Dining

On the mountain
Here Zermatt excels with an incredible selection of charming and wonderful restaurants. There are 46 different mountain restaurants in Zermatt. We start with the Sunnegga Paradise.

One of the highlights of the Sunnegga Paradise, and of all of Zermatt, is lunch. Few other ski areas have such a variety of Hansel & Gretel chalet restaurants and bars. Sunnegga and Rothorn Paradises both have great restaurants with large terraces (Rothorn Paradise also has an outdoor bar with music where you’ll see people sipping wine even in the morning hours) and Blauherd has a large cafeteria. But the most charming are the restaurants in little mountain villages, and we recommend hunting these out rather than eating in the self-serve cafeterias. Skiing down from Blauherd to the National quad is Tuftern—a simple place serving hearty soups, sausages, cheeses, etc. Further down and impossible to find is Othmar’s Hutte in Ried (027-967-1761).

Down from Sunnegga or Rothorn Paradises on the other side is Findeln, a collection of wooden huts housing several restaurants that give new meaning to the word cozy, including Findlerhof-Franz & Heidi (photo right; 027-967-2588) the most elegant of the group, Paradies (027-967-3451), and Chez Vrony (027-967-2552) (027-967-2552), which is so quaint, you won’t want to leave (the clean and well-appointed bathroom is also well worth a visit). Make reservations if you expect tables at any of these restaurants. These are not cheap, quick lunch meals—the lunch menu can cost from €25–€50. There is a chair lift back up to Sunnegga Paradise from Findeln.

In the Gornergrat section, Hotel Restaurant Riffelberg has a cafeteria restaurant with a large terrace and a wonderful hotel restaurant with a spectacular view. (Spending a night or two here can be a very romantic experience!—027-966-6500; fax 027-966-6505; photo below left.) The hotel restaurant is quite affordable with a lunch menu less than €15.

The Matterhorn Glacier Paradise has a self-service cafeteria and pizzeria worth skipping. Farther down the mountain, past Furgg, is one of the post popular lunch and après-ski spots— Restaurant Simi (027-967-2695), an institution in Zermatt. It is also where you end up if you ski down from the Gornergrat area. There are many different restaurants as you ski down to Furi, but try Simi at least once if you can get in. Don’t be alarmed if you open the front door and find yourself face to face with an accordion player. Just laugh with him and move into the restaurant. Another excellent and affordable restaurant in Furi is the Silvana (027-966-2800).

Heading down to the village is a long exciting trail with great views. Past Furi, you will ski by the village and restaurant of Zum See (027-967-2045)—another must on the charm list for Zermatt and the quintessential après-ski stop. The restaurant is famous for Café Grolla. The tradition started in the Aosta Valley of Italy on the other side of the Matterhorn. Café Grolla is served in a wooden pot (certainly not legal in the U.S.) with four, six or eight spouts. It is a steaming concoction of coffee, grappa, Cointreau, fruit and who knows what else that is passed around the table. The ritual is to light up the alcohol and serve the drink piping hot. It goes down easy as skiers and boarders pass the wooden bowl. Just remember you still have to ski down to town.

In town
Three restaurants battle to be the best in Zermatt. The Rôtisserie La Broche in the Zermatterhof (027-966-6600; fax 027-966-6699) is the most elegant, however Michelin has bestowed a star on Le Gourmet in the Hotel Alpenhof (027-966-5555; fax 027-966-5556). The third top spot is Le Corbeau d’Or in the Hotel Mirabeau (027-966-2660; fax 027-966-2665). A full meal costs between €50 and €70.

Experience dining in Zermatt by sampling the different types of restaurants hidden around town. Here are some of our recommendations.

For excellent meat dishes, try Le Mazot (027-966-0606) in a charming old farm house by the river and where even normally taciturn Germans go out of their way to compliment the owner on great food and service. Try the lamb served in the evenings and make sure to call far in advance for reservations. Expect to pay about €30–€60.

The Stockhorn Grill Room (027-967-1747) also serves excellent lamb in a cozy, romantic atmosphere (the cutlets are from the owner’s lambs). Service is polite and efficient, and the prices are reasonable. One of the most romantic restaurants is the Spycher (027-967-7741) on the other side of the river, perfect for that intimate rendezvous.

Don’t miss the Swiss fondue. You can have either meat or cheese (or chocolate for desert). For meat fondue, which can be either Bourguignon (chunks of beef dipped in boiling oil) or Chinoise (thin slices of veal cooked in consumé), head to the Stockhorn Grill Room (027-967-1747). For cheese fondue and Raclette (melted cheese served with potatoes, onions and pickles) you should end up in a Stübli, which will be downstairs in a sort of cave-like setting. Two favorites are downstairs at the Stockhorn or the popular Whymperstube (027-967-2296) below the Monte Rosa hotel. The Café DuPont, a rustic spot on the south end of the main street, is a local favorite for fondue.

For a variety of Swiss specialties, including the local trout, try Old Zermatt (027-967-6111) with views of the river and the cemetery.

Another “in” place to have dinner is Restaurant Chez Heini (027-967-1630). It specializes in succulent home-grown lamb prepared by their singing chef, Dan Daniell, the Don Ho of Zermatt. He’ll even autograph his CD for you.

The meals served at the train station are amazingly good! And better yet, inexpensive, if you have the menu of the day. Try the Bahnhofbuffet-Panorama (027-968-1968) and have the buffet menu of the day for about €14 or so. Ordering à la carte can shoot the price up to €20–€40.

For Italian the best is Hotel Derby (027-966-3999) or Casa Rustica (027-967-4858) across from the train station. The Derby is open from 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., so when you first stagger into town jet-lagged and hungry, this is the place to go for an early dinner (most restaurants in Zermatt don’t open for dinner until 6 p.m.—a problem for weary U.S. travelers who typically arrive around mid-afternoon).

The most fun Italian restaurant is the Old Spaghetti Factory in the Hotel de la Poste (027-967-1932; photo above right); go for the 9 p.m. sitting. You will overlook the disco and be ready to go when it starts to fill up after 11 p.m. You can also venture further down into the labyrinth of the Post to the Pizza Broken or leave this craziness and go across the river to Pizzeria Roma (027-967-3229) or Da Mario (027-966-0000) in the Schweizerhof. Don’t miss the crêperie on Bahnhof-strasse opposite the Mont Cervin Palace.

Make sure you try the various specialties of the region. We have mentioned the fondues and raclette and at lunch you will find almost everything comes with rösti, the Swiss version of hash brown potatoes. There is also käseschnitte, bread with melted cheese and sometimes ham and/or an egg on top—delicious but not on the Slim-Fast diet. The mixed salads are great and come with all kinds of things in them including a special dressing. Walliser Trockenfleisch is a regional specialty — air-dried beef.