Zurich might seem like a city only for business travellers on first impressions but all party-goers, don't lose heart. The city has plenty of bars, nightclubs and lounge bars (apart from private bankers) to hold your attention. The entire area around River Limmat is beautiful and pedestrianized (hence touristy). No shortage of places here to hang out at but the heart of Zurich night life lies in the Old Town (where the famous St. Peter's church is) with its innumerable bars and restaurants. If your idea of a night out is pub hopping, then this is the place to do it.
Having decided to meet some friends over dinner and drinks, we zeroed in on the exclusive and stylish district of Seefeld(strasse) which is not in the Old Town. Located close to the Zurich Opera House, this area too has quite a few bars and restaurants and we chose Pur Pur which looked appealing and came recommended from locals. Pur Pur is a restaurant by day and lounge / dance club by night. It is two minutes down the road from another popular (and awesome) restaurant : Trattoria and Soul. On entering the large indoor area, Pur Pur strikes you with its bright Moroccan decor replete with low tables, divan like seating with large cushions, interesting artifacts and a packed bar counter. While the over all look is meant to be stylish and elegant, it comes across as a wee bit tacky. We didn't have reservations but the manager was kind enough to give us a dinner table since we had come in late (by Swiss standards) and that too on a weekday. The seating was uncomfortable for dinner since you have to bend really low towards the table to scoop the food and a backache is guaranteed. We subsequently moved to a table outdoors which was noisy but more practical for eating.
The menu offers a choice of Italian, Spanish, Mexican and Asian dishes. We opted for Nachos for starters and Thai Red Chicken Curry and Penne Pasta with Shrimps for the main course. There is only so wrong you can go with nachos and they along with the mains were super average. Very pub-fare like food with nothing to write home about. Starters at ~CHF 12 and mains at ~ CHF 28 per dish may seem expensive but as I discovered, Switzerland is expensive for F&B and Zurich more so. The service was extremely slow and we had to remind the waiter 2-3 times before our order came. Unfortunately, the friendly manager who had seated us was nowhere to be seen for the balance of our evening and rest of the staff was plain pathetic.
Pur Pur is known more for being a bar / lounge than a restaurant (despite the extensive food menu) and this was evident by the number of people who were there only for drinks. Keen to try Swiss wines (barely 1% Swiss wines are exported as most of them are consumed locally), we ordered a bottle of Swiss St. Saphorin 2009 from the Lavaux. This is a reasonably priced wine with excellent taste and we repeated a bottle of the same (and were not hung over the next day!)
Overall it was an enjoyable evening with friends but this was in no measure thanks to the terrible staff at Pur Pur who are arrogant and downright rude. I later learnt various other visitors have had the same experience at Pur Pur with respect to staff which didn't surprise me one bit. Just makes me wonder how does Pur Pur manage to feature in the 'World's Best Bars' list (yes they do!)? Best it definitely isn't or anywhere close to it. Apart from the location, I'am at a loss to think of another positive aspect of the place. There are other places in Zurich (highly recommend the Old Town bars) where you can better spend your time and money.
Having decided to meet some friends over dinner and drinks, we zeroed in on the exclusive and stylish district of Seefeld(strasse) which is not in the Old Town. Located close to the Zurich Opera House, this area too has quite a few bars and restaurants and we chose Pur Pur which looked appealing and came recommended from locals. Pur Pur is a restaurant by day and lounge / dance club by night. It is two minutes down the road from another popular (and awesome) restaurant : Trattoria and Soul. On entering the large indoor area, Pur Pur strikes you with its bright Moroccan decor replete with low tables, divan like seating with large cushions, interesting artifacts and a packed bar counter. While the over all look is meant to be stylish and elegant, it comes across as a wee bit tacky. We didn't have reservations but the manager was kind enough to give us a dinner table since we had come in late (by Swiss standards) and that too on a weekday. The seating was uncomfortable for dinner since you have to bend really low towards the table to scoop the food and a backache is guaranteed. We subsequently moved to a table outdoors which was noisy but more practical for eating.
The menu offers a choice of Italian, Spanish, Mexican and Asian dishes. We opted for Nachos for starters and Thai Red Chicken Curry and Penne Pasta with Shrimps for the main course. There is only so wrong you can go with nachos and they along with the mains were super average. Very pub-fare like food with nothing to write home about. Starters at ~CHF 12 and mains at ~ CHF 28 per dish may seem expensive but as I discovered, Switzerland is expensive for F&B and Zurich more so. The service was extremely slow and we had to remind the waiter 2-3 times before our order came. Unfortunately, the friendly manager who had seated us was nowhere to be seen for the balance of our evening and rest of the staff was plain pathetic.
Pur Pur is known more for being a bar / lounge than a restaurant (despite the extensive food menu) and this was evident by the number of people who were there only for drinks. Keen to try Swiss wines (barely 1% Swiss wines are exported as most of them are consumed locally), we ordered a bottle of Swiss St. Saphorin 2009 from the Lavaux. This is a reasonably priced wine with excellent taste and we repeated a bottle of the same (and were not hung over the next day!)
Overall it was an enjoyable evening with friends but this was in no measure thanks to the terrible staff at Pur Pur who are arrogant and downright rude. I later learnt various other visitors have had the same experience at Pur Pur with respect to staff which didn't surprise me one bit. Just makes me wonder how does Pur Pur manage to feature in the 'World's Best Bars' list (yes they do!)? Best it definitely isn't or anywhere close to it. Apart from the location, I'am at a loss to think of another positive aspect of the place. There are other places in Zurich (highly recommend the Old Town bars) where you can better spend your time and money.
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