Of course a promotion needs a Michelin star dinner and for that, we hit up the veritable Steinhalle in Bern, which gave me my favorite Switzerland meal (thus far) earlier in the year.

The gorgeous building looks so romantic (and a little spooky) at night. The Steinhalle team decides if they will serve in or outside and we lucked out with a nice, crisp fall evening on the terrace- even if secretly I was hoping for a view overlooking the bustling, open kitchen .

The theme was Japanese this particular evening and we started with a bright and citrusy sake cocktail and three small bites. (Why didn’t I take a photo of the menu?!)

This was followed by an amberjack carpaccio and another sake based cocktail.

A strange stuffed cucumber in broth brought up the next course… (is this the worst menu description ever?)

Followed by one South African prawn…at which point I noticed the overall landscape of the menu was strangely similar to the tapas one I enjoyed so much in January….

The next course was a gorgeous bit of Kobe beef and glass of a bold red to accompany.

Followed by a palate cleanser, I’m now realizing is their regular schtick. It’s a fun mouth explosion coated in white chocolate, but I’m disappointed it was identical to the one had months prior.

Dessert was also similar to the Spanish meal- a strawberry and balsamic concoction, but with a Japanese twist (a leaf!)

Finally, concluding with a sticky coconut rice with a touch of lime- a course I could have skipped.

Overall, Steinhalle blew my hair back the first time as everything was a surprise. As I’d planned an overnight around this meal, I was rather disappointed in the lack of new surprises and menu this go-round which didn’t make me want to explore other global themes much more with them. I do hope they’ll update the menu in entirety at which point I look forward to returning.