Justin C.
Yelp
****4.5 stars ****
Widder Bar is undoubtedly a 5 star cocktail bar by Zurich standards, but for anyone who's traveled around it does fall a bit short in execution. While I'm tempted to round up based on the outstanding service, setting, and selection, it's ultimately the drinks that carry the most weight for me and I found them lacking a bit here, despite a very well intentioned list.
On a Sunday night in Zurich the list of options for late night drinking are quite limited, but even if the whole city were available I still would have selected Widder Bar as our first destination on a long evening layover excursion into the city. It exudes a sense of class that does a splendid job of personifying Zurich, where luxury abounds if you're willing to pay for it. Unlike others I won't knock them for their 20CHF+ (at the time the USD$ was about 1 for 1 exchange) priced cocktails, because as we found out alcohol everywhere in Zurich is expensive. Just know that coming in and you can avoid the sticker shock if you're from elsewhere.
The pianist was playing when we arrived around 10PM, and continued for almost the entire 2 hours before the bar closed up for the night. The songs were all in English, and added a nice elegance to the atmosphere. The first thing I spotted was the massive wall of liquor, some shelves 2 deep in bottles, filled with quite an impressive selection of mostly scotch and other whiskies. It's clear what the clientele is here, and they do a damn good job accommodating them. There were many bottles I had never seen (even at DC's Jack Rose with it's 1,600 bottle selection), and many more I hope to sample some day. But, wanting to space out our drinking over the course of the whole evening we opted for cocktails.
The cocktail list here is a mere one page of originals, but the bartenders are knowledgeable in dozens of classics. They've got a really neat chart to guide you in your selection of libation, detailing how each drink hits your different taste receptors (sugary, bitter, etc). For full drink descriptions just see my photos, but I can sum the 5 we tried up by saying that while all were good, most were rather one note and not entirely remarkable. I don't see another bar in Zurich doing this type of in-depth cocktail approach, so I commend them for it, but for all the ingredients in each drink I would expect them to be a bit more unique in flavor. My favorite of the evening was the Night Shade (Black Bottle Scotch, Tawny Port, Angostura, Klosterfrau Mellisengeist, Sugar, Lemon), mainly because it was the most well rounded. I was a bit disappointed in the Black Velvet (Champagne, Guinness, Bacon), because the elements were integrated in that order, whereas I was hoping for a mostly Guinness based drink. I guess that's my fault for not asking.
After seeing my drink though, Suzy, who had been in a pork-abstaining Muslim country for the previous 6 months, followed by a nearly month long trip with me through Morocco (where pork technically exists, but isn't very edible when you find it), nibbled on some of my bacon and found some instant gratification. This was made incalculably better when I mentioned it to the bartender, who then procured her an entire plate of bacon, at no cost to us. That type of service (along with constantly refilling their delicious bar snack mix) on top of the well made drinks was exactly what we needed after our flight from Marrakech, and being away from Western civilization for an extended period. If you have any length of time here in Zurich, I highly recommend you pay this bar a visit for an experience worth every penny (or franc, as it were).
