Victoria Restaurant — Restaurant in Meiringen

We have eaten twice at this restaurant, trying both their "Bistro" menu and fine dining menu; once inside in Winter, once on the terrace.

I have very mixed feelings, as the food is good, the staff is warm and helpful, but the service is slow and poor. More specifically: Food: generally good, probably better than most other options in the region. It is definitely in line with their 15/20 Gault Millau (but without sufficient creativity or sophistication to bring it to a Michelin star). It is nice that they have two menus: a bistro, which is cheaper and more classic, and a fine-dining. There is definitely a difference in the price and taste/presentation between both menus, but both can be worth it depending on your preferences. Price: on the high end for Meiringen but not too expensive compared to what you would see in Zurich for this quality level. Interior: modern and classy inside and outside. In winter, they had set a candle dinner with hundreds of candles throughout the restaurant. You sit in the same tables no matter whether you eat the bistro or the fine dining menu. Staff and service: that's where it gets complicated. They were very nice and helpful, but everything seemed to go wrong (especially on our second time). The main issue was the lack of attention of the staff. After 10 minutes, nobody had come to give us a menu or take our drinks order, so we had to call someone. We were not asked what kind of cooking we wanted for our steak. After 35 minutes, we still hadn't received bread or the amuse-bouche, so we also had to call someone. Our glass of water had also been empty for a while, and nobody had come to fill it until we asked (we couldn't do it ourselves as they had kept the bottle). My wife told them that we were dissatisfied, and they apologized, but the service didn't improve anyway. When the amuse-bouche arrived, nobody told us what we were eating; we had to guess what it was. When the bread arrived, the butter was forgotten. After more complaints from us, they gave us genuine apologies and told that most of the staff was new. This may be true and explain some part of it, but unfortunately, our previous dinner 5 months ago had several of the same issues, suggesting a chronic problem...

visited June 2024

The service and dishes were fantastic with one unfortunate exception. This is a very upscale place with excellent food. The venison was some of the best I've had, and paired nicely with the sauce and ravioli.

The one complaint I have is the dessert brownie. It was unfortunately among the worst brownies I've had (tiny, dry, crumbly ,flavorless, room temp). The ice cream accompanying it was just ok. Overall the dessert course was very disappointing and the cause of the poor rating. Note that I am American.

Again, everything besides the dessert was a wonderful experience and the restaurant as a whole is definitely worth a visit if it's in the budget. ...

We’re glad we found a restaurant in Meiringen that serves creative dishes. The menu is limited, which is always a good sign of freshness. You can choose between more sophisticated, high-end plates or simpler options like a burger from the Bistrot Menu. The ambiance is a bit on the cold side and not the most welcoming, but very calm.

The food, however, was excellent. We shared a duck liver served with mango and wasabi gelato, which was absolutely divine. My main dish, pintade served with ravioli, baby spinach, peas, lemon, and tomato confit, was very well executed. A pure delight. We’ll certainly be back next time...