Kreis 2 Enge Zurich – All our local tips

Every rule is best confirmed by its exceptions. So here are some of my rules: I practice dinner cancelling and I avoid red meat (health awareness). I also prefer ethnic restaurants: Arabic, Asian, Indian, Italian, Greek etc.

And now the exception(s): I permit myself the pleasure of a dinner with red meat in a typical Swiss restaurant. My favorite delicacy is bio-beefsteak tatar. For those unaware: it is smashed high quality raw beef that is pasted like (or together with) butter on toasted bread. OK, I skip the butter and have a good conscience but I order the very spicy version of the meal.

Mövenpick is a chain of Swiss restaurants. Their offerings overlap. Quality and service are impeccable. From the entire chain in Zurich I prefer the Palavrion because of the setting: in the summer it is possible to sit outside and in the winter just behind the big glass wall where it feels like sitting outside. Since the venue is located in an area with many bars and clubs, it is possible to enjoy people-watching at its best.

After my favorite meal, I always neutralize the flavor with a scoop of stracciatella ice cream and an Espresso. Only afterwards do I regain my health awareness.

Some additional information: there is a wide Sushi offering and a Sunday buffet brunch for CHF 29.00.

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Mövenpick Palavrion | Coffee & tea, Restaurants (Swiss) | Beefstake Tatar CHF 31
Beethovenstrasse 32 | Kreis 2 Enge | +41442865454
Mon – Fri 08:30 – 00:00, Sat 11:00 – 00:00, Sun 11:00 – 23:00

A museum full of beautiful art from Asia, Africa, America and Oceania, covering super interesting themes. Themes that won’t only (but also!) fascinate the art lovers and connoisseurs amongst you.

Currently there’s for example an exhibition on indulgence and intoxication, showing crazy, colorful paintings of nicely dressed Indians going wild while smoking drugs or being chased by monkeys in their drunken, delirious state. Very amusing, pretty to look at, beautifully drawn and at the same time highly educational, teaching you quite a bit about Indian history. That is if you are not too lazy to read the background information next to the paintings. Try to defeat your weaker self, its worth it!

At the end of the visit you should check out the museum store that is full of treasures. You can also buy the huge, funky posters from all the different exhibitions for only a few franks (see picture). Then you will definitely need a coffee and a piece of cake. It is time to go sit in the museum café and stare the ethno ladys with their weirdly shaped galsses hanging there.

Once your energy is restored you have to go take a walk in the beautiful (beautiful!) park surrounding the museum. In winter it is nothing special (unless there’s snow and you have a sled!), but all other seasons it’s just magical.

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Museum Rietberg | Art & culture, Coffee & tea | Entrance from CHF 10.00
Gablerstrasse 15 | Kreis 2 Enge | +41442063131
Tue – Sun 10:00 – 17:00, Wed – Thu 10:00 – 20:00

Onyx Bar is best known as Hyatt Bar. I discovered it shortly after it opened a few years ago and gradually adopted it because it reminded me of my nights out in Helsinki during the 90s.

Hyatt Bar feels classy and sinful at the same time. It is the choice of many well-dressed people. Once I commented to a lady with whom I was sharing a table in Onyx: “there are many beautiful women here” and she replied: “and many beautiful men too”. Indeed, many people there are good looking; they know it, they show it and many like to take advantage of it.

You will encounter diversity and contrast: coats and ties together with jeans and leather jackets; young people of student age as well as a more mature public; young women conversing with older men and vice versa; dresses ranging from the very conservative, teacher-type to the most extravagant outfit.

You will hear non-local languages: German as spoken in Germany, English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and a lot of Russian.

There is background music whose volume rises as the evening progresses. And during the warm season, there are tables outside. Maybe there would be a Ferrari or a Lamborghini parked on the pavement.

To complement the offering: nuts roasted in-house and sweet coconut-flavored chips (you eat one, you can’t stop) as well as a large humidor with the flagships of Cuban and Dominican production.

The service is excellent.

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Onyx Bar – Park Hyatt Hotel | Bars, Coffee & tea, Restaurants | Juice CHF 9.00
Beethoven-Strasse 21 | Kreis 2 Enge | +41438831072
Sun – Wed 06:30 – 01:00, Thu – Sat 06:30 – 02:00

The Rote Fabrik is one of the bigger cultural centres in Zurich. As the name implicates, the building-complex once was a factory.

Music is a big thing here, there are over 100 concerts, partys and festivals every year. Now, if you know me (respectively my texts on this site) you’ll expect that there’s mainly rock music. Wrong. Hip-Hop, Reggae, Soul, R’n'B, Worldbeat, Folk and Jazz are equally as important. The people in charge characterize their program as “music from aficionados for aficionados”, speak: stuff that’s good but not necessarily mainstream.

