Café du Soleil — Restaurant in Geneva

Made a reservation for one, with intent to bring really big business to the restaurant. There was a lot of prejudice for an English-speaking customer, let alone a solo traveler. Upon making a reservation, I was told that I can sit upstairs only if I leave by 8pm. I’ve never experienced such an ordeal, not even from a street food bench. Ordered still water, fondue, malakoff, along with their most expensive steak which came with chips (fried cut potatoes) and salad. The salad was the most delicious. The water, brought to me in an open Evian bottle, I didn’t even see the waiter open it or have the cap, which tasted an awful lot like tap water. I wouldn’t mind them bringing tap water to the table, just be real about it. Mind you, in Europe, Evian is on the same caliber as Poland Spring. The fondue, was Gruyere.. but it tasted like mass produced cheese. This makes sense to keep up with high volume of customers. To say that this is the best fondue in Geneve is a stretch. This seems like a really big tourist trap, which tries to sell this “authentic experience.” There is way too much hype about this place. I always get nervous when there are over 1,000 reviews, mainly from tourists, not locals, that claim this to be an amazingly delicious authentic experience. Is the food bad? No, it’s not. It’s average, hence the 3 stars. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that this fondue is the best, there are many places that I’m sure are much better. The steak, while the cooking style was blue rare, is was still very chewy. The cut of the meat may not have been the best, despite the title. I may have ordered a lot, but that didn’t deter my tastebuds from experiencing that steak. Also, many Americans or customers who didn’t speak French, or looked American, were seated in a small back room. This is a Tourist Trap. I anticipate a very defensive message from the owner, or claim a misunderstanding but this is my truth. Nothing was misunderstood, as we both spoke perfect English. As for the price, the price is very average for Switzerland, can’t complain there. I just don’t understand the 4+ stars. There was nothing extraordinary about this place. Forget the seating arrangement, or the absurd reservation remark.. this is a review on the food alone. I’m not going to make a big deal about it, but definitely something to improve on for next time. I spent all of the night and following morning bedridden with suspected E.coli poisoning. I won’t be coming...

In my experience it’s generally a good meal at this restaurant, and portions are generous, but occasionally the experience is poor. Rating is for latest visit this week:

The visit week was disappointing. Previous visit was pre-COVID.

They seem to have fewer staff now. They are running around quite stressed and making several mistakes - this is in the upstairs section. However, they are pleasant and try to be helpful and correct mistakes.

Our wine from a pot was clearly ordered Chasselas, but was substituted for cheaper Aligoté without informing us. I noticed because of the taste and quality, and they almost admitted it. I didn’t check if the bill was adjusted or not, someone else was paying.

The next wine we tried was rosé, but they had none from Switzerland, only French and it was too sweet for me, unlike Swiss rosé.

Malakoff was mediocre - too heavy cheese mix (it should be light and fluffy) and it was fried for too long / slightly burnt. There was way too much lettuce in the mixed salad and it was messily presented, everything thrown on.

Fondue was OK, but needed more cheese, it was quite thin unlike previous times.

After several visits I’ve concluded in my personal opinion that this once excellent and unique cafe is now too much geared towards the tourist and the international community markets. It seems they are generally steered to eat in the newer upstairs dining room. I had better food downstairs last times.

For your first experience of Swiss food you’ll most likely enjoy it, especially the charming look and feel of the 400 year old cafe. Downstairs is nicer than upstairs.

After a visit you may find better elsewhere, especially outside of Geneve, or you may continue to be satisfied. I hope my next visit will be 5...

(I see just a month ago, another coeliac had a bad experience, avoid this place!) I’m coeliac so I was really excited when I seen they offer gluten free bread with their fondue. We were a large group and I was the only person who had to have gluten free, as we ordered I was told I would have to have my own pot of fondue so others wouldn’t contaminate (makes total sense, I was happy they were handling this the right way).

About 20 minutes later as all the cheese comes out and everyone at my table has their regular bread delivered over, I am still waiting for my gluten free bread. It had taken another 5 minutes for the waiter to tell me they didn’t have gluten free bread… why they could not have told me this when I ordered or at least when the order was handed to the kitchen, I don’t know. I would not have ordered food here had I known there was no gluten free bread.

They told me they could make an arrangement of vegetables for me instead which I reluctantly accepted (I was in a large group of people eating, I wasn’t going to leave on my own). Another 5 mins later, the waiter gives me a plate of brick-hard carrots, cucumber and tomatoes - all of which does not go with fondue (the cheese does not stick tomato or cucumber). I had absolutely no idea how they thought this would somehow be an acceptable alternative - as they were still charging me for the price of gluten free bread.

This was such a underwhelming experience, and when you are expected to pay so much for a dinner, I expect it to be up to high standard. In groups, you’re encouraged to share fondue so whilst everyone was able to divide their bill, I was paying full price for my single pot. Very poor,...