Les Armures

Restaurant
Date of Visit: 27th June 2026
Score: Excellent

Life is not all about pie and mash. Occasionally I go to a nice restaurant. And in Geneva at the end of June, I met a friend who I hadn’t seen for a long time. He picked me up from the airport and we went into the main town. After some stationery shopping (yes, I know rock on - you just wait until you are 50), we found a bar in the old town and had some wine.

It was incredibly hot and we considered doing something by the lake instead of going to a restaurant in the evening. But when in Geneva I have to visit Les Armures.

Les Armures is a hotel in the old town. It’s not far from the lake. There are some old cannons outside the hotel. The restaurant serves traditional Swiss food such as fondue and raclette.

I first ate here around 20 years ago and had a steak with colleagues. Over the years, I’ve been back for fondue and whatever they have on the menu. When I came in 2011, they had a simple starter of smoked salmon, raw onion and capers. I’ve made this for friends and family many times. In 2024 (or thereabouts), I ate fondue alone at the bar there with a bottle of red. I invented Capt Stake that night and commissioned the art for him. It’s a place with a lot of memories and good food.

This time, we booked in advance and were welcomed as usual. The restaurant is a formal white tablecloth affair, but they let us in our shorts and T-shirts. Fortunately it was air conditioned and the heat outside didn’t affect the experience.

We started with a bottle of reasonably priced Pomerol. It was 8 years old and had been looked after. (I bought more Pomerol in Zug later in the week and apparently 2014 is the best recent year at the moment.)

We were hungry boys and I started with the Pâté en croûte de porc fermier which to an untrained observer looks like a posh pork pie. And in fact, with that mindset, I enjoyed every bite of it. The contents had been carefully pressed with hot crust pastry and jelly. Very good indeed. The starters are excellent in Les Armures.

Then for main I had Émincé de veau à la zurichoise, which is Zurich style veal. My colleague had perch, which is very common in Geneva. The veal arrived and the sauce had slightly set, but the weather was against us. It was delicious as expected, the sauce carefully supplementing the flavour of the meat. I would guess it was made from mushrooms and cream, along with other cooking juices. The crunch of the rosti helped make the dish.

Slightly disappointing at the end was the fruit tart. On the day we went it was apricot tart and it was a bit soggy, but the weather was probably against them. The taste made up for any imperfections.

The starter cost CHF 28, the main course was CHF 46 and the dessert was CHF 13. The wine came in at CHF 90. So it’s not cheap, but it isn’t expensive either - I’ve paid much more in Switzerland for food. Definitely worth a visit if you are in Geneva.

Les Armures
Rue du Soleil-Levant, 1204 Genève, Switzerland
Tel: +41228187171
Web: www.lesarmures.ch/restaurant
Hours: 1200 - 2230 Daily