Alpenblick Bar

Overall, the international departure Terminal E in the Zurich airport is a desert for real food. There are no restaurants and there are only 3 cafes (and one of them was under reno) and perhaps 1 coffee shop. They really need to place a restaurant in there so lay over passengers can get real food between flights. This little café has a large menu for wines and beers for an airport café but it’s pretty low on the food selection. The little 1 cube glass enclosed area showcases a few selection of pastries, salads, and sandwich. I was quite disappointed with the lack of food but the prompt and courteous service that is fluent in multiple languages made up for it.
As mentioned, the food selection is very low and that was a disappointment. When I arrived at a blurry 5 am from India, I went straight from one terminal to terminal E. I figured going through Swiss customs and security to go to Terminal ABCD wasn’t going to be fun considering my layover wasn’t that long and I could find decent food in Terminal E. WRONG! So Aplenblick opened at 8 am with only a few pastries that were clearly premade a while ago (aka. they were mushy croissants and waffles), muffins, several decent looking sandwiches, musli, and premade boxed salads. Knowing that airplane vegetarian fare usually consists of dry overcooked pasta and tomato sauce, I had to buy something to sustain me over the Atlantic. The service staff helped me choose by being quite detailed on what was inside each sandwich. They were honest in saying what was better tasting even… I really do enjoy the top notch interaction as they seem to take pride in their work. Novelty!
I purchased the chocolate croissant for my grumbling tummy and a pesto tomato mozzarella sandwich for lunch later on. The prices were on the high side but it is Switzerland and an airport… double whammy for costs. With a gracious smile and fond wishes on a safe trip, I sat at a nearby table and tried to eat. The croissant was sadly not crisp layers but it was buttery in taste at least. The sandwich held up well as I ate it nearly 3 hours later on the plane. The bread was still fairly fresh with a good chew and taste. The tomato was mostly tasteless but offered some moisture. The pesto smelled of basil but the flavour itself was quite mild… if anything, I would say it was mostly oil with a touch of basil flavouring. So though the bread was good and made well, the ingredients just didn’t have the flavour punch.
Overall, great thoughtful service that offers the only food in Terminal E… but it’s just your average food quality though.