The Monocle Shop & Café Zurich — Restaurant in Zurich

Love the concept, the vibe, the products and the F&B offerings at The Monocle Shop & Cafe! I’ve been to the one in Hong Kong ages ago and was so pleasantly surprised when my friend brought me to the branch in Zürich during my day trip!

It is always a vibe here, I spent half the time checking out the products, browsing through the magazines and coffee table books before deciding on which ones to get. It’s almost impossible stepping in here without walking out with something. Albeit the prices here in Zürich are certainly a lot higher.

The location was perfect. It was not too far from the lake and yet it was on a quieter road which meant that while seated outdoors, it wasn’t too loud or too disruptive. The space alone for this shop & cafe is extremely luxurious, a great alfresco with at least 13 tables along with about 4 tables inside. The indoor area is separated into 3 sections, the cafe, the shop and a cozy lounge area with a podcast setup along with what looked like a meeting room right in the back.

Safe to say, I’m in love with the space!

We only managed to grab a coffee and sparkling water as we just had a filling lunch but the pastries look great and that would definitely be on my list the next time I’m...

I’ve been a Monocle subscriber for years now, so I was excited to stop by here for a quick snack and to take in the ambiance. The space is as bright, beautiful, and well curated as the pages of the magazine itself. The small sandwich and coffee I ordered were simply delicious, as well as the environment where I enjoyed it in the back room of the space. The main problem, and I experienced this in the Los Angeles outpost too; is that the service is fine, but not welcoming or warm. With all of the pages dedicated to discussing global hospitality, I figured that their own staff would be trained to perfection; instead I was greeted with an indifferent barista and a shop team member that ignored my presence as I browsed just centimeters away from her. I loved the space, food, and items of this shop, but especially as a years long subscriber, I didn’t feel...

I came here on a friend’s recommendation. Unfortunately, I have to agree with other reviews about the staff experience. I ordered an iced tea, and since it was listed as a house tea, I simply asked whether it contained black tea (my concern being caffeine). The waiter seemed surprised by the question and remarked that it was “weird” and that no one had ever asked him that before.

When his more senior colleague joined, he repeated the story in front of me, again pointing out how unusual my question was. This felt dismissive and not very customer-friendly.

The atmosphere itself isn’t bad, but the service left me with a negative impression. I wouldn’t come back as I had the impression that staff wasn’t neither too instructed nor too friendly. Needless to say I had something...