Where to eat ANDORRA 🇦🇩 Zürich: Andorra Bar
If you have heard of Andorra, and not everyone has, you will likely wonder what makes it so special... it is a principality ostensibly ruled by two “princes,” the Catholic bishop of Urgell, Spain and the President of France.
Andorra Bar
MĂĽnstergasse 20, ZĂĽrich
What we ordered: For three people, the tapas plate with roast beef, cornichons, sun dried tomatoes, parmesan cheese and green olives and to drink: five small beers.
Cost: 98 CHF / €102.50 / $110
Andorra Bar is admittedly named after the Max Frisch German-language play, a grotesque drama about antisemitism where villagers decide one day who will be the Jew and taunt the person and themselves into surrealistic contortions – not for the country wedged in the Pyrenees between France and Spain.
However, given that this is Switzerland and our efforts to explore as many cuisines of the world as possible may invariably have a distinctly local flavor, we permitted this to pass for the simple fact that the menu had a few food items loyal to the culture of the country and the website boasted of “tapaskultur”. Admittedly, the Spanish restaurant across the street is likely both more faithful to “tapaskultur” and has better food. My partner joked that hopping across to Spain for better food is perhaps the most Andorran experience there is.
In pursuit of the delicious and the global, we will not always emerge on top. For such a small country (Andorra’s population is not even 80,000), this is not a new experience. If you have heard of Andorra, and not everyone has, you will likely wonder what makes it so special.
Perhaps its most unique feature is that it is a principality ostensibly ruled by two “princes,” the Catholic bishop of Urgell, Spain and the President of France. Known as a micro-state, it is the world’s only co-principality. Europe’s sixth-smallest nation can also boast that Andorra la Vella, the capital, is the highest altitude capital in all of Europe at 1,023 meters.
But what can Andorra Bar boast of? As the name suggests, it is mostly a bar, and for dining options, you have the Spanish option across the street and a large and small tapas platter in situ. While there is nothing to complain about per se, there is also nothing extraordinary beyond the prices, which seemed rather high for what we ordered.
The best part of the experience was the people watching. While Andorra Bar is located in the old city of ZĂĽrich, it is on the quiet part of one of the main streets, tucked just off the busier areas. It made for a quaint and quiet evening, something we greatly needed after a stressful day.
How to get to Andorra from Switzerland:
By car, it is around ten hours from Switzerland depending on your starting point through the south of France and the Pyrenees.
By rail and bus, routes vary and can take anywhere from 15 to 18 hours depending on connections.
Flying to Barcelona, Spain direct is possible from both Geneva and ZĂĽrich on Swiss Air, Easy Jet, and Vueling. From there, you can rent a car for the remainder of the journey, approximately three hours into the Pyrenees.
To get closer, you can fly Iberia through Madrid to La Seu d’Urgell airport which serves Andorra. While La Seu d’Urgell is just twenty kilometers from the capital, Andorra la Vella, it is not actually in Andorra but northern Catalonia in Spain.
How many people from Andorra are in Switzerland:
Andorra maintains diplomatic representation at its Permanent Mission to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva, so there is at the very least the ambassador and her staff present in Switzerland.
Distance between the capitals: 923 km
Distance from the restaurant to the country capital: 1,042 km
Learn how to make Andorra's national dish, escudella, and about its origins.
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