6 Best Restaurants in Fribourg, Fribourg and Neuchâtel

MasterChef  TV series participants Benoît Waber and Leonard Gamba are earning top honors with their gastronomic café, set in a spacious, renovated warehouse near the university. The chefs create a unique, limited menu each week, with the goal of titillating the senses using unusual or unexpected ingredients. Dishes like grilled perch with lemon caviar and caper flowers provide a zesty take on fine dining—for half the price of other similar restaurants.

Centrally located, this is one of the top Fribourg restaurants, thanks to owner-chef Frédérik Kondratowicz's superlative take on seasonal cuisine. The ambience in this one-floor-up spot is bourgeois bistro with artsy notes, and there are some great views of Fribourg from the windows. Fresher than fresh are such delights as lamb with an herb crust, vegetable moussaka with candied orange, and asparagus-and-spinach risotto. Swiss and French wines are the focal point of the thoughtful wine list.

The terrace of Le Café du Belvédère has a fabulous view up the river to the Planche-Supérieure. The friendly staff serves a selection of teas, coffees, and homemade syrups as well as alcohol, and you can enjoy platters of local cheese and smoked meats in addition to Asian delights from the excellent Tam's Kitchen restaurant upstairs. Inside it's a café littéraire by day and a lively bar and meeting spot at night. An eclectic mix of 1970s plastic furniture and a huge, rounded plastic bar contrast wonderfully with the wood-beamed interior.

On Fribourg's main street, this restaurant's clean lines are softened by gleaming gold fixtures, and, in nice weather, the leafy vistas from the sun-dappled balcony. One bite here, in the restaurant's second incarnation, reveals why chef-owner Pierre-André Ayer has earned so much praise. His showstopping menus take guests on a culinary adventure, one in which he declares war on traditional flavors, while at Le Petit Pérolles upstairs, lighter (and less expensive) fare is served all day.

On the fourth floor of the Fribourg Centre, this café does waffles and crepes—both savory and sweet—as well as panini and pizza. The outpost of a popular Swiss chain offers a perfect time-out from heavy-duty retail therapy. You can also choose from a wide selection of teas and coffees.