Beyond

Beyond is a good Chinese restaurant in the heart of Zürich. Prices are average for the city, service is slow and a little messy (a starter was served after a main dish). The waiters can speak English and are pretty kind. I had pan-​fried noodles and shredded pork Sichuan — both above average in terms of freshness and taste. Portions are abundant and well presented, as you can see in my photos. A negative note: we were served three glasses of water, which we really thought were tap water (no bottle, and it tasted like tap water), and got charged 10.80 CHF for them — a little disappointing.

PS: der Service ist einiges besser geworden. war ganz beeindruckt :)
Die Qualität super wie immer. richtig authentisch.

Seit ich in China die authentische chinesische Küche gekostet hab, geh ich in Europa eigentlich nicht mehr chinesisch essen. Als meine Freundin das Beyond vorschlug, war ich nicht begeistert. Sind trotzdem hin. Und jetzt bin ich begeistert! Authentische chinesische Küche, geschmacksvoll, grosszügige Portionen. Mir fiel auf dass das Beyond hauptsächlich von Chinesen besucht wird (an diesem Abend zählte ich total 5 «Langnasen», uns inkl.). Ein weiterer Beleg für die Authentizität.
Wir hatten Aubergine mit Gehacktem vom Schwein, Entenbrust und Bohnen mit Tofu. In China ist es üblich, dass man alles Essen mit den Tisch-​Gspönli teilt. Entsprechend grosszügig sind die Portionen. Der Reis ist kostenlos bzw. im Preis inbegriffen (auch der Nachschlag!). Die drei Gerichte haben wir zu zweit knspp so geschafft aufzuessen. Das Personal ist sehr freundlich und aufmerksam. Sehr sympa der Chef, der bei der Azswahl hilft, bedient und abräumt.
Ein kleines, einfaches Restaurant hinter dem Zürcher HB, das den Besuchern einen kulinarischen Ausflug nach China bietet. Suppen, div. Fleisch– und Fischgerichte und Gemüse stehen zur Auswahl. Wer nicht drauf verzichten kann, kriegt auch hier Sweet&Sour Gerichte. Aber nur auf Anfrage.

My favorite Chinese restaurant in Zurich. It’s a bit noisy in the evening and on the weekend you better reserve a table if you aren’t early. In the past the staff was criticised beeing rude, but the waiters we had were smiling and helpful. :) The food is just amazing and we almost every time order the scallion pancakes. I can’t talk for their lunch service, since I’ve eaten only from their Chinese menu and never from the buffet.

Es ist ruhig und gemütlich. Man kann auch mal spontan einfach Essen gehen.
Es hat ein kleines Buffet für 19.90 (All you can eat)
Die Qualität war ok, für mich nicht überragend aber für ein «schnelles» Mittagessen ok. Dafür hat es wie gesagt viel Platz und authentisches Personal.
Am Buffet gab es heute:
Poulet im Teig, Rindfleisch, Curry, Fried Rice, normaes Reis, Crewetten-​Cracker und Country Fries.

I came here for some dumplings early one evening with two Chinese girlfriends. We were in a hurry to meet someone afterwards and wanted a quick snack, so we asked them if they could please hurry up our order. The staff said yes, but I don’t know if they actually sped anything up.
I mean, how long does it take to boil some dumplings? The boiled ones were a little bit disappointing. I mean, they were okay, but we could have made the same ourselves at home out a freezer bag. The pan-​fried goyza ones tasted a bit better than the boiled ones.
We had some chilled white wine to go with our snack. I would never drink wine back home, but this seemed like a very Swiss thing to do. ;-)
Overall, the food was fine, but I wasn’t terribly impressed. My friends were telling me that Beyond has some of the most authentic Chinese food in Zürich, but I couldn’t really tell just from eating some dumplings.
I don’t know if I will come back, as I don’t really like the location near the main train station. But perhaps I’ll try it again one day to see if the Chinese food impresses me.

nun aber glaube ich immer mehr, dass in Qype manchmal Beiträge verschwinden. Ich habe vor Jahren einen positiven beitrag geschrieben und auch am vergangenen Mittwoch, beide sind nicht mehr da!
Also dieser Chinese ist gemäss Landsleuten sehr authentisch in der Küche und für viele Europäer zuwenig folkloristisch. Darum mag ich ihn. Wir erlebten sehr gute Bedienung (wir waren aber etwas spät zum Mittagessen da, nicht in der Stosszeit), man wird am modernen Tisch bedient und das Essen hat sehr gut geschmeckt. Wer in Zürich bei jedem Chinesen billigst Angebote erwartet, blendet die Qualität aus. DAs für ins Stammbuch einiger Kritiker.

It’s the most authentic Chinese food in Zurich.
It’s too expensive for my taste though. Last time a friend and I had three dishes and it cost us round about 100CHF incl. rice and beer.
But wait there is a catch, it’s the most authentic doesn’t mean it’s GOOD. Since the bar is quiet low, it is not hard to achieve that title of being most authentic.
The ingredients don’t taste so fresh and they mess up quiet often.
The ambience is «averagy», nothing special. The service can take quiet a while. And being right behind the Bahnhof at Sihlquai, makes it a quiet unattractive but quiet location.

