GRAND CENTRAL @ Halles de l'Île — Restaurant in Geneva

What is wrong with Geneva? Why can't this city do anything right?

Food halls are not a new concept: in my home town, Cape Town, they have been around for 15 or 20 years. They are hugely popular and very successful, and you can eat amazing food in a vibrant setting. Food halls are common in many cities around the world, and I have been to many.

So I was really happy to see that one had opened at Halles de l'ile, a beautiful, under utilised space close to where I live. But because this is Geneva, it's not a proper food hall at all.

I have been to Grand Central twice - firstly, on a Saturday afternoon, which in any normal city would be prime time. Only a few places were open, and when I tried to order, I was told "come back in an hour, we're not ready yet".

(The website says open 10am - midnight, so I think it's quite reasonable to expect to find food on a Saturday afternoon)

I can back later and got something decent to eat. Fair enough.

The second time I went was a Sunday night. Only one place was open, and it was so backed up with Uber eats orders that I felt like I was a real inconvenience as an actual physical customer.

It took 50 minutes to get cold food.

If you're going to run a dark kitchen, @blaqk burger, do it from a remote location, not a food hall.

So in all, great idea, great space, but a total failure in execution. I went there twice, hungry, hoping for a quick and tasty meal, and I was...

The venue was really nice especially the terrace but the food quality and especially the behavior of the chef was an absolute no go. We were there with an event with "flying buffet". But it was not flying. First they denied to serve the people sitting outside. Then when we finally got food and tried to take two pieces of the tiny dishes, the waiter denied and said very rough : "No! The chef said only one at a time" and pulled the food away. The drinks were OK but really high priced. The DJ was a nice guy and the music was good to have a party with people with different music tastes.

The chef seemed pissed and was sitting at the bar looking angry at everyone. Very professional behavior 😂

Even the other employees tried to tell him that he should just give the food to the people who already started cueing up in front of the kitchen but he insisted until the organizers went to talk to him and made clear to him how unsatisfied everyone was.

I don't know whats wrong with this guy but a chef like this is a good reason to avoid a brasserie. No matter how nice the location is. If they denie what you have paid for upfront this place is not worth a...

We went there for brunch. The food was of very poor quality. Cheap salmon, canned salads, low end sausages. Hygiene quite questionable. The salads and the salmon were under the hot sun. As a result the salmon and the salads were warm. No one from the staff was close to the buffet. As a result the whole buffet area was full of clutter. No fresh fruits, or fresh juices. Pastries were below average. If you wanted to get something healthy the only options were salads with canned ingredients and cold scramble eggs. Staff was constantly overwhelmed and extremely slow. It took us 15’ waiting in a queue to pay. If you want to reach the terrace, you need to walk through a cleaning area / kitchen which is not pleasant at all. The price - 40chf for a branch is ridiculous.... this is a very nice building, literally on top of the river but the place needs urgently to change ownership in order to become a decent...