I spent a lovely weekend in Zürich, Switzerland and found two excellent coffee shops that I look forward to returning to. The coffee culture is alive and well in the largest Swiss city.
Best Coffee In Zürich
My friend and I spent an afternoon at the Kunsthaus Zürich and sandwiched our visits with stops at two coffee shops.
Boréal Coffee Shop
Talacker 41, 8001
Zürich, Switzerland
7:30 am – 5:00 pm (Tuesday – Thursday)
9:00 am – 5:00 pm* (Friday – Monday)
*open until 6:00 pm on Saturday
The barista here was very friendly and we enjoyed a nice chat about coffee and travel. What prompted the travel element of the chat was a cool promotion next to the coffee bar: send a postcard to Boréal and enjoy a free coffee next visit:
I intend to do that!
I ordered a flat white and my friend had a mochaccino (a chocolate-flavored drink that is a variant of a caffè latte).
The coffee was excellent. Next time, I’d order orange juice and a croissant as well…
After a lovely visit to the art museum, we stopped for another coffee at MAME.
MAME Coffee
Seefeldstrasse 19, 8008
Zürich, Switzerland
8:00 am – 5:30 pm (Monday – Friday)
9:00 am – 6:00 pm (Saturday, Sunday)
MAME is a coffee chain with a trio of locations in Zurich. I ordered another flat white and my friend had a cappuccino. Both tasted almost identical (the flat white is supposed to have less milk foam), but both were very good.
Although it was a bit nippy with scattered showers outside, our visit came during a break in the rain and we sat outside, enjoying the crisp afternoon air.
CONCLUSION
I love the coffee culture in Zurich and was happy to find a pair of lovely coffee shops that I will return to. Nothing is particularly cheap in Zurich, but a good coffee will not break the bank (though at $7-8/cup, it must be one of the most expensive cups of coffee in the world outside fancy hotels).
Most things are more expensive in Switzerland because they have to import it via trains and trucks, which is more expensive than shipping it through freighter boats, and it’s a landlocked country.
If you’re interested, you should try the Grand Cafe Odeon that’s across the Limmat. That’s the cafe Einstein frequented a century ago when he was living in Zürich
Nice. Was in Geneva last year and had a great cortado at “Oh Martine”, just a few blocks from the Natural History Museum. Check it out next time you are there- not quite as expensive at the spots you visited in Zurich, I think around 5CHF for similar drinks.
It’s interesting to me that the signage in both of those coffee shops is entirely in English.
Typical in Zurich, where it seems everyone speaks excellent English.
Here are some additional coffees worth visiting in Zurich for the coffee lovers. Keep in mind that new coffee shops often open, so it’s always good to do additional research to not miss a gem.
– Miró (coffee roaster, great choice of filter coffee and milk based coffee)
– Monocle (coffee shop, great milk based coffee)
– Bean Bank Coffee & Co (coffeeshop, selection of multiple coffees to buy, also serve a cup of coffee)
– MAME Josefstrasse (coffee roaster, At the Josefstrasse branch you can try MAME’s competition coffee. If you’re into Grand Cru coffee. Best light roast filter coffee in town)
Thanks for these suggestions, Tim.
You missed out the best place – not specifically coffee but chocolate too:
Confiserie Sprüngli on the corner of Paradeplatz and Bahnhofstrasse – walk out of Zurich Hbf along Bahnhofstrasse and it’s on the right after about seven minutes walk. You can’t beat it.