The biggest disappointment was the fact that we were cheated in the bill at the end. We were 4 people and wanted to pay separately. For each of us, a portion of rice was added, even though it was not present on the bill. We asked the waiter why we should pay for the rice, since it doesn’t appear in the bill (we indeed consumed rice, but always thought that it was included in the dish price). The waiter just told us that his colleague forgot to add the rice and showed us in the menu the price for the ‘Extra rice’ dish.
Never ever in Switzerland before happened to any of us being asked to pay for something which didn’t appear on the bill.
Also, from reading other people’s reviews, rice is usually included in the dish price.
Hence, service indeed terrible.
Food was not bad, but not great either.
Will definitely not go there again after this experience.

I have to admit that we never sat down and always attempted to get take out, but I have to agree that this restaurant has the worst service personell in the city, in my opinion.
We went there once or twice after we saw that they had scallion pancakes. The first time they were quite alright, but, sadly, the second time we went there they were cold :(
We didn’t let this deter us and when we returned for a third time. That was a mistakel We were rudely told that you could only order one scallion pancake for take out. What? We still wanted the pancakes, so we told the guy that, in that case, the two of us would take one each. The answer was that we could only have one. Not one each.
After being treated so arbitrarily rude we’ll never go back there and promised ourselves to spread the word about this restaurant. Just don’t go there. There are great alternatives in Zurich (i.e. the Momo express, about a 15 minute walk from Beyond)

Das Beyond ist mein absoluter Favourite Chinese Restaurant in Zürich!!! Hab bisher kein besseres authentischeres chinesisches Essen in Zürich gefunden als im Beyond. Die Gerichte dort sind fast wie diejenigen, die ich in China gegessen hatte! Ausserdem essen sehr viele Chinesen dort. Kommt immer wieder vor, dass wir die einzigen westlichen sind. Es gibt kein Gericht, das nicht super schmeckt. Meine absoluten Lieblingsspeisen sind:
Vorspeise: Frühlingszwiebelkuchen, Shuijiao (die chinesischen Raviolis), Dim Sum
Hauptgericht: Mapo Doufu (Tofu), Gongbao Jiding (Poulet), Yuxiang Qiezi (Aubergine) LOVE Sie haben auch verschiedene Teesorten, die man in vollen Zügen geniessen kann oder das Qingdao Bier. Das Preisleistungsverhältnis ist dabei einwandfrei. Nicht teurer als andere Restaurants, dafür einfach 10x besser. Zwei Negativpunkte gibt es bei diesem Restaurant. Wenn man es eilig hat, absolut nicht geeignet. Das Personal ist sehr langsam. Man muss mit mindestens 30min rechnen bis das Essen serviert wird. Stellt man sich auf lange Wartezeiten ein, lohnt es sich total. Das Essen ist bisher unsschlagbar. Ausserdem läuft seit kurzem die Hitparade als Hintergrundmusik. Lady Gaga hat in einem chinesischen authentischen Restaurant nichts zu suchen. Ich hoffe, sie werden bald wieder umstellen auf chinesische Lieder. Reservation, vor allem bei Gruppen ab 2 Personen notwendig!

We were cautiously optimistic to finally have a decent Chinese meal in Zurich after hearing positive feedbacks of friends, but my experience was terrible. For two, we had xiao long bao (small steamed buns) that were the tinniest I have ever seen and the fillings were certainly not fresh or tasty. In the two main dishes, freshness of ingredients was the biggest drawback (ordered shrimp tofu and water-​boiled pork slices). The taste may have been decent if not for the expiring ingredients, but the quality was certainly not worth the price. Since we were there when the restaurant was relatively empty, can’t say the service was bad since they only had to serve two tables.
Would definitely prefer Jack’s place nearby for quick take-​out (excellent value for the cost) or Lin Lin’s place near Kinkelstrasse for a slightly more elaborate meal. Still on the lookout for a nicer dining experience with Chinese food in Zurich :(

Beyond is certainly the most authentic Chinese food that I have experienced in Switzerland to date. Case in point: the sweet and sour sauce isn’t a red, corn starch thickened all-​purpose glue as is usually the case in most Chinese restaurants in Switzerland, and the world around for that matter. It’s a sweet, vinegary sauce that goes perfectly as a final coat on the ultra-​crunchy fried pork ribs. Also authentic is the spice. Few are aware that Chinese regional cuisines count themselves as some of the spiciest in the world, within the ranks of Thai and Mexican. In Switzerland, heat in the mouth is generally not appreciated and for this reason, Thai, Indian and Chinese, cuisines that are normally firey, are definitely not! But beyond goes beyond that threshold. When the menu says spicy, you can believe it. The menu is diverse with noodle soups, Chinese classics like cashew chicken and lesser known items like Jing-​Jiang Pork — flash fried ground pork in house sauce on a bed of thinly sliced spring onion. Unfortunately, something I don’t understand is why, in Switzerland, a Chinese restaurant can’t stick to Chinese. Why can’t they just focus on good Chinese? They always have Thai food on the menu. Why go to a Chinese restaurant for Thai food?
I appreciate the fact that rice comes with the meal. It’s a miracle they don’t charge a ‘zuschlag’ of a couple of Francs. Most items are about 20 CHF, which is downright decent! Tsing Tao beer is perfect with a spicy meal.
Unfortunately, they don’t go beyond in the customer service department. It’s terrible! Unhappy people greet and seat. For 9 of us, they brought 2 menus! I had to get up to ask for more of them. The first person in our group got her meal 5 minutes before the next one came and it was another 15 minutes until the last one arrived. In a country where the people are so polite and wait for everyone to have their meals before digging in, this can be quite a pisser. The waitress who took the order brought the wrong meal for one of us. When we told her we hadn’t ordered that, she got defensive and told us that we DID! That’s not how it’s supposed to work. At Beyond, the customer is always wrong!
So, the food is good, relative to its peers in the vicinity, but bad service can ruin any good meal. And dining out is an experience more so than just a meal. The ambience is nothing special. Over lunch, they offer a small unattractive buffet for around 20 CHF. Being just next to Hauptbahnhof makes it convenient. Not sure if I need to go back though. Ni hao ciao.

Wirklich sehr guter Thai. Preise für Take-​away finde ich viel zu teuer und dort essen finde ich vom Abiente her nicht so toll. Trotzdem knapp vier Punkte weil es wirklich so lecker ist.

Ich war immer sehr begeistert von diesem Take Away, da er ein grosses abwechslungsreiches und frisches Angebot bietet. Leider war mein letzter Besuch eine Enttäuschung. Zu zweit holten wir uns etwas von dem Take Away Angebot, ich wollte Rindfleisch mit Bambussprossen und Winterpilzen. Ich habe den die genervt wirkenden Angestellten gefragt ob dies in irgendeiner form im Angebot vorhanden sei, worauf sie mir sprachlos eine englisch kantonesische karte reichte. Mein Wunsch war nicht auf der Karte, trotzdem wurde mir von einer zweiten weniger genervten Frau versichert, dass dies kein Problem sei. Ein Aufpreis von fünf Fr. kam dann beim bezahlen noch dazu, was mein asiatisch Take Away auf schlappe 24.- Fr ansteigen liess. Beim essen musste ich dann leider feststellen, dass dies für die gebotene Qualität masslos übertrieben war. Ich hatte wohl einfach Pech an diesem Tag, wie erwähnt war ich sonst immer sehr zufrieden, trotzdem werde ich nicht wieder hier essen da mich mehr als das Essen die Bedienung enttäuscht hat.

finally a proper chinese restaurant in zurich that goes beyond the usual, boring menu items. seems to be popular with mainland chinese a very good sign. perhaps a little too much oil in many of the dishes, but overall an excellent, straight-​forward option for chinese. service is too slow, but does not stop me from going back again and again.

Wer gerne ganz neue Geschmacksrichtungen kennenlernt, der findet hier viel davon. (besonders beim Kong Pao Chicken, mittelscharf) Es ist eines der wenigen Restaurants in Zürich, die authentisch chinesisch kochen; es gibt daher auch viele scharfe Gerichte. (Szechuan-​Küche) Die Gäste sind zu einem grossen Teil Chinesen.

A decent and extremely authentic place to have Chinese dishes from the mainland China, not Cantonese Hong Kong style. The place is Taiwanese owned… most of the dishes have a Sichuan influence so they are spicy, beware of your internal organs that may not be able to take this and keep your friends with sensitive taste buds and organs at home or they will whine all day about this place or worse you will spend all evening in the hospital with them having their stomach pumped. I only come here when my friends and I want to have some really spicy food from the mainland here in Zurich; b/​c the Cantonese HK houses don’t serve dishes that will burn your internal organs away, it is not a part of the cuisine.
I love dishes with fish but they tend to be a bit frugal on such portions here; so if you are a portion deal seeker I would skimp on that. My favorites here include the extremely spicy beef or fish dish which is not for the faint hearted. Again, you have to be the type of person to not come here and expect a Cantonese HK style dinner b/​c you will be disappointed, the cuisine here represents the «mainland» China especially Northern influenced dishes. If you understand that, you will actually be okay with this place.
So lastly since this is a very authentic mainland place… you will realize that you should culturally blend to the service levels too since that is also very authentic Chinese as well! ;-) Don’t come here expecting super fast Asian American/​HK service… enjoy the cultural immersion.
My personal main preference for Chinese is HK style food, so normally I am a patron of Chopsticks in the Niederdorf… but once in a while I do yearn for the burn and come here. But honestly it’s not the best Chinese (mainland) food I’ve had ever but in Zurich you make do with what is available, and on too of their frugal portions, I only come here when I have a yearning.