Tarts at Gnadinger & Getting Lost – ZH

So someone on the Internet, I don’t even remember who or where, wrote they have delicious pies at Gnädinger. If I wanted to, I could probably find the source of this information, but it’s not really worth it. Why? First of all, they have tarts at Gnädinger, not pies, and if you lived in the area I’d say it’s a lovely neighborhood spot, but otherwise, I’d say forget it. Of course I didn’t know this, and David and I made two attempts finding the café. The first was a complete and utter failure, and the second concluded in lots of tarts and whipped cream. The latter, much more than anticipated.

The problem the first time was that I had done a copy and paste from a site to my iPhone, and when I looked later I saw this: Schaffhauserstrasse 57|. So I assumed it was located on Schaffhauserstrasse 571. Turns out sitting at Schaffhauserstrasse 571 is an office building in the middle of nowhere. I googled again from the location, and discovered we were supposed to be at Schaffhauserstrasse 57 not 571. The “|” was a vertical line some idiot had added to the end of the address. F*CK! So after 2 bus rides and many blocks walked in inappropriate footwear, I broke down and told David I wanted to go home. Not back to Alvin’s, where we were staying, but New York. I was hungry, tired, and hot, which led to irrational, uncontrollable emotions. We went back to Alvin’s, I had a glass of wine, and went to sleep.

The next day, I was still feeling grumpy but David, being the trooper that he is, suggested we try again. I was hesitant, but this time with the right address, finding Gnädinger was pretty easy. D’uh. Totally my bad the first time. What can you do? It happens.

At Gnädinger, first up were the “pies.” The raspberry tart (pictured at top) was the best out of the two we ordered. The berry topping was fresh, tart, and plentiful. The crust was reasonably flaky although very thin. If you like tarts that’s all topping and no crust, this is for you. For me, the balance was off.

The cherry tart was terribly disappointing. The amount of cherries were minimal, and the crust was soggy and seemingly devoid of any butter. Do not order this. Even the whipped cream couldn’t save it.

Also don’t order the open-faced salmon sandwich. It may have been good when it had first been made, but by the time I got it was all mush. And nothing good can be said about the slimy aspic on top.

As for Gnädinger’s eiscafé, it was very good. It was basically a coffee ice cream affogato sundae with lots of whipped cream, chocolate chips, espresso, and a wafer cookie. The only problem was that I hadn’t meant to order it. I had asked for an iced coffee, but it turns out “eis” in German can either mean ice or ice cream. And since they don’t do iced coffee in Zurich, they assumed I had wanted an “ice cream coffee.” Normally this would have been a pleasant surprise, but I had already ordered two large tarts, both with lots of whipped cream, so another dessert with whipped cream was not what I had in mind.

The total for two tarts, an open-faced salmon sandwich, two waters, and an eiscafe came out to CHF 36.70 (USD $38.36)! Pricey, yes, but this was Switzerland, and I had also ordered wrong. So the moral of the story is, don’t do what I did. Don’t get lost and don’t let your order get lost in translation.

Gnädinger
Schaffhauserstrasse 57 (map)
Zurich 8057, Switzerland
+41 44 360 23 95