Colonnade

The Colonnade is the fine-dining flagship of the Mandarin Oriental Palace, Luzern — the lakefront grand hotel that reopened in 2022 after a substantial restoration of the original 1906 Belle Époque palace at Haldenstrasse 10. The dining room sits behind the original colonnaded façade and looks out across Lake Lucerne to Mount Pilatus and the Bürgenstock.

Executive Chef Gilad Peled was awarded two Michelin stars within the restaurant's first year and has held them since. His cooking is Modern French with a strong Mediterranean register reflecting his earlier training across Israel and the south of France — expect Tarbais bean velouté, sea bass à la nage, Pyrenees lamb, and a dessert programme that takes citrus and herbs as seriously as chocolate.

The format is tasting menu only — a six-course at around CHF 215 and an eight-course at CHF 295. The wine pairing is excellent and reaches across both serious French (Burgundy and Bordeaux to depth) and the best Swiss producers (Valais, Vaud, Grisons). Sommelier-led recommendations are reliably good.

The dining room takes around fifty covers across the original colonnaded space — Belle Époque architecture restored carefully, with modern lighting and bespoke tableware. Service is technically very good and warmly knowledgeable. The hotel's lake terrace is the recommended pre-dinner aperitif. Closed Sunday and Monday.

The Colonnade is the Lucerne table for a serious client visit — two Michelin stars, the Mandarin Oriental Palace setting on the lakefront, and a tasting menu carefully paced for the long evening of conversation that a senior client visit demands. Executive Chef Gilad Peled brings a French-trained background and an unusually strong Mediterranean register; the wine programme is the most serious in the city. Stay at the hotel; pre-dinner aperitif on the lake terrace.