Restaurant Les Armures

Don't just turn up and expect a table as this place is very popular, but do pop along and reserve as it is worth it! We did just that and went along at lunch time to look at it and reserved for that evening, we could only have the 7pm slot and had to be out by 8.45pm but at least we got it on the same day! This is the oldest cafe/restaurant in Geneva (so it says) and in the very heart of the old town tucked down the side of the Armoury. We ate outside as it was a lovely evening, well it was the table we were offered, but I noticed it has a pretty large inside dining space for those winter months. I had Swiss onion soup, shared a mixed salad, fondue with potato's, ice cream, martini, and a glass of white wine - it is not cheap so make sure you budget! All was delicious and I left absolutely stuffed so despite its location, history and popularity it serves up high quality, beautifully presented food in sensible portion sizes. Some of the most popular city restaurants serve up such tiny portions (because they can get away with it) you feel you need to pop into a take away afterwards. Not here, my advice is come hungry. My partner had the cold asparagus soup (yeah cold but was really tasty), shared a mixed salad, cold beef with chips, and ice cream (he ordered sorbet but they brought ice cream, he didn't mind), martini, and glass of white wine. If I had one, not true complaint I suppose more observation it is that people smoke everywhere so you do get a whiff throughout your meal. It didn't overly bother me but I would have had a nicer time without it. One table next to us has one smoker and 2 vapours all of which did so at every available moment between courses and sometimes during! As i say I can't say I cared that much as the evening was still and it all headed upwards, I might have been miffed had I been getting it full on. The staff are attentive without being too much, very friendly and happy to suggest food and wine. They all spoke English, although we did speak French so not a problem for us, so book and eat with confidence. The menu had English below so I knew exactly what I was ordering, my reading of French is not good enough for ordering a meal trying to avoid meat! Good place if you are veggie but not so good for a vegan I suspect!