Swiss Rosti Bar Restaurant

At Swiss Rosti Bar Restaurant, you get what the name says. Swiss Chef, Roger Moullet, makes very good rosti (the famous Swiss dish of grated potato) from Dobson's finest spuds.

The restaurant has glass doors open to the street with a smokers section of tables on a wooden floor before you hit the big open bar (twenty metres in diameter), with high but comfortable bar chairs for drinkers and snackers. Beyond that is the carpeted non-smoking section. The same menu is available throughout the restaurant space, with different specials at lunch and dinner.

Young staff in black tee shirts deliver the food fast. The music is loud and the place gets noisy with its glass walls, wooden floor and high ceilings. Very popular at lunch with business people. It's excellent value and speedy if you want it that way. You can also sit and relax longer in front of the fire or in the quieter back section near the kitchen.

The rosti is the best I've had out of Europe, and comes with a choice of 11 different toppings. There's a further choice from three varieties of Swiss sausage served with good spinach and (another) choice of sauces. The ham with melted raclette cheese topped with an egg is particularly delicious. Specials usually include pastas, Asian and Cajun inspired dishes. Don't know about those, though the chef has an impressive repertoire and reputation, why go past simple things done perfectly. Hard to find these days. It's not as if we are spoilt with choice of Swiss restaurants in Melbourne.

87 Flinders Lane
Melbourne
Swiss Cuisine
Melways reference 1B:S9
Phone: 9654 0088
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 10am-late
Licensed
Accepts credit cards
Seats Inside: 100
Closed: Most public holidays, except Christmas Day
Features: Restructed smoking, kids encouraged, private room seats 150
Favourites: Artichokes, boccocinni sun-dried tomatos and roasted red onions with pesto $9.90, Smoked salmon topped with dobs of creme fraiche, red salmon roe and ried capers $11.90, Char grilled lamb cutlets with beetroot chips and a red current chive dressing $11.90 (all served on potato rosti)

*An updated review can be found in Mietta's Eating & Drinking in Australia 2000 pg91, published by Black Inc., 2000, Vic.