Vegetarian Buffet // Hiltl, Zurich CH

Fresh, delicious, abundant vegetarian food sold by the pound.

According to the Guiness Book of World Records, Hiltl is the oldest vegetarian restaurant in the world. It has been owned and operated by the Hiltl family since it opened in 1898, and is now a Zurich institution that includes a restaurant, café, store, club, bar, music venue, and studio for cooking classes.

Hiltl is a place that is well worth visiting whether you are a vegetarian or not. The food is delicious, the options staggeringly abundant, and the place is classy. I love that the food is sold by weight so you don’t have to pay for anything you don’t think you will eat (though with the selection they have, you are likely to end up taking more than you can eat anyhow!).

Tons of Indian options sit alongside typical Swiss dishes, warm vegetable sides, salads, tofu, rice and potatoes of every description, and desserts galore. I loved everything on my beautifully colourful plate with the exception of the pickled cabbage with hazelnuts (this dish is either really popular in Zurich or I am extremely unlucky, because I was served it again that very night alongside the wild boar fricassee I ordered at another restaurant!).The standout dish for me was the fried long beans with walnuts, which was extraordinarily tasty, and the fluffy basmati rice with star anise.