Situated on the west bank of the River Limmat in Zurich with tables outside, Cafe Wuhre is an ideal place to have lunch on a warm sunny day such as it was at the time of my visit. It was around 1.30pm and notices on the tables advertised lunch from 11am to 2pm only, so we thought we had better check that it was not too late. We asked a middle-aged waitress inside the cafe if she spoke English, but she indicated to us to wait and beckoned a younger waitress. When the younger one came over she told us that we were indeed in time for lunch. We went outside again and found that a table right beside the river had just been vacated, so we sat ourselves down right away. The tables are actually small round ones in rows of three, so one of these remained empty but anyone else arriving would have been free to sit there. We were glad that there were parasols as the temperature that day reached 31 degrees Celsius.
The waitress brought menus, and we all thought salad would be the best thing on a hot day. I chose a tuna salad while my son and his partner both decided on the chicken curry salad. When they asked for a light beer each, the waitress claimed that she would bring the very best Swiss beer. I ordered an orange juice which came in an attractively shaped glass. I do, however, lament the fact that fruit juice in Switzerland almost always comes in a 2 dl (200 ml) serving, which does not go very far in hot weather. A basket of four slices of granary bread was brought at the same time as the drinks.
It wasn't long before the waitress came out with our salads, which were served in round white bowls. My tuna was dressed with herbs and oil, and the accompanying salad consisted of lettuce, cucumber, tomato and onion rings. It was very good, but the memory of the wonderful tuna salad I had had at the Tenth Hole Tearoom was still very vivid, and there was really no comparison. My son and his partner enjoyed their chicken curry salads, which they said resembled coronation chicken and were served with rice and lettuce. I asked if their Cardinal beer was the best they had had in Switzerland, to which they replied that whilst good, they had had a slightly better one the previous day.
Desserts at Cafe Wuhre seemed to revolve mainly around ice cream and cream, and we decided not to let ourselves be tempted.
The location of Cafe Wuhre is perfect in fine weather if you are lucky enough to get a table from which you have a view of the river and the buildings on the eastern side of Zurich, notable the Grossmunster (cathedral) with its two towers. The interior of the cafe looked very comfortable with easy chairs, and original contemporary works of art added to the stylish feel.
There was just one ladies' toilet at the cafe and it was clean enough.
Our bill came to 85 Swiss Francs altogether – about £50. A service charge is added automatically, so there is no need to leave a tip. We were able to pay by debit card.
Cafe Wuhre is in an ideal location, has excellent service and a high standard of cleanliness. I would recommend it, and it is of course a place where you could just stop and relax over a drink if you did not want a full meal.
In the Niederdorf on the east bank of the River Limmat, there is again an enormous number of cafes and restaurants. I can recommend the coffee at Cafe Henrici, where we sat outside in the morning sun. Had anyone shown me the rickety old metal chair I was to sit on there before I travelled, I would have avoided the place like the plague, but when we did sit down it didn't seem to matter. Henrici certainly seemed to be a popular place, and the interior was very stylish in comparison. I went down to the ladies in the basement and noticed a door with several dates on it, the earliest of which was from the fourteenth century. Henrici is actually a hotel but I cannot comment on it as we stated at the Helmhaus, just south of the Grossmunster. It was pricey but I would wholeheartedly recommend it.
By four o'clock in the afternoon we were sweltering and delighted to find that Cafe Kantorei in Neumarkt offered bottles of apple juice that were considerably more generous than the 200 ml servings of fruit juice that most restaurants seemed to offer. Kantorei has quite extensive outdoor seating, and our waiter there was British. He chatted about how expensive Zurich was but assured us that salaries were relatively high too.
Zurich is a wonderful city to wander around, and when your weary feet need a rest and you need to quench your thirst, you will find plenty of pleasant places where you can sit indoors or out and enjoy coffee, beer or a soft drink.
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