My family (couple with an adult son) has been going to this restaurant since 2003, mostly once a year and appreciates the attractively furnished restaurant in the town center of Olten.

The front section is decorated in a brasserie style, the back one is classically styled. Actually I prefer eating in the brasserie, but the noise level can be high when the restaurant is full, so it may be a better choice to go for the backroom.

Interior of Salmen, view from backroom to brasserie

As to the food they serve expertly prepared light French cuisine. In my view, the chef knows how to do appealing starters and main courses, but when it comes to desserts, I am rarely thrilled by the offered. Salmen always offers a dinner menu that consists of 3 to 5 courses (from 70 to 99 SFR) and a quite extensive a la carte menu (starters: from 9 to 24 SFR/mains from 30 to 50 SFR/desserts from 10 to 16 SFR). I consider the price level as adequate for a restaurant of this class in a small Swiss town. When I last time dined at this restaurant, I had a good fish pie with rhubarb, asparagus foam and salad as a starter and an exquisite roe bock with a cherry sauce, spaetzle with chard and a carrot-vanilla puree as a main. As a dessert I opted for a strawberry tiramisu with basil ice cream.  I cannot say that this last course was underwhelming, but it failed to make me enthusiastic. While the ice cream was good as this always is the case in the Salmen, the tiramisu was simply not tasty enough.

Amuse bouche: Wild Garlic Pie on Vegetables

Starter: Fish Pie with Rhubarb, Asparagus Foam & Salad

Main: Roe Bock with Cherry Sauce, Spaetzle with Chard & Carrot-Vanilla Puree

Dessert: Strawberry Tiramisu with Basil Ice Cream