Chesa     瑞樵閣  

好多年好多年没有来过了....
Authentic...classic...romantic...sweet....so special to arrange our small CNY eve dinner at Chesa.

Service is excellent, hearty....真的好亲切. The interior is nothing really grand but very Swiss, cozy and comfortable.

I was craving for cheesy meal, so almost everything we ordered were cheese and cheese and cheese

Before appetizer, a basket of very nice bakery to start...I missed that, so nice....
Crab meat pancake with lobster-Armagnac cappuccino. we shared so each of us had a small piece, very delicious one, lobster armagnac matched very well with the crab meat, tasty but not override.

Raclette du Valais, hot melted cheese with potato; kind of signature dish here.

Fondue...for sure! We had the one with Champagne, perfect!

Roasted pork tenderloin and belly, which was the one made me feel so touched....don't know how to describe but really delicious. The tenderloin was crispy and the fat in between was melting in the mouth...

We were so satisified and full, only ordered one dessert to share...Passionfruit mille-feuille with mango sherbet, very nice one, plus some Swiss chocolate offered by the waiter. Happy meal!

Apart from Champagne to celebrate CNY eve, the bellini and mango mojito were very good.

It worths almost a 3-week-reservation as food and service were excellent.

Food - starting from entree to main dish to dessert are all good. Definitely the fondue and raclette were the star. More than that, the ravioli and veal were very delicious! Ravioli was served hot, stuffed with rich meat and slightly crisp along the fringe. The beef rib was also good with very tender and thick meat, well-matched with the sauce... as for the Chocolate house and the petite four as the dessert, both marked a perfect end of another birthday dinner.

What I really want to say was the exceptionally GOOD SERVICE, especially the Mr. manager *I think*. He would make sure every customer feel comfortable and well-served. Not only just water, he would really go around all the tables, serving glasses and taking pictures. Plus, having jokes with us. You could feel his passion and enthusiasm in building a warm and cozy ambience to all customers. We all had a very happy time, thank you for making me a happy birthday.

All I want to say is, service counts.

Chesea has always been on my wish list for fine dining and finally I’ve got the opportunity to pay a visit to this authentic Swiss restaurant. Without doubt, the ambience, friendliness of staff and most of the dishes are terrific!

Stepping into the historical Peninsula Hotel in search of the Chesa wasn’t easy for me. To my ignorance, I expected to be welcomed by a grand front door similar to the reception in Amigo. Chesea is in fact located just off the main corridor on the third floor and I over-sighted it for a few times as being distracted by the buffet venue next to it.Upon arrival, I found the layout and decor were absolutely stunning; it reminded me of the wooden chalet in the winter night of Eagelberg and everything came in a very cozy yet romantic way. My friend ordered the set-lunch with crab soup, pork fillets and lemon tart whilst I chose from the a la carte menu. As recommended, I picked the popular Crab meat pancake with lobster cappuccino as appetizer, melted cheese as main and baked apple tart with yoghurt ice-cream for my dessert.The Crab meat cake was fascinating even I could never be a big fan of seafood. The crepe was very smooth and chewy, and soaked with indulgently creamy lobster bisque. The crab meat was fresh and simply delicious. I could finish it within a minute! The Melted cheese came next and it was served with new potatoes, pickled onions and gherkins. It was a shame that I was too busy chatting and didn’t finish it before it turned cold. Yet, the cheesy dish was still mouth-watering .
My friend was happy with the crab soup but only managed to finish ½ of the pork fillet… probably a bit over-cooked and the presentation was not as delightful….The real triumph of the meal was the desserts served at the end. The baked apple tart I ordered was awesome and it was accented with scoops of homemade yoghurt ice cream. The hot & cold combination was simply irresistible. The Lemon Tart my friend ordered was served with raspberry sorbet and it was so good that she wouldn’t mind to come for the dessert again later that day! To end this epic meal, we were presented with the petit four which included bites of almond cakes and chocolate. My friend was not interested in these little things and I finished them all I love the chocolate!

We will most definitely return to try out more on the a la carte menu.

Well-decored from every detail, ignoring the fact that the waiters do speak chinese i really thought i was dining is one of the chalets in swiss!

Not mentioning their attentive service, the food was truly authentic. We had a few dishes, of which of course the Beef fondue (very tender) and cheese fondue (yummy!).

Overall it was a good experience in terms of atmosphere and food; the price is also reasonable in my view.

I only know of a few places that serves cheese fondue, my alternative choice would be at Country Club, which is as good.

We have tried to eat here several times over the past couple of years but were never able to book a table for when we wanted. This year we tried to reserve a table for our wedding anniversary dinner 3 weeks in advance - same story. Not to be deterred, we asked when the next table for 2 was available and were told about week later – FINALLY! – and we took it.

Ambiance: Very rustic and cozy, but the tables are large and spread out. I walk by the Peninsula almost every day and am always amazed how they pack so many restaurants, shops and hotel facilities into such a relatively small building. Everything seems so spacious inside.

Service: Extremely friendly and efficient!

Food: (Note - We stayed away from the cheese dishes since we might be going to a fondue/raclette party in a few days) I knew we were in for some good eating as soon as the bread basket arrived! The wife had beef consommé to start and the pike/perch fish dish for her main course. I had the sausage salad appetizer and the beef ribs with a side of spaetzle. Everything was perfectly cooked, and I really enjoyed the earthiness of the spaetzle as I used it to mop up the extra sauce that came with my ribs. Such a simple dish, yet so delicious! For dessert we shared a chocolate mousse that was not too sweet. Some chocolates also were served with the wife’s tea.

Bottom Line: Worth the wait! I highly recommend this place for a cozy, romantic dinner when you are in the mood for this type of food. There is a reason this place has received so many smiley faces and just a few frowns (173 vs. 4). Just remember to book early.

The lunch set in Chesa is always the best choice for enjoying lunch with a reasonable price.

Lunch set 1
Appetizer: Shrimp cocktail with melon
Four large and fresh shrimp are put beautifully in a glass with a bed of marinated melon. A very refreshing appetizer in hot summer!

Main: Grilled lamb chops
Three pieces of lamb chops are grilled to just well-done as requested. Juicy and tender!

Dessert: Bread and butter pudding
A excellent choice for sweet lover. Large portion. Very creamy. The crispy almond, sweet raisin and sour berry sorbert made a mixture of hot and cold, sweet and sour, soft and crispy. Just wonderful!

Lunch set 2
Appetizer: White fish consumme
I think it tastes like chicken soup in can. haha.....

Main: Roasted veal loin
This one is not bad. But I think its signature dish: veal and mushroom in light cream sauce, is much better. May be that is the only good way to cook veal

Dessert: Dark chocolate pot-de-cream with vanilla ice-cream
Very rich dark chocolate. Best for chocolate lover.

The lunch ended with latte/mocha and petit four. We are too full to finish them all

It should come as no surprise that with any fine dining restaurant, the wait is normally a few weeks. Chesa's no exception, but this place was truly worth the wait! Especially for cheese lovers... this place is cheese heaven. Amid the grandeur of the Peninsula, you almost would miss the humble entrance of this restaurant. From the outside walking in, it looks like some storage room. Inside, however, is a dimly-lit, cozy Victorian-style living room. The perfect setting for dates and nice for small family gatherings, but kids under age 3 are supposedly not allowed in according to the website. Whether they observe this rule is beyond me.

Service
As expected, the waiters here were very friendly and ready to assist. Your glass doesn't go empty, or at least not for a long time. Also helpful with food selection if you're not sure what to order.

Food
[Riesling]
If you like overly sweet and carbonated wine (I do!), order the bottle from Mosel, Germany. It will complement your meal.

[Bread basket]
Let's start with the bread basket, as that's complimentary and always comes first. Nothing too special about the bread. Unfortunately it wasn't one of those where you could simply savor the flavor of the bread. I had to add butter. The pretzel bread was nice though - imagine a lightly salted and very soft pretzel but in the shape of an American football. It was pleasant and I wish they had served more of that

[raclette]
Following the mediocre bread, I was relieved to find that the raclette cheese was sooo gooooddd. A slice of cheese thinner than the plate itself. I compared this to the raclette at Swiss Chalet and found this to be better. It was bit burnt (which I liked) and didn't have much seasoning on top, which left the cheese in its almost natural state *drool* Served with potatoes and a side of olives, gherkins, and pickled onions. Eat together with the cheese. Yums!

[champagne fondue]
Mouthwatering and delicious. I LOVED IT. The cheese used was emmental, a Swiss cheese that is popular for fondues. It has a creamy and light sweet flavour, and blends well with plain sour dough. The bit of champagne did not overpower the melted cheese, but rather complemented it. I found both the fragrance and the taste of this enriching. I lost count of how many bread cubes I dipped into the pot. It was just too good to resist >.<

[veal with mushrooms and cream sauce]
This came a bit later, when I was almost full from the cheese. Luckily I had some room left in my stomach for this, because it was again amazing. The veal was thin and tender, and the creamy, gravy-like sauce - which was a little on the salty side - goes well with the blander potato sticks meshed together like a hash brown.

[chocolate house]
One word: overrated. I was already full at this point but took a few bites. It looks cute, but doesn't mean it's good. Maybe I just like sweeter and thicker pieces of chocolate. The vanilla ice cream was also just alright, nothing too spectacular.

Verdict
Given the price, atmosphere and quality of the service and entrees, and the fact that I'm a cheese lover, I'd gladly come back. Wouldn't order the dessert, but yes to more cheese, meat and wine Us three girls sat there for 3+ hours.

Had annual sausuage fesitval with my bf in Oct again.

Lobster soup ($120): very very rich (actually, a little bit too rich, just like sauce) Good for sharing.

Seafood sausage ($230) - my annual dinner! still very delicious. had the taste of lobster, scallop etc. good!

Risotto with sausage and wild mushroom ($170): Recommended by the manager. the risotto is al dente and the sasuage is not too salty. delcious! large portion, very full.

Response to the last review: Mr. Lam should be the manager of Chesa. He is very talkative and friendly. The waiters there are actually very nice. Although we do not order wine/drink nor have many food, they are very nice every time. So Mr. Lam may just be surprised that someone already have eaten something before going for dinner at 7:30. And people going there usually enjoy a long dinner. So may be he really thought that you are in hurry.

Just went to Switzerland. The food there is nice but not as good as it in Chesa. So can't wait and go to Chesa again after the trip.

We two people had a deep fried cheese as appentizer. It was one of the special items in September. The hot and soft cheese was fried crispy. Very delicious.

We shared two main courses, one is baked stuffed quail (recommeded monthly item) and lamb rack. I am sorry that I don't like the quail. It tasted like the chicken liver. We had medium for the lamb rack. it is simply perfect. I like the potato cake baked with cheese on the side too!

Had a monthly special dessert: grape tart with sabayon. it is really very very delicious. I never had such kind of grape. there is some wine taste. very delicious.

We went to chesa for dinner last week. I was quite impressed by the settings - very Swiss-like.

We ordered Crêpe au crabe, cappuccino à l’homardine et Armagnaca and Fondue Forestière to start with. The crab pancake was delicious. It was filled with crab meat and the sauce tastes like lobster bisque. Cheese fondue was a bit heavy on the wine. Maybe we should have ordered it with less alcohol in it. I think the one we tried in Swiss Chalet was better (think we had the one with garlic there).

For the mains, we ordered Emincé de veau Zurichois and Fondue Chinoise. They knew we were sharing the dishes, so they actually divided the veal onto two plates for us. I think the taste was average. I would have liked it with more mushrooms. For the beef fondue, we had the diced beef instead. The meat was tender, but it lacked the beef flavour. The stock had all the correct ingredients including the herbs, but the stock was too thin. The sauces were not good.

Maybe the meal would be good for those who are not used to strong flavours, but for me, having tried and loved the food in Switzerland, this is not the place I would come again.

Ah! so today went to Chesa with family, to try out their lunch set~ it cost $280, including an appetizer, a main dish, a dessert with tea/ coffee~ and petit fours at the end of the meal the waiter said their set menu was changed weekly =)

Appetizer: we had Prawn Salad and Ox Consomme (recommended by the waiter)... the ox soup was great~ a light soup but rich in the taste~ totally recommending this for girls who would like to have something light but tasty

Main Course: Meat Loaf was also recommended by the waiter, it was served with a fried egg on top. it was too heavy though. So i ordered Roasted Duck Breast with polenta and i LOVED it! the slices were thin and they have absorbed the sauce well~ the polenta tasted just like the one i had in london =)

Dessert: We've ordered 3 different dishes of desserts. We had Vanilla Panna Cotta which was really rich with milk flavor! We also had an Apple Tart thingy with Vanilla Ice-cream it would be perfect if it were served hotter~ and lastly we had a Pineapple Royal Cake I would say the Panna Cotta was the best among the 3 =)

Chocolate sweets and gingerbread were served as Petit Fours. Too sweet for my taste. The orange slice dipped in chocolate was a bit weird.

The dining experience was AWESOME in general! it was like we were having a meal in a small wooden hut, not fine dining where you had to dress very properly. Waiters were very friendly and willing to make suggestions. Would absolutely go back and try out other dishes =)

Had the 3-course luncheon (appetizer, main course, dessert) with tea/coffee included.. The taste was ok, not exactly to my liking. One of the appetizers we ordered was salad with quail. The name seemed to be kind of misleading, given the skimpy portion of salad greens on the plate. The greens were more like garnishes.
Maybe our expectations were too high because of this restaurant's location and the price they charge (not ridiculously expensive, but there are many other options in this price range).
Last thing I'd like to mention is their service. Friendly. Attentive.
A funny moment. Towards the end of the meal, one of the waiters came to check on us, asking "How was the meal?" in a friendly tone. Maybe he was trying too hard to be friendly, I felt like a 2-year old.
It's a restaurant worth trying, but I don't think I will go for the second time.

we enjoy our seafood sausage in Oct every year. There is no exception this year.

Had dinner with bf. we had racalette for appentiser. as delicious as before.

We then had main course, cod with mushroom and spinch pancake with carrot sauce. this replaced the cod with pumpkin risotto. the cod is thinner than before. not as oily and tasty as before. also it had already been broken when it was served. The Captain said to replace for us. we said no need. the spinach is rather salty. the mushroom is delicous. there is a very thin spinach pasta between.qutie interesting.

then, it is my favourite seafood sauasage. three fat and short sasuage. very cute. very delicious.

Went there for lunch last year December as a half Christmas meal, and was seriously impressed.

Called all the recommended food: swiss barley soup, sliced veal, chocolate house desert. All of them was excellent quality - we also shared a cheese fondue, maybe I'm not just a fan of it, but I didn't really like the taste, but not bad enough to affect my overall impression of the restaurant.

All in all a great place, only downside is that it is pretty pricey.. but expected at such a place.

Finally got the chance to try Chesa! I must say, dining here really takes u back to a little hut in Switzerland! U can almost here the blizzard blowing outside! This restaurant is really nice and cozy! Perfect for a nice warm dinner during Winter! Wonderful service and delicious and cheesy food! Had the pan fried Fois Gras, followed by Garlic Cheese Fondue to share! Main course had the Veal chop with Raclette (very strong cheese taste!). Finished off with a Meringue hut with Lavendar and Pistachio Ice cream and a cafe au lait! Wonderful service and great food! I want to come back just for the Cheese Fondue again! Maybe next time I can try the Chocolate Fondue too!