where jess ate

If you’re a cheese lover, La Cloche à Fromage is a must-visit in Strasbourg! The restaurant, which translates to “cheese bell”, has the world’s largest “cloche” at 1.8m high and 1.5m in diameter. It houses over 80 varieties of cheese arranged on three tiers of marble.

The casual restaurant is located in the historic city centre, a short walk from the cathedral. They’re open from noon for lunch and from 7pm for dinner. It wasn’t too busy when we dropped by for lunch but I’ve read that it gets really busy for dinner, so reservations are recommended.

I have to admit, it’s a pretty touristy restaurant but their cheese selection is incredible! It seems like most of their servers speak English and they’ve got English menus for those of you who aren’t fluent in French.

The menu features a selection of all-you-can-eat style cheese fondues which range from 24.90€ to 26.30€ per person. There are some neat options you don’t often see like goat cheese, blue cheese or Alsace Munster.

If you like your cheese straight up, they have cheeseboards which range from 25.70€ for 15 slices of different cheeses to 37.90€ per person for “the best cheeses of the season served with a selection of little accompaniments.”

Not to worry if there’s someone in your party who isn’t a fan of cheese. The menu has several cheese-less entrees including veal chops, quail and sweetbreads.

Mike and I decided to go with the Raclette – cheese made from raw milk and refined with Arbois for 120 days, served with cured meats and pickles (26.5€ per person). Like the fondues, the raclettes are all-you-can-eat.

The traditional Raclette cheese is a Swiss cow’s milk cheese that has a nice nuttiness to it. The other option is Morbier cheese which comes with poached sausages.

The raclette is served on a traditional device with potatoes from Touquet. Before they brought the cheese over, they placed the contraption next to our table and plugged it in. After the heat lamp on the device had warmed up, they placed a half wheel of cheese on it. The flat edge was situated an inch away from the heating device which melted the cheese. As the cheese melts, you use the large knife to scrape off the gooey cheese onto the plate of potatoes.

The cheese was melting a lot quicker than we could eat it! It’s a good thing the heating device can be moved away from the cheese, facilitating a faster or slower melt rate. It’s a science, I tell ya!

As the menu indicated, the raclette came with a plate of cured meats (which we refilled only once) and a bowl of pickles which were very much necessary to cut the richness of all the cheese we were eating.

What an experience! Yes, the prices are on the high side but we thought it was a really fun and tasty (albeit heavy) meal. La Cloche à Fromage is a must-visit for cheese lovers!

At a glance:
• A must-visit in Strasbourg for cheese lovers
• Open from noon for lunch and from 7pm for dinner
• Casual restaurant located in the historic city centre; reservations for dinner are recommended
• Prices are on the high side but they have an excellent cheese selection and the whole experience was very memorable
• Many English-speaking servers; English menus are available
• Loved the Raclette experience (26.5€ per person; all-you-can-eat style)

Ratings (out of 5):
• Food: 4 stars
• Service: 3 stars
• Atmosphere: 3 stars