To be fair, I'll start with the positives for this establishment, as there were several good points. The location for this place right up the street from Zeitglockenturm was great. Its location in the heart of Altstadt contributed to the nice atmosphere for this fine little shop. The proprietor was generally very nice and polite, but I will return to this point below because there was a flipside. She was also the only person working and did a reasonably efficient job with her service (she was also my waitperson). There were only two things on the dine-in lunch menu. I chose the Green Curry Chicken, which was very tasty. The portion was also nicely right-sized. The price was reasonable considering it was Switzerland. The total for my main with a sparkling water to drink was CHF 21 and change. I thought this was a decent value. I suppose my complaint about my visit has as much to do with the Swiss government's rushed COVID policies as it has to do with the proprietor. This is also going to reflect my general incredulity with the way the COVID situation has been handled everywhere. I know it's tough, but I think human beings are capable of better rationality with more measured responses than we've exhibited. Our response has reminded me of the panic scene in the movie Airplane. In general, at the time I was in Switzerland, a QR code indicating COVID vaccine status was supposed to be shown to stay in hotels, eat indoors at restaurants, etc. However, the process was implemented without the infrastructure being fully in place. The QR code one received for clearance to travel into Switzerland was not the same as the one to allow partaking in public activities. That one baffles me why they could not be the same if the information required to obtain the codes was similar. Because the infrastructure had not been created for non-Europeans to declare and upload their vaccine status, the workaround until October 10 of 2021 was to show on one's phone the Swiss government statement declaring a temporary injunction for this policy along with one's proof of vaccination (my Swiss colleague had to call on my behalf for this information when I arrived...it was not easily extracted from published web statements). This workaround was to serve as the equivalent to a QR code. I tried executing this manner of compliance with the proprietor at this establishment but all she heard was that I had no QR code. She refused to read the Swiss government's statement that I was showing her on my phone. I had some level of sympathy for her consternation considering the general confusion surrounding the situation. But this solicitude disappeared when she declared that she did not speak English (which we had been doing to that point). I offered to change the verbiage to German but she apparently had a temporary lapse in understanding that language as well. She told me I could be served at an outdoor table. It was a bit on the chilly side and I preferred to be inside, but this was clearly a non-winnable battle. My practical choices were to eat outside or leave. Her obdurance cost her a couple of rating stars in my view (the fact that she kept a smile on her face and a reasonable tone of voice kept me from deducting more). That's why the rating of "3", which otherwise would have been a "4" or possibly a "5". I was not pleased at all with her obstinance, but this situation at its core was set up by a rushed policy that was not well implemented. It made me wonder when and where else this would happen again. The stress of travel with reactionary COVID policies is not worth it at the moment. Trying to keep up and comply with every country's slightly different rules and regulations with their forms and abstruse procedures makes things too difficult and makes it tough to conduct business in an effective manner. If I thought these policies were helping things in proportion to their restrictive cost, I would be more sanguine. But it seems like we've reached the point of diminishing returns, which manifests far more exasperation and skepticism than reassurance and forebearance on my part. Misapplication, overextension or poor implementation of even the rules with best intentions can quickly turn them from positives to negatives. read more

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Was looking to get my Asian fix on into my second week in Switzerland for work. Sunday morning so the options weren't as good as other days. It appears a simplified menu is served on Sunday with curry fish, pad Thai or sweet and sour chicken. I chose the pad Thai with shrimp. Overall the service was friendly (if not a bit slow) but the pad Thai was meh. No flavor at all, noodles didn't seem to have the right texture, just meh. It's what I'd expect myself to produce after watching a segment on the Food Network. It's a shame because it's a cute place with nice owner but the food.... :( Lastly cash only, no credit cards. read more