Alpenkräuter Restaurant Bären — Restaurant in Lauterbrunnen

Organic/Gut microbiome healthy people who don’t step foot in a McD’s this review will be for you!

If coming to Wengen Switzerland and want to maintain optimum health eat every breakfast and dinner at this establishment. We are slightly seasoned in the area. We have eaten pretty much every where in Wengen. No one else can come close. Every local person will tell you it’s the only place they go. You have to either stay here or book the restaurant in advance. They are always busy and only serve a set number each night.

The chefs really care about REAL food and serve food that is truly local, clean, and balanced. They forage locally for things like mushrooms, edible flowers, and herbs. They make their own foods like sour dough bread, kombucha, pickled vegetables, liquor like Gin, all bake goods, and understand what real milk and butter are. What did I miss? This is not commissary American CISCO food truck delivery cooking. No seed oils here. Swiss food is much cleaner than most food in general but this is from the garden and local farmer style dining. Other places in village make this claim but do not even come close. If you are NOT used to eating this way you may not get it or even taste it.

Try not to be complicated with requests that remove every item from your plate. This is not American glyphosate, bHt dairy filled hog slop. Unless celiacs just shut up and eat! You won’t be sorry.

Americans: (service) There are many cultures that work here over the season. They aren’t all “Hi Y’all welcome, is everything okay sugar pie honey bunch”. Some European cultures barely crack a smile but that doesn’t mean they aren’t happy you are there. The women who run the front of the house are wonderful and if ever feeling uncomfortable you can speak with them. Just roll with it…we are a bit spoiled in the US with all the pleasantries and smiley facial expressions.

If you feel your meal has something wrong say something rather than leave and write a bad R. This place deserves nothing BUT 5’s.

Overall if this restaurant was not in the village we would have to rent a home with a kitchen. We would still love Wengen but I prefer not to cook on vacation. I’m beyond grateful!

Food, regularity, and sleep are everything to maintaining a restful quality vacation especially if you are hiking. This hotel and restaurant deliver every time we visit! You really need to trust me on this when I say “organic” people look no further and book it ALL here. Always be kind and enjoy how you feel after every meal unless of course you over ate which will most likely happen every time ;)

TIP: If this deeply resonated with you on a non toxic level then don’t book your trip 3 days here or there. Stay in Wengen the entire time and use a car you rent parked in Lauterbrunnen (what we do…book parking in advance) or the trains and gondolas to get around. It’s a great home base! You simply can’t find restaurants like this everywhere in Switzerland. It’s...

WOW! It's hard to find the words to describe how much we loved the two dinners we ate here. As hotel guests, we enjoyed the delicious breakfast buffet each morning (our favorite out of 3 different hotel experiences in the area). Cozy breakfast area, fresh foods, delicious coffee, and a lovely staff.

We ate here for dinner on our first night and then again on our last (twice because we loved it that much). The Bären prides itself on cooking fresh produce in accordance with the seasons - freshly gathered chanterelle mushrooms, beautiful edible flowers adorning each dish, and impressively delicious homemade after dinner liqueurs. Freshly baked bread, flavorful tomato-infused butter, delicious blackberry tiramisu and homemade ice cream. YUM. Everything we ate was sensational and left us feeling connected to the seasons of Switzerland as well as its cuisine.

The star of the show here is the EXCELLENT service - our server, Nicole, was an absolute delight. She was knowledgable about all parts of the menu, including the wine list. She made our meal so special! Another shoutout to Melissa, who was incredibly helpful to us at reception as well as around the hotel for meals.

We can't recommend a meal at the Bären...

Very cute restaurant in the hotel. I liked the focus on local seasonal ingredients. The house made kombucha spritz sounded good. Nice wine list by the glass and bottle. The bread with walnuts was really good. I didn’t try the amuse bouche as it was mushroom based but everyone else liked it.

I had the daily special appetizer, smoked local cheese (two slices) with tomato chutney and a salad.(side). The cheese was good, not great. Nice smoky flavor. The side salad had a fruity dressing but nice accompaniment. I loved the salad with pickled veggies and nuts. Really tasty fresh lettuce and liked the variety of veg and nuts. I really enjoyed it.

My friend said the schnitzel was good, not great. We all went for dessert which everyone liked. Pistachio ice cream, affogato, and the petit dessert. The espresso was quite good.

Service was good but spread thin. I would go back as what I...