Lulu Restaurant, Café & Bar — Restaurant in Zurich

LULU, Zürich — A Peclard Production in Three Acts: Faux Provence, Lukewarm Risotto, and a Vanishing Waiter

I had sworn—sworn—never to step foot in another Michel Peclard production. Life’s too short for edible wallpaper and "concept dining" served with a side of ego. But alas, Zürich’s social hydra reared its well-moisturized head, and after being nudged by about everyone, I caved: “Lulu is different,” they said. “You’ll love it,” they said.

Well. Let’s discuss.

Yes, it’s different. This time, it wasn’t the food that offended me. It was the service—a theatrical tragedy in three prolonged acts.

ACT I: A Conceptual Copy-Paste Lulu clearly dreams of Saint-Tropez. Think: crudités, shaved artichokes, risotto pretending it summered in Provence. It’s a clone of every “south of France chic” bistro concept that’s ever been drawn up on a linen napkin by someone wearing too much Diptyque. The food? Not terrible. Edible. Acceptable. The crudités arrived like they'd been plucked from the designer garden of a mildly anxious influencer. The artichokes were the kind of "fine" that pairs well with lukewarm conversation and tepid rosé. The risotto? Texturally confused and spiritually absent — but not offensive. That title belongs to…

ACT II: The Service Pantomime Ah yes, the service — a well-meaning, smiling catastrophe in slow motion. Imagine ordering wine and receiving it after the mains, as if Bacchus himself had to pedal it in on a cargo bike from the Rhône valley. It took 15 minutes—fifteen—before anyone even approached our table. And when I dared to ask for pepper (to resuscitate the aforementioned bland risotto), I might as well have launched a diplomatic request to the UN. It arrived after the plate had been cleared.

ACT III: The Eternal Bill The pièce de résistance: the bill. We asked. We waited. We aged. Twenty-five full minutes of stares into the void, like forgotten aristocrats on the balcony of a crumbling Riviera palace. Eventually, it came — as if summoned by sheer despair and the weight of unspoken rage.

FINAL VERDICT: Lulu is the gastronomic equivalent of a rich kid with a trust fund and no ambition. Pretty ideas, poorly executed. If this is the best of Peclard’s empire, the bar must be buried somewhere beneath the Limmat. Would I return? Only if I’ve lost my watch, my will to live, and my...

Was a solid 4 1-year ago (nice setting, nice food, great service) and was a big disappointment yesterday: food was just partially bad, partially just OK. Fried artichoke were clearly left too long frying to the point only 4 pieces were eatable, the rest looking like overburnt left-overs from the frying pan. Avocado with shrimp was blend. Mussels were just OK service was inexistant: Wine bottle ordered at same time as meal but arrived a good 15 minutes after starters arrived. Wine pouring was never done except by myself, and we finished this great service by getting the bill from the table next to us.... Only noticed it as I usually never check but was bored waiting for the waitress to come with the credit card machine so decided to check and then noticed it was full of mistakes as was the bill from the table next to us (which was also complaining about service and had to wait a solid 20 minutes to get their steaks taken back as cooking was wrong. also when arrived, had to wait quite a long time to be greeted.

Not sure how it went so much down so quickly but I hope they turn things...

I went for dinner at Lulu. While the pasta was great, the mussels were extremely fishy and tasted old (I eat mussels often, so I know when they’re not fresh). We sent them back to the kitchen but were still charged for them. We had so many flies around the mussels which normally indicates that seafood is older. The manager did say he tried my mussels and they fine lol. When we send it back - at no point we got told that he think the mussels are fine and they just let us order something else. If they would have mentioned that they think nothing is wrong with mussels. We probably wouldn’t have ordered an extra meal.

On top of that, the service was disappointing - we waited far too long both to place our order and to pay the bill. The manager was particularly rude, although I will say the servers did their best.

This place has potential, but the management and team training definitely need...