even a bar.

The service is friendly and accommodating but be prepared for a non-tourist experience. The menus are only in Italian and our server didn't speak English. No harm no foul but set your...

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