Where to eat ARMENIA 🇦🇲 Genève: Café Restaurant Ararat – CLOSED

Café Restaurant Ararat – CLOSED

Rue du Stand 7, Genève

What we ordered: For two persons, one Yerevan salad consisting of roast vegetables including eggplant, peppers and onions garnished with parsley and sesame seeds, stuffed grape leaves dolma, khachapuri with egg, and an Armenian shish kebab. To drink, we ordered a bottle of Voskevaz Armenian red wine and Armenian Jermuk sparkling water.

Cost: 122 CHF / €129 / $137

Café Restaurant Ararat exuded a certain post-Soviet energy that can at once be described as stifling and welcoming. For those familiar with the South Caucasus, the paradox is not surprising or even confused. The restaurant itself was clean, sparsely adorned with a television playing a sort of greatest hits of Armenian culinary escapades, a series of low budget but high intensity videos showcasing the cuisine of Armenia.

We sat in the window in an elevated position overlooking the near empty restaurant. It was raining the night we visited, which complimented the frigidity of the interior, which though bright, left us wondering if the rezindentura of the Russian mission to the UN organizations in Switzerland’s NGO capital might come wandering in.

The food itself was fresh and quality and the service, while not overwhelming, was entirely pleasant. The dolma was tightly wrapped and well complimented with yogurt. The Yerevan salad was perhaps the most interesting of our selections, as it was neither hot nor cold but well garnished and rather tasty. The khachapuri, a pizza-like concoction most frequently associated with Georgian cuisine, was tasty but as with the homemade breads we were served before our food arrived, lacked a certain fluffiness. Likewise, the kebab was perfunctory.

The wine, however, was rather on point. Generally, the Georgians are known as the gourmands and winemakers of the South Caucasus. The Armenian wine we ordered as the rest were on back order, Voskevaz, was dry and complimented all the various dishes we sampled quite nicely. It was a pleasant surprise with what could be described as an otherwise ordinary meal.  

Over all, the experience of dining at Ararat was suitable and alright and entirely authentic. While Ararat may not have been anything to write home about, everything was competent, fresh and the service was courteous.

If you are in Geneva and craving the food of the South Caucasus, there is nothing that should stop you from trying out Ararat. But if you find yourself in Armenia, a tour of the Voskevaz winery should be added to your sightseeing tour list. The Voskevaz winery’s Instagram advises scheduling a tour in advance as they are only available by reservation.

How to get to Armenia from Switzerland:

By road, it is approximately 43 hours of driving through northern Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey before arriving in Armenia.

There are no nonstop flights to Yerevan from Zürich or Geneva, but Swiss Air offers flights with its Star Alliance codeshare partners. From Geneva, flights to Yerevan are routed through Vienna and Brussels on Austrian and Brussels Airlines. From Zürich, additional routes are offered in conjunction with Lot Polish through Warsaw and Lufthansa via Frankfurt. Other carriers offer additional connecting flights from both major Swiss airports.

How many Armenians are in Switzerland: Approximately 600

Distance between Bern and Yerevan: 3,947 kilometers

Distance from Café Restaurant Ararat to the Yerevan: 4,022 kilometers

Learn how to make Armenia's national dish, harissa, and about its origins.

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