Seven Restaurants in Geneva, Switzerland

As our trip to Geneva was booked super last minute, I didn’t put the hours of research into finding restaurants that I normally do. Instead we enjoyed the fantastic restaurants at the hotel as well as taking local recommendations from the concierge. Despite the last minute nature, we didn’t have a problem getting tables and we very much enjoyed the highly international food scene in the city.

1. Il Lago

Il Lago is the Michelin-starred South Italian restaurant at Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva where we were staying. Serving a tasting menu and a la carte for lunch or dinner, the restaurant interior was utterly stunning. Well every interior at this hotel is stunning!
And the atmosphere was buzzy whilst still being softly romantic! The service was also excellent, I think every member of staff at the hotel had already been briefed that I was pregnant (as I still didn’t look very pregnant!) and had been told my dietary requirements so this was utterly stress free.
Mr S started with lobster risotto and I had the Chef’s garden salad with 21 varieties of vegetable topped with truffle…such a delicate and delicious dish. 
Mr S and a Milanese-style veal chop with tomatoes rocket and balsamic vinegar while I had a seasonal special of homemade tagliatelle and morels. Unfortunately as it was a Easter Sunday and we’d had a day of eating chocolate (Mr S especially!) we couldn’t finish our main courses, let alone eat dessert which was disappointing as everything was so so good!

2. La Belotte

We asked the concierge at FS Geneva to suggest a casual lake side restaurant for our Easter lunch and they recommended and booked La Belotte.
We really like the setting of La Belotte and we had a really casual, tasty lunch of salads, Mr S had steak and fries and I got the opportunity to try the local Perch from Lake Geneva. I had a few conniptions about this place as when we got there the kitchen was closing and they had to serve our starters with our main courses, they could have asked us to arrive half an hour earlier to avoid this. There was also rather a lot of flies but I’m guessing this is unavoidable at a lake side restaurant.

3. Izumi

Another of my favourite restaurants was Izumi, the Japanese-fusion Nikkei restaurant at Four Seasons Geneva. The restaurant occupies a beautiful indoor space but in the warmer months, guests can take to the rooftop and admire a panoramic view of the city. As we booked in late, we were sat at the counter at first watching the chefs at work but as the restaurant cleared out, we were moved to a terrace side table. 
The restaurant had a fab atmosphere with music and a buzzy lively crowd! I was very jealous watching Mr S have a glass of bubbles as I sombrely suck with the Evian water! I was also reassured that the sushi and sashimi was pregnancy safe (ie it had been frozen before) but I’m very paranoid about sticking to pregnancy dietary rules so I still avoided it.

Instead I enjoyed padron peppers, salad, sushi with cooked prawns and seabass while Mr S was the one tasting the raw stuff. The chef here is Mitsuru Tsukada who has worked at Nobu – and honestly it shows as the food reflects the standards that I’ve tried at the famous restaurant.

4. Tsé Fung

If  you watched my stories you’ll know that Mr S and I initially checked in to La Réserve Genève before rather promptly checking out and moving to the Four Seasons. But not before trying the first hotel’s Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant, Tsé Fung. Also known to be one of the best Chinese restaurants in Switzerland, it is presided over by Frank Xu who moved over from his native Shenzhen and is a third generation chef in his family with over 30 years experience. 
The tactile red, black lacquer and silk hangings are inspired by 1930’s Shanghai restaurants and the large windows look out on to the hotel garden with Lake Geneva beyond. There’s a full a la carte menu of Chinese delicacies but our waiter recommended the set Emerald menu which would allow us to try the chef’s signature dishes. 
Our menu included vegetable spring rolls, dim sum and rolled rice prawn rolls to start. And the beef, chicken and prawn stir fry for main serves with the chef’s special rice before finishing on a light ice cream dessert with a mango soup dish. We definitely enjoyed our meal here though I’ve eaten at better Michelin-starred Chinese restaurants but I would still recommend Tsé Fung.

5. Ladurée Geneva

It’s very rare that I’d recommend a chain or a group restaurant but Ladurée Geneva is just so perfectly Instagrammable, it’s hard not to recommend it! The famous macaron shop is the perfect confection of pink sofas, gold accents and pastel walls… and of course the macarons and desserts are amazing.
And if the design looks familiar at all, it’s because it’s by India Mahdavi who designed the famous pink Gallery at sketch. Ladurée Geneva is very conveniently located right next to the Four Seasons Geneva and in the same complex.

6. Windows

Michelin-starred restaurant, Windows located at the five-star Hotel D’Angleterre is the perfect choice for a special occasion.
Interiors are classic and chic and there are large feature windows (hence the restaurant name!) overlooking Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc beyond.
The menu is mostly Mediterranean in style and as I’ve struggled to eat rich foods during my pregnancy, I was pleased to see fairly simple dishes on a Michelin-starred menu. We shared a salad and prawn risotto to start… both very good.
Main course was a whole seabass to share with various potato and vegetable accompaniments
Dessert was a little strawberry and sorbet concoction, the perfect way to end!

7. Le Bar des Bergues

Le Bar des Bergues is the most casual dining option at Four Seasons Geneva but no less special than dining at Izumi or Il Lago. 
The interiors are beautiful mix of deep blue and gold with wood panelling…
Or you can take a seat on the terrace right by the lake and enjoy the best hot chocolate in Geneva! One day we went there for an afternoon snack, a very random combination of a plate of smoked salmon for me and a chocolate egg for Mr S! The salmon was beautifully high quality and patisserie here is excellent, there’s a trolley with all sorts of delightful goodies plus a full dessert menu.

We returned on our last day to have a quick lunch before our flight, choosing prawn pasta from an all day menu of salad, grills, pasta and sandwiches and not only was the pasta divine but we felt like despite having a quick lunch in the bar, we still got a full silver service experience. Including an amuse bouche and petite fours at the end.

We tried all three restaurants at Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva which is unusual for us on a weekend away as we’d usually choose to venture beyond the hotel to try different place. But with my pregnancy making me tired earlier plus the bank holiday meaning lots of places were closed, we were happy to eat at the hotel and the places we tried were the best of our trip!

Have you been to Geneva? What restaurants did you try?

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