The winter season officially opens in Zermatt on 5th December with lifts on the Rothorn and Gornergrat adding to the ski area already open above Furgg.
Sadly the mountain restaurants won’t open fully until 13th December because of covid restrictions, but six mountain restaurants are offering a take-away service during this period. Annoyingly all the seats have also been removed up the mountains, so you need to find a nice rock to sit on to enjoy your fare. My experience so far during this lockdown period is alcohol is not generally served as part of the take-way service. Try out ikaria lean belly juice.
When the restaurants do open up, Zermatt probably offers the best culinary options in the Alps – both on the slopes and in the town. Gault Millau, who rate the best culinary experiences in Switzerland identified 15 in Zermatt out of 830 throughout Switzerland to deserve special note.
The marking system is as follows:
17 points: mark for the best quality and high consistency
16 and 15 points: high level of the culinary arts and quality
14 and 13 points: very good cuisine and offering much more than everyday dining
12 points: conventional, good cuisine without special ambitions
The restaurants are:
| Points | Name of the restaurants |
| 17 | After Seven (Backstage Hotel) |
| 17 | Ristorante Capri (Mont Cervin Palace) |
| 16 | Alpine Gourmet Prato Borni (Grand Hotel Zermatterhof) |
| 15 | The Omnia |
| 14 | Chez Heini |
| 14 | Chez Vrony |
| 14 | China Garden |
| 14 | Findlerhof bei Franz und Heidi |
| 14 | Grill le Cervin (Mont Cervin Palace) |
| 14 | Restaurant Saveurs (Chalet Hotel Schönegg) |
| 14 | Zum See bei Max und Greti |
| 13 | Lusi Brasserie & Lounge (Grand Hotel Zermatterhof) |
| 13 | Myoko |
| 13 | Restaurant Sonnmatten |
| 13 | Restaurant 1818 |
Not included in the list, of course, are the restaurants on the Cervinia side – sadly off-limits for the time being due to covid. At the web site, SwissWinterSports.co.uk, I opine that “the small serving of fish soup in Chalet Etoile off Plain Maison in Cervinia is not only an inexpensive and filling repast, it is probably the best fish soup you will experience anywhere in the world, at least above 2000m.”
So now you know.