But there’s not only the music, there’s a theatre, there are a lot of readings, sometimes panel discussions, a Bar to have a drink and Restaurant where you can eat really well. Oh yeah, I almost forgot: The Rote Fabrik is located right at the lake… which is nice.

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Rote Fabrik | Art & culture, Bars, Music, Snacks, Theaters, Restaurants (International)
Seestrasse 395 | Kreis 2 Enge | +41444855858
Restaurant Tue – Thu & Sun 11:00 – 00:00, Fri – Sat 11:00 – 01:00

I introduced the sauna experience in my article about Sauna Utoquai (see the Sauna Utoquai article). Here is some more philosophy mixed with facts: apparently, sauna strengthens the immune system. According to one theory, it is the high temperature in the cabin which simulates fever in the body thus killing harmful germs. According to another theory (mine), it is the thin layer of subcutaneous fat (nothing to do with getting fat) that develops after a few months of regular visits: it acts as a heat shield for the body. If you ask me: it is the euphoric kick (lots of endorphins) after coming out of the cold lake.

So if you are visiting Zurich or live here and became curious, go to Sauna Enge: housed at a public baths wooden platform sitting ON the lake, it offers a great view of Zürisee and the Glarner Alps. There are three cabins one of which (the best one) is reserved for women Tuesday to Saturday. The whole establishment is reserved for women on Mondays.

There is a lot of space for sunbathing and, should it get cold, you can cover up with blankets and/or move inside behind the glass door and still gaze at the lake and the snowy mountain peaks.

A two-hour stay is recommended but nobody controls. Go early on a sunny day, have breakfast (basic snacks are available) and leave after dark so as to experience all luminosity phases of the lake. A book belongs to the must-have accessories.

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Sauna Enge | Relaxing | Single entrance CHF 25.00
Mythenquai 9 | Kreis 2 Enge | +41442013889
Oct – Apr 09:00 – 23:00 | Special times in the summer

In the 1960s this swiss kid went on a roadtrip to the USA, was fascinated by the American diners and got addicted to burgers. So once he was back, he invented the legendary Silberkugel, where they serve you the legendary Beefy burger, the first American burger Switzerland got in touch with.

And no wonder it sold! With the name Beefy, the kid perfectly swissified the burger. Make it sound cute, small and harmless and the Swiss will buy it. In case you haven’t been here, because otherwise you’d have noticed, we have an incredibly annoying soft spot for belittlement!

And this way, the Silberkugel grew to be our parents McDonalds! Like at McDonalds, the tasty burgers are most likely made out of newspapers and highly poisonous, although the diner claims to be The Home of Fine Foods. But the interior design shows Ronald McDonald up badly.

It’s a strange but fabulous mix of an old American diner and a super futuristic spaceship (where the swiss kid got the inspiraton for the latter from is still a mistery!). If you like good burgers and trash, you will absolutely love the Silberkugel!

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Silberkugel | Snacks, Restaurants (Fastfood) | Farmer Beefy CHF 7.80
Bleicherweg 33 | Kreis 2 Enge
Mon – Fri 06:00 – 20:00, Sat 07:15 – 17:00

My journey of discovery of ethnic food started during my student years in the U.S. Up to that point, my only alternative to Greek food had been pizza. In Boston I first discovered Chinese and Thai. Mexican also felt good. Enlightenment came with sushi; confirmation later when I discovered Indian and Arabic here in Switzerland.

Indian food meant primarily tandoori in all its variations: chicken, shrimp, fish and lamb. For those unware: a tandoori meal is cooked in the tandoor, a clay oven where the food is placed at a safe distance from the fire for slow cooking.

So it would be no surprise that a new restaurant named Tandoori would attract my attention; especially if the restaurant is located in my favorite area. After this first visual arousal, other senses had to be involved: the food had to be tried. And the venue passed the test with a very high note. Apparently, they know how to serve tandoori dishes with quite intense flavors. If there are two of you (my lucky number when it comes to dinner) get the shrimp and a chicken to share them. If there is a third person involved, get the fish to practice the ultimate sharing.

For the extremists: dinner buffet on Saturdays for a very reasonable price of 35 CHF/person. For the working class: lunch buffet during weekdays.

I like the interior: its secondary role as an art gallery with paintings for sale fits my taste.

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Tandoori | Restaurants (Indian) | Fish Tandoori CHF 25.00
Bleicherweg 19 | Kreis 2 Enge | +41442020021
Mon – Sat 10:30 – 23:00, Sun 17:30 – 23:00