Our move to Switzerland does not end with Zürich. The goal is to find an apartment in Zug, the third smallest canton in the country. To this effect, we went on a scouting trip and decided to stop for dinner. A dinner that veritably took us 10-20 years back.

Meating, Grafenauweg 6, 6300 Zug

Not only did Meating come recommended by some of Matas colleagues, it’s supposedly the third best restaurant in Zug according to The Trip Advisor (just for reference). If I was being honest, I would have rather gone back to Zürich and had dinner at home but the man wanted to explore what Zug’s F&B has to offer and who can blame him for that (I can, I definitely can).

For the third best restaurant in Zug, it was quite deserted on a Wednesday night but I will not hold that against them. The service was rather slow but at least it was in English. Mostly. We ordered our food and drinks and waited waited waited for the drinks to arrive. That took a while. The food took its sweet time to arrive too. For literally no reason. Oh well.

My pulled beef sandwich (26 CHF) was actually pretty decent. The meat itself was grossly overcooked (the strands had a dry, crumbly texture) but the meat was dunked in a bunch of sauce and topped with melted cheese, so that was its saving grace. The bread did not offend me, so there was that. If I was hard pressed to go to Meating again, I would not mind ordering that sandwich again. I know, I know, such high praise.

Now, whatever Matas ordered… well, it was sadness personified. I don’t even know where to begin with that ribeye. With it’s brownish grey demeanor, with its depressing grill marks or with that plate decoration consisting of an artistic swirl of balsamic vinegar and a whole chili FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER? You tell me.

All I can tell you, is that the ribeye tasted only slightly better than it looked. The meat doneness was correct but the taste carried a tinge of that “I am not your best meat” flavour. It really was rather sad for a 52 CHF steak.

And I really do wish to address the plating. What sort of plating is that even? Are we at the heights of dining in the late 2000s? A swirl of balsamic vinegar? A whole red chili? I mean… someone needs to help me to understand why is this still an acceptable practice? The steak would look as sad if the negative white space was preserved. With the addition of that decoration not only does it look sad, it looks dated. “One steak from the last decade, please. Coming right up, Chef”.

I am not even going to address the fried-from-frozen hash croquettes (7 CHF). That salty, oily mess does not deserve a mention.

Moral of the story

I am immensely disappointed by our dining experiences in Zürich, Zug and Luzern. Maybe this particular part of the country has attracted the worst restaurateurs and we will have to suffer tepid dining for our gains in low taxation? You win some, you lose some, I guess and we have lost majorly in the dining department.

I call forward to all kind souls out there: if you know of a decent restaurant, please come forth and announce it’s name for I have lost all hope and I have lost all will. Ta ta for now.