Du Pont — Restaurant in Zermatt

You find it right in the middle of Zermatt, sitting at a crossroads like it’s been conducting business there since Caesar tried to expense the Alps. You go down a set of old stone steps — steps that probably saw their first body dump back when wool was still currency — and the lights get dimmer, the air gets thicker, and suddenly you’re in The Godfather: Alpine Edition. There’s wood everywhere, shadows, and a man in a sweater who politely tells you where to sit — which, honestly, is scarier than if he hadn’t. The kind of politeness that feels… organized. Not everyone speaks English, but they all speak the language of service. Doors open before you touch them. Chairs get pulled out before you even blink. Smiles so warm they could melt a glacier. It’s either world-class hospitality… or step one of a very classy abduction. I kept waiting for someone to hand me an envelope full of cash and say, “The family appreciates your discretion.”

Then our server appears — a man who looks like he’s seen things — holding not a menu, but a cell phone. He scrolls through photos of dishes like evidence from a culinary crime scene. Each time something came out of the kitchen, he’d glide past our table slowly, holding the plate up to our noses and whispering its name. It was seductive. Terrifying. I started thinking: This is how the Mafia recruits you — through risotto. My buddy — the one with a nose that’s been through the wars — orders a sandwich. Rookie move. What he doesn’t realize is the bread is fermented, spiked with something that tastes suspiciously like bourbon and regret. He takes one bite, his face does the “uh oh” twitch, and he tries to send it back. The server smiles that patient, quiet, Mafia smile. “This is how the locals eat,” he says. My friend says, “I’m not a local.” The entire kitchen starts laughing. Deep, collective, we-own-this-town laughter. I’m pretty sure someone made a phone call after that. To make it right — or maybe to make a point — they bring him a plate of meat, gravy, and potatoes. Heavy, rich, unapologetic. It looked like it had just come from a funeral buffet in Valhalla. He ate in silence, eyes darting toward the door like he was calculating the odds of escape. From my seat,

The food? I loved it. Meat and pasta so flavorfull you would bet Guy Fiarri came up with "Flavor Town" sitting in this very restaurant. My friends said it was ok. But then again, they probably grew up on microwaved chicken nuggets and optimism. I was raised on macaroni elbows and a dusting of Parmesan — the kind of poverty cuisine that builds character and questionable taste. Du Pont isn’t just a restaurant. It’s a front for something much better — flavor with attitude. You walk in a tourist, and walk out questioning your life choices, your friends, and whether you just joined a secret Alpine syndicate.

Would I go back? Absolutely. If...

I’d like to clarify that this was our experience and maybe other people had better luck because the place does have good reviews. Yet, we weren’t so lucky last night for dinner.

I will start wit the positives. The lady, who I assume was the manager, apologized for the unfortunate costumer service. The place is pretty, and you can definitely be attracted from the outside to enter. Our dinner was not ultra expensive compared to what you would expect in Zermatt.

Now, the not so positive part started from the arrival already. In spite of having a reservation, there was a line of people at the door waiting to be seated. After 10 minutes, we were seated in a table and given the menu. It was 8:15 when we arrived, 8:25 when seated, at 8:40 our order was taken which consisted of 1 glass of wine, a black tea, 2 vegetarian rosti and two mixed salads.

I am not exaggerating when I am telling you it was 9:30 and nor drinks nor starter had arrived. At almost 10:00 in the evening we were served the salads and before we even started to eat them, the two main dishes were also thrown at us at the very last minute without even having the chance to finish the starter.

The mixed salad was okeyish but it was drenched in a store bought mayonnaise vinaigrette which makes it even more funny when you think how long it took them to bring it to the table.

The rosti… this place is supposed to be “Zermatt’s oldest restaurant”, hardly there’s anything more Swiss than Rosti which is the easiest thing to make from scratch and yet the one we got was definitely store bought Rosti mix piled up in a plate as a portion with some frozen vegetables reheated on the top, no salt, no sauce, and it was all tepid.

The bland food could have been okey if it would have arrived on time. But the fact that it took them two hours to bring something that clearly was prepared from the supermarket bag rushed at last minute made us very unhappy. We were not expecting Noma style fine dining, but to sell homemade food, the food has to be…home made.

What is more incredible is that throughout the night we could see we were not the only table waiting endlessly to be served. The waiters were completely disorganized and the lady (who we assumed was the manager) had to constantly remind them which table had order that extra portion of raclette already solidified in the plate.

As mentioned at the beginning, when we stood up to leave and were paying the check the lady did apologize for the unfortunate experience and we appreciate that. We also wish other customers have a better experience some...

Disappointing and Uncomfortable Experience.

We chose Du Pont for lunch on 13th September after seeing the good Google reviews. It was our first time in Zermatt, and we wanted to try the fondue experience. As foreigners, we weren’t familiar with the portion sizes, so we ordered a fondue with a sandwich, and later added a sausage with rösti.

The waiter who served us, a man in his mid-40s probably, completely spoiled the meal with his attitude. Initially he seems approachable however things took a turn. When we added the extra main dish, he sarcastically remarked, “YOU MUST BE VERY HUNGRY,” which made us feel judged and he left as were about to clarify why he had to say that is it because of the portion size..

Later, when bringing two of our mains, he muttered “Jesus Christ” and even made the sign of the cross while facing our dishes. Throughout the meal, his tone and the reaction of a nearby couple (behind us) left us feeling laughed at and very uncomfortable. They both gave us dirty looks and glances. We even have parts of this experience vlogged on camera, and it truly ruined the atmosphere. I felt some sort of racism but I did not want to validate it that moment.

To be fair, one of the other waitstaff kindly asked if everything was okay, which we appreciated. Unfortunately, the behavior of the mid-40s waiter overshadowed that. We rushed through our meal just to leave quickly as it felt like we were mock.

Food wise, the fondue and mains was alright, but the service was unacceptable. We were paying customers, hungry and unaware of portion sizes, yet instead of being welcomed, we were treated with sarcasm and disrespect. Like we would pay for the meala t the end of the day i do not get it why they were laughing at our faces.

For our very first Zermatt dining experience, this was truly disappointing. sigh

Dine at your own risk if youre asian. Said what i...