Restaurants

Pâquis boasts a number of worthwhile lunch spots, with many eateries offering thoughtfully prepared and (relatively) good-value plats du jour; each restaurant normally features just one such daily special. Café des Arts is a prime example, and well worth a visit (check the Café des Arts article); wander round the corner, meanwhile, and you’ll soon stumble across Les Cinq Portes, which offers similarly tasty treats.

I enjoy coming here in search of down-to-earth but reliable food and a quiet chat: the layout is airy and leaves room between tables for privacy, the service hovers gently in the background, affording all the required breathing space, and the food is consistently tasty and well presented without venturing into the fussy. When I come here I tend to let the chef make the decision for me, but if the daily special doesn’t grab your attention, the salads are interesting too-in a good way. There is a large terrace in warmer months.

As we enter the warmer season, why not enjoy a drink on a boat? Bateau Genève gets better every year. This is the best place to relax on the lake in a very laid-back atmosphere. The boat is located just off the Jardin Anglais (English Garden park), it is definitely one of my favorite hangouts. You can see the Jet d’Eau from it. You really feel like you are on holiday when you are there.

They offer main dishes at lunch time and tapas in the evening. Chilling out with just a drink is also an option.

They often organize some special events and parties. Dancing on there or listening to some live music is simply great. 

The ‘boat’ is so much more than a terrace though; it is an association that helps people in need by providing breakfast to them and assisting them in building some projects of their own. So going there you would be doing a good deed as well . And please be patient and understanding with the people who are serving you, they are all learning the job as a way to get back on track.

If you are visiting Geneva, you can’t leave without trying out a fondue, the traditional pot of hot melted cheese eaten by dipping chunks of bread into it. In fact, you can’t live here for any amount of time without developing a healthy addiction to melted cheese.

However, as nobody wants to spend the night trying to digest stringy, lumpy or sticky fondue, it’s important to have a couple of addresses where you know the fondue will be creamy, digestible and bursting with pungent flavour, and one of the best places in Geneva for that is La Coulouvrenière (don’t worry if you can’t pronounce it).

The restaurant is small, quirky and intimate, and the walls are lined with imitations of great paintings reproduced in a fondue-in-cheek style. How? Let’s just say that if Dalí, Hopper or Rothko had had melted cheese on their minds, or if the Last Supper had included a pot of fondue, this would have been the result.

Not only will you discover a choice of several different fondues – if you fancy a change from the traditional “moitié-moitié”, composed of two different types of cheese, try a fondue with tomatoes or mushrooms – but you will be welcomed like a long-lost cousin. Warmth, friendliness and humour are an integral part of the service. The atmosphere is such that as soon as you have digested one lot of cheese, you’ll soon be back for more.

Step into Nyala Barka and leave Europe behind. The dining space has been charmingly decorated to resemble the inside of a hut, with rush ceilings and exotic prints and batiks decorating the walls. The food is served on low circular tables covered with colourful woven cones.

If you have never eaten Ethiopian food, you may initially be a little puzzled. A communal round platter of injera – a sort of thick pancake – slots into the table. Dollops of the different dishes – salad, lentils, meats, chickpeas – scented with a delicious, complex mixture of spices, are distributed upon the injera. I’m not sure there are any knives or forks here – the technique consists of tearing off pieces of injera to use in lieu of cutlery, to grasp or dip into the food. It’s a good idea to remove any intricate rings before you start or you may find them incrusted with strong-smelling chickpea the following day.

If you are feeling adventurous, try ordering some “ketfo” – spicy raw ground beef. Otherwise, a particular treat, although a little more difficult to share, is chicken (“doro wat”) with an egg. Personally I’m a big fan of the spicy pulse dishes.

In addition to the particularly delicious, copious food, you will find friendly service and a relaxed atmosphere at Nyala Barka. As an added bonus, even with wine your bill will be amazingly reasonable.

There is so much to say about this place… You could probably spend the whole day there. Bains des Pâquis is accessed via a walkway from Quai du Mont-Blanc and is a beach, café, restaurant, and spa. It’s a place that lots of locals love because it’s simple and less formal than most spots in Geneva.

The best part happens in the summer when they organize concerts at dawn (06:00). You get free coffee and watch the sun rise with music. Even when there is no music, it’s definitely paradise though. The view is fantastic and it really helps you start the day on the right foot. Breakfast is a bargain at 10 CHF with toasts, Bircher or fruit salad, a hot drink and fresh fruit juice.

They serve a good and light lunch. Plats du jour (dish of the day) are varied, made with products of the season and always healthy. They cost about 12 CHF, which is nothing for Geneva. They also have nice salads. And dinner with the same healthy dishes is also available. The restaurant is self-service and the queue can be long, but the wait is worth it, you have my word!