Review: Swiss Week at The Grand Hyatt Hotel, Doha

When I think of Switzerland, the first things that come to mind are breathtaking Alpine vistas, skiing and après ski, very happy people, high net wealth and dodgy Swiss bank accounts. I seem to have some fixed ideas about this beautiful country, and yet (other than knowing that they consume a lot of cheese) I have very little clue about its cuisine.

So when The Grand Hyatt Doha invited me to the media launch of Swiss Gastronomic Week at The Grill, I jumped on the opportunity to go along and try some authentic Swiss dishes for myself.

One of the best things about The Grill is that getting there requires walking the length and breadth of the hotel...

Past interesting water features lit up by twinkly lights.

And through the cavernous space of the ground floor lobby. It's almost impossible to walk past this beautiful room without stopping for a photograph.

Inside The Grill, the room was already buzzing with music and chatter when we arrived. Rich quickly sought out the very lovely Nigel Spackman, ex-football manager and former player, and now a BeIn Sports pundit, who introduced us to one of the Hyatt's top chefs.

Aside from the usual culinary crew, the Grand Hyatt has also flown in guest chef, Sebastian Wirsching from the Park Hyatt Zurich for the occasion. This means that the resulting array of delicacies have the usual attention to detail that I have come to know and expect from The Grill, but with a touch of Swiss authenticity.

Our favourite stand was, of course, the cheese stand.

Sweet mother of cheeses, there was a great selection!

But just one plateful was not enough for us cheese fiends. We also followed our noses to a half-wheel of raclette which was being heated in the traditional way, and couldn't resist another plate of cheese melted over pickles and potatoes. 

 

We took our little dishes of heaven outside to eat on the terrace with a glass of red. 

 

But we didn't sit for too long, because we didn't want to miss out on the yodeling coming from the Swiss musicians inside.

 

During the evening, I was excited to bump into fellow Doha-based expat blogger Noemi who writes two fantastic blogs that I have been reading for a while now. Check them out at: Pinnay Flying High and The Greek Pinnay.

Do you want to know how we managed to find each other?! She recognised Rich from my blog. Unbelievable. He is never going to let me hear the end of this.

 

The pièce de résistance of the evening was , as always, The Grill's dessert table which always makes me feel like a kid in a very big candy shop.

 

If you're interested in popping along then Swiss Gastronomic Week will be running every night from 6.30-midnight until Thursday. There is a choice of an a la carte, or a set menu worth QAR 250. Be sure to book, because it's likely to get busy!

 

Have you been to any of the other themed weeks or brunches offered by The Grand Hyatt? Which has been your favourite?

We were guests of the Grand Hyatt Doha this time.