Where to eat GREECE 🇬🇷 Zürich: Yamas
Yamas, means “cheers” in Greek and surely with enough frequent visits, it would be delightful if this became a place where everybody knows your name – and you are always glad you came.
Yamas
Lagerstrasse 48, ZĂĽrich
What we ordered: For two people, one order of baba ganoush with tahini, pomegranate seeds and pumpkin seeds; one seafood salad with octopus, cuttlefish, taramas foam, chickpeas and herb chimichurri; one beef tartare with crispy trachanas, pickled carrots and herb mayonnaise; one order lamb served on Greek pita with yogurt and flourini coulis; and two orders of pita bread. To drink, two glasses of Malagousia white wine, four glasses of Assyrtiko by Gaia and a large bottle of mineral water with gas.
Cost: 186.50 CHF / €198 / $209
Yamas was recommended by our friend Giannis, a Greek-Swiss whose family came to Switzerland when he was a boy but makes frequent trips back to his family’s island to help prepare a home for his father’s life after Switzerland. Though Giannis had never been to Yamas, he had his eye on the menu and could confirm its total authenticity. As it is newer on the scene, with several Greek restaurants already in existence in Switzerland, though not all authentic, we decided to give it a try.
The first thing to know about Yamas is how exceedingly friendly the service was. At one point we had to say goodbye to one server whose shift was ending but he came over to let us know and hand us off to a colleague, who was similarly kind, offering wines from their islands and letting us know that indeed, we had ordered just the right amount and would not be hungry nor overstuffing ourselves.
Truth be told, the food was totally superior to anything we had imagined. Yamas, means “cheers” in Greek and surely with enough frequent visits, it would be delightful if this became a place where everybody knows your name – and you are always glad you came. As a small plate and wine bar with a distinctly Greek feel, Yamas totally works and in all likelihood will be around for years if not decades to come.
Of the dishes we ordered, the baba ganoush was perhaps the most ordinary, though lovely and textured, it was a good place to start before the dishes that really made a bang. The most interesting of these plates may have been the seafood salad which came with octopus at its most tender and delicate and a taramas or caviar foam that was a solid homage to the man who invented the culinary foam, Adrian FerrĂ of the now closed El Bulli. Like many of the plates, the flavors may have been totally Greek but the concepts showcased the creativity of mare nostrum.
The beef tartare as well was its own very special exotic take on what can be a rote dish, especially in the German-speaking world where it is exceedingly popular. Conceptually, I had not had such a take on raw beef so unique since I tried a very differently flavored form of it at an Ethiopian restaurant in Austin, Texas. While raw beef should sing on its own, flavored with the right mix and accompanied with delicacies like pickled carrots and herb mayonnaise, it can really elevate itself to something outstanding and unique.
As was the case with all else at Yamas, to close with lamb in proper Mediterranean fashion was the right call. Served on pita with yogurt, it was rich as can be but tender and tasting like butter. The yogurt and pita bolstered its richness without deteriorating the caliber or quality of the plate or seemingly stretching something that could not stand on its own.
The wines that were suggested as accompaniments, including a white wine for the lamb, were perfectly paired. After about three glasses and four plates shared among us, we were both ready to call it quits but also daydreaming about plotting a return. As it is located very near the main train station in ZĂĽrich, it seems we will not struggle to find an occasion sometime soon.
How to get to Greece from Switzerland:
By car, it is approximately a 25-hour drive depending on departure and destination to Greece from Switzerland through Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, North Macedonia and finally Greece.
By rail, the fastest way takes a day and a half with numerous stopovers and transfers in Vienna, Austria, Budapest, Hungary, Sofia, Bulgaria and finally Thessaloniki to Athens in Greece.
By air in the summer months, Swiss Air and Aegean have multiple flights a day between ZĂĽrich and Athens. From Geneva, Easy Jet also flies this route. Off season is likely to see pared down options. Flight times average between two and a half hours and three hours from both cities.
How many Greeks are in Switzerland: About 21,000
Distance between Bern and Athens: 2,458 km
Distance from Yamas to Athens: 2,339 km
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