Restaurant Hotel Bourbon - Contemporary Dining & Bar — Restaurant in Zurich

Unfortunately not a great experience this time. I start by saying that I was there 2 other times and everything was great however this time was quite a disappointment.

First, I ordered a glass of their sparkling wine and they bring me a glass of their rose sparkling wine. I explain to the waitress that this is not what I ordered and he replies yes it is sparkling wine.

Yes sure but is rose. So I pointed at the right one on the menu. (Never mind that the rose is by coincidence more expensive). He calls another waitress or boss which tells me that the rose is a better one. Very unpolitely to point this out like this and I can guess as the price is higher but this is still not the point. I just want what I ordered. But we make no fuss and my friend takes the rose and they bring me the normal sparkling.

However, the sparkling they brought me is not what was on the menu written. (The they brought is called Leopardo and is indeed a very low quality bubbly). So I pointed out that the wine they brought is not the sparkling on the menu and they just replied yes that is the sparkling wine. 🤦‍♀️. I said yes I know but it is not the one that is written to which they just replied that it is what they have.

Well you can’t write let’s say cristal and they give someone a glass of Moet, right? But seems here is all same same when it comes to bubbly.

We did not wanted to make a scandal at this point so we just went on with food.

Food was ok but I got a salad leave in my Vitello dish which looked like it was eaten already by more than a few bugs. Unacceptable for a chef to present a dish like that. But never mind. I am luckily not picky with bugs.

By the time the bill comes my “infamous” glass of sparkling was charged as the glass of wine that my friend had which was 1 franc more expensive.

At this point we thought was pointless to point out a third time error with their wine handling and just paid the bill.

Honestly it seems the problem was a lack of English skills (although they switch to English when we arrived not us) a lack of knowledge about the wines they offer but most importantly a total lack of care for making the client happy after several mistakes.

Harsh to give a good review after...

Had the beef tartar as a starter and the poulet rôti as a main dish. The beef tartar was well done although in my personal taste Inwould have preferred less of the added ingredients so the beef could be tasted more. I usually also like when I have the option of choosing the hotness/spicyness of my beef tartar or adding something like whisky to it. But that is my personal taste, the dish was nevertheless well done.

Similar with the poulet rôti. I would have preferred the skin to be more crispy. But again that would be my personal taste.

All in all the food was very well prepared and the food alone would be reason enough to go back. The staff was also friendly.

To the negative things that sadly will probably keep me from going back: we were there with people who did not speak English. It took quite some time for us to get German menues since apparently they only have two. Plus the lightning in the venue was off in my opinion. While I understand that you want to be cozy and maybe not put emphasis on the covid-plexiglass but I still would want to see the food that I am eating clearly. Some of us had the fish and in the darkness it was all a grey blub. When we took our cellphones out to shine a light on it, it actually looked delicious - as it was. Same goes with reading the menu - we had to use our cell...

Very nice place with cool ambiance but definitely NOT worth the money.

There were three of us at dinner, I only eat fish, no meat, but there was only one fish on the menu, the Cajun Dover Sole, that was for two people, $49CHF p.p. ($98CHF for the whole fish). I expected the size to be MUCH larger.

The fish, although very tasty, was no bigger than a single portion you would typically get anywhere else. At $49CHF for the entire entrée it would be pricey, in my opinion, but not out of the ballpark for Zurich prices. But for $98CHF, it is a TOTAL RIP-OFF! I was shocked and I've been living in Zurich for 14 years... very little shocks me here anymore.

The service was friendly, but extremely slow. After the starters were done (the tiger prawn bisque and grilled avocado), which were tasty and reasonably priced, we started to wonder at one point whether they completely forgot about our main courses because we sat in front of an empty table for at least 30 minutes. Given that the restaurant was not nearly full, there is no excuse for such a wait.

All-in-all, not the worst dining experience of my life, but I certainly will not be going back. Its a shame, because when we first got there, we felt the place had a lot...