When I used to travel to London as a teenager with dreams of one day moving there (which I eventually did) I used to eat in the Swiss Centre Restaurant in Leicester Square. For me it was like, big bad city, this seems nice (cosmopolitan) - & then becoming a place I returned to on visits like you do when you don't know where to go when you have no connections with a city but you find somewhere that makes you feel comfortable.

A few years later when living in London I used to visit the Odeon Cinema on the ground floor as most of the films showing weren't your average movie fodder, entrance fee was reasonable too.

Strangely, since moving here to Switzerland I was very surprised how so few Swiss knew of this centre, even those that had been to the UK. I thought the daily Glockenspiel routine above the souvenier shop was pretty good myself when you consider some of the so-called attractions in London.

Anyway.. ..I would like to know if anyone on here visited it (as it has now been demolished) or remembers it?

Apparantly the developers are spending 160m quid on a new centre which will have no Swiss connection. A shame really as I thought it was a bit quaint & I'll miss it.

Here is a link about it but surprisingly I can't find much else.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/e...on/7006530.stm

Swiss Centre to be demolished in Leicester Square, London

Oh yes I remember it very well

Just after I graduated (in 1992) I got a job in Uxbridge and lived in Harrow for a while (South Harrow - the scruffy bit at the bottom of the hill - we had a flat above an Indian takeout). Anyway a lot of my friends were at that time still studying or doing post grad degrees in London still so we used to meet up once a week in London. The Swiss centre was usually our meeting point since it was so central and a bit "different". I think there was a Movenpick restaurant there - or certainly it was that style - where we used to often eat as it was a bit different!

At that point in my life I had absolutely no intention of ever working abroad let alone in Switzerland

i liked the funny