WestFood & Coffee (Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland)

 Rue Roger de Quinps 29, 1400 Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland

 

WestFood & Coffee is a new and hip US- and TexMex-type restaurant just outside of the shopping part of Yverdon-les-Bains, which does burgers and sandwiches but also nachos and chili as well as coffee.

 

I get the Large West Curry Chicken Sandwich (CHF 15.90 or ~$16.35), a long baguette with slices of spiced chicken, tomato, rucolah, and curry sauce. It tastes really fresh and tasty. 

 

I also get 5 Chicken Tenders (CHF 12 or ~$12.30), which comes with a choice of sauce. The tenders are big but thin, coated more tempura style, and a bit too dry.

 

VERDICT: 90/100

Great sandwiches in nice setting. Snacks are not all top.

Báhn Mì Vietnamien (Lausanne, Switzerland)

Chem. des Pêcheurs 7, 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland

 

Báhn Mì Vietnamien is a hole-in-wall that is kind of hidden on the outside of a larger restaurant at the lakefront in Lausanne. It is a small Vietnamese restaurant with a decent sized terrace with view of the harbor and lake. It serves a limited selection of the usual staples, sandwiches (Bahn Mi), soups (Pho), etc.

 

I get Nem (CHF 12 or ~$12.30) and a Bahn Mi Chicken (CHF 13 or ~$13.30) as well as a drink (CHF 5 or ~$5.15). The Nem (crunchy small spring rolls) are pretty good. The Bahn Mi comes on a long, thin regular baguette. It has pulled chicken on it but very little vegetables, which means that it lacks the fresh flavor.

 

VERDICT: 84/100

Quite steep price, although it is at a prime location in Lausanne, this is an acceptable but not remarkable Bahn Mi.

Libanes Take Away (Zurich, Switzerland)

Schaffhauserstrasse 74, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland

Libanes Take Away is a crossover between a Lebanese restaurant and a hole-in-the-wall kebab place. Located just outside of the center of Zurich, it serves a variety of Lebanese snacks as well as falafel and shawarma wraps at the usually high prices of Switzerland.

I get a Shawarma Sandwich – I think it costs me some $10 – which was a combination of meat, fresh and pickled vegetables, in a wrap that was put on a Panini press. I don’t know what the sauce was, but it made the whole sandwich taste more Asian than Middle Eastern.

VERDICT: 77/100

Not bad, but not authentic, and very expensive.

Cindy’s Diner (Deitingen, Switzerland)

A1, 4543 Deitingen, Switzerland
 

Cindy’s Diner is a Swiss chain of 1950s US-style diners with three locations in Switzerland and four in Germany. I visit the Deitingen Süd location, tucked away in a tank station on the 1 between Bern and Zürich. It is a huge diner, including the obligatory Route 66 signs. They serve various types of burgers, including vegetarian ones, and “Cindy's fries,” chicken wings, ribs.

I get the “Gourmet Burger of the Month”, which is the Spanish Burger (CHF 14.50 or 20.90 as meal). It comes with melon dip, Serrano ham, and lettuce (I opt out of the Manchego cheese). The burger is grilled on a skillet and is very good for European standards, but the ham is a bit too salty and the melon dip is not my kind of thing. The bun is toasted but a bit dry. Overall a good burger, but next time I would go for a more classic choice. The fries are more Belgian than French, thick and double fried. Some of the best fries I have had outside of Belgium!

VERDICT: 89/100

Great place! US-style burger with Belgian-style fries for decent prices (for Switzerland).