Zermatt: Swiss Restaurant in Angeles, Pampanga

During our weekend visit to Angeles, Pampanga for the Frontrow Hot Air Balloon Festival we stayed at Azzurro Hotel. This gave us the opportunity to tour Pampanga a bit and experience some of the best in their food industry.

It is then that we encountered Zermatt of La Grand Residence.

ZERMATT

Zermatt is a Swiss-themed restaurant that serves Swiss and Philippine cuisine.The restaurant is managed by Christie Angeline Uy and their Executive Chef is Chef Nova Buyao. We learned that Chef Buyao is a Filipino who worked as a Chef in Germany for 15 years.

THE AMBIENCE

 

The walls of the building are green and white outside, but inside it is all wood.The restaurant gives off this fine dining atmosphere as we entered. It feels like we were immediately transported to Europe because of it German and Swiss set-up.

THE FOOD

The menu of Zermatt offers both Swiss and Philippine cuisines. The wide food variety includes appetizers and soups, main dishes, bread, bar snacks, breakfast options, desserts, and drinks like coffee, beer, and wine.

They have macaroons with shu fillings inside in their dessert section. For bread, you can opt for a croissant, scones, or clubhouse.

Some of the drinks that caught our interest were the high tea and the latte art that is included for all their coffee drinks. They have Latte, Cappuccino, Irish Coffee with liquor, and Honey Vanilla Tea Latte for coffee options.

 

THE FOOD THAT WE TRIED

• Kase Fondue Fur Zwei Personen (Cheese Fondue for 2 people) – Php 1,300

  

  

When I ate this, it satisfied my fondue cravings. The dish has baguette bread with Appenzeller cheese, Emmental cheese, and gruyere cheese cooked in white wine. You can choose to dip bread or marbled potatoes.This meal reminded me of that time when my family and I went to Lucerne. It also made me think a bit of Old Swiss Inn.

It’s not a secret that I’m a cheese monster so it was funny when this dish landed literally in front of me. It’s like they knew who would eat the most of it.

• Fondue Bourguinon (Beef Fondue) – Php 2,400

  

  

The first thing that got our attention is the marble potatoes on it. It has this miraculous way of not splashing because of its moisture.The main attraction of the dish is the Australian beef chunks and its variety of dips that you can choose from. They have dip choices like colypso, remulod, pepper, sesame, curry, and mustard. The pepper dip is like gravy, the authenticity of the curry dip reminded me of India, while the sesame is truly a crowd favorite.

This dish is a big plus for me because of its variety of dips. It gave us different experiences of flavors to enjoy with the beef.

• Cheese Platter

This is definitely a platter made for cheese lovers like me. It has brie, gruyere, tilsitter, gorgonzola cheese, and Emmental cheese. These cheese are not commonly found in your typical supermarket, so getting to try all of it is like getting a taste of cheese heaven.It is a food experience I highly recommend for those who love cheese like me.

• Smoked Meat Platter – Php 560

We found this platter in their Bar Snacks section of the menu. It has salami, coppa, air-dried meat which is beef, gruyere cheese, lioner mushroom, black forest ham, salad with balsamic, and prosciutto. They also serve bread and butter with the dish.This meal made it easy for us to feel full after eating it.

 

• The Crowd Favourite

This food really tastes great. It was made with the Matterhorn in mind, which is a mountain in the border of Switzerland.

It has potato strip with raclette cheese and salad made of lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, onion, and balsamic vinegar. Just remembering it makes me want to eat it again.

• Quiche

This is a delicious Spinach Cup with cream cheese on it. It was part of the brunch we ate and the staff of the restaurant highly recommended it.When I ate it, I immediately understood why they are recommending it. It’s not only delicious, but it also has this balance that a dish doesn’t commonly achieve.

• Drinks

  

  

For the drinks, we ordered Pineapple Mint Soda and Dalandan Mint Slush. I had the Dalandan Mint Slush for myself since I am a fan of dalandan. The drinks were quite refreshing, especially for a hot day.

I also tried Honey Vanilla Tea Latte after everything, it helped me digest all the food I ate. . The drink was light and very good.

BREAKFAST AT ZERMATT

Eating breakfast at Zermatt is commonly served at the sky breakfast but they can also be served in your own room if wish so.For breakfast, they offer pancakes, waffles, pastry, deviled eggs, cheese, cold cuts, sausages, mimosas, and many more options.

BRUNCH ON SUNDAYS

We got to eat brunch in one of our visits. They serve a buffet from 8 to 10 AM for Php 795 per plate and gives a 50% discount for kids who are below 7 years old.On this visit, we ate Quiche, deviled eggs, and salad. We weren’t able to try everything but we did drink some mimosas which is vodka with orange that tasted great.

WHERE IS ZERMATT LOCATED?

 

The restaurant is located on the ground floor of La Grande Residences building in Sarmiento Street, Plaridel 1 Malabanias, Angeles City, Pampanga.

La Grande Residence is a condo/hotel where guests can stay for a number of days or months depending on their preference. Being a condo/hotel, the rooms have their own kitchen. They also have facilities that are typically found in condominium residences and hotels like gym and meeting rooms. And apparently, there are some ongoing expansions and plans to build a tennis court by 2021.

 

What got our attention is the infinity pool that they have in the roof deck. It is not only pretty but amazing as well. The pool bar serves cocktails, smoothies, and even kiddie meals which keeps it family oriented.

We did a lot of food trippings in Pampanga during our weekend stay. Among the places we ate, Zermatt and BIF left a lasting impression so much that we definitely want to go back again. On our next visit to Pampanga, I have a lot of things to look forward to. And hopefully, it will hap