This is a restaurant in Ascona (Switzerland) which I visited with a few members of the orchestra when we did a concert there several weeks ago. As per usual, the tight timing between the rehearsal and the concert meant that we essentially had to just drop into the first restaurant that we would stumble across (with some hints from Google). Sometimes, it leads to some nice finds and other times it leads to a place that we can avoid in the future!

Switzerland is a country that is well known for it’s slightly expensive rates of eating out, but luckily the per diem from that particular orchestra is quite generous, so it didn’t matter too much. However, it did mean that I did pocket a little less extra money that day!

The Space

It seemed like there was a busy tourist trade going on, and the weather was quite good, and so there was quite an ample amount of outdoor seating. On this day, it was great weather for eating al fresco, and so all the outside tables were pretty much taken.

And given the view from the restaurant, can you blame people for wanting to sit outside? Fresh air, mountains and a lakeview!

The interior décor was quite old fashioned, I would say it was a bit borderline on good and bad taste. Let’s just say I wouldn’t be decorating my house like this! However, it was comfortable and with most of the people outside, it was quite pleasantly calm inside.

An open kitchen with a pizza oven was on display, as seems to be the fashion these days. As was an amply stocked bar, which I didn’t photograph. The eating area décor was also much more tasteful than the entranceway, which was a bit of a relief!

The Menu

The menu was mostly Italian or Italian inspired, with the main dishes (prima and secondi) all looking really quite interesting. However, given our time constraints we all opted for quicker meal options like pizza and pasta. On the left is the main dishes, and on the right, the selections of pizzas.

On this page of the menu, there was the usual assortment of salads, appetisers and pasta dishes all with the attendant Swiss pricings!

However, what caught my eye was the specials menu! It was mushroom seasons, and so they were offering a spelt dough pizza with white sauce with a selection of freshly picked mushrooms! And so, that was what I ended up ordering!

The Food

I have to say, the pizza was excellent! The dough was an interesting and tasty alternative to the usual white dough. The mix of different grains made for a more wholegrainy taste and texture. The cheese was also not overdone (which it sometimes is, in an attempt to add flavour), which allowed the mushrooms to shine through in the taste.

The Experience

I enjoyed the place, although (like most things in Switzerland) it was a touch on the expensive side of things. The wait staff were relatively efficient, given the amount of patrons that they had to deal with, and the waiting time was reasonably quick. Splitting the bill was also not a problem, which was important when you have a group of six freelance musicians, who are paying from their own per-diems.

The food was very much on the good side of things, however, all of us had pizzas or pastas, and so I can’t really speak for the whole breadth of the menu. Funnily enough, the bread that was served before the meal was also really worth a mention, often if they get this wrong, then you are going to have low expectations for the rest of the meal, but in this case, the bread was actually quite a stand out!

If I ever find myself back in Ascona, I would definitely revisit this place and take my time with the eating. It was unfortunate that due to the fact that we were time constrained with work, that we couldn’t take our time to eat slowly and try out the full menu (including desserts!). The same work commitment reasons meant that we couldn’t really drink anything interesting either! However, that might have been a blessing in disguise, as that probably would have had made the dinner just way too expensive!

Opening Times

Saturday 9AM–12AM
Sunday 9AM–12AM
Monday 9AM–12AM
Tuesday 9AM–12AM
Wednesday 9AM–12AM
Thursday 9AM–12AM
Friday 9AM–12AM

Contact Details

Address: Piazza Giuseppe Motta, 6612 Ascona, Switzerland (NOTE: There are no street numberings, so on the Tasteem map, it is just a bit down the road in the SE direction from the pinned position)
Phone: +41 91 791 51 58
Website: http://www.ristoranti-ff.ch/nostrana.html

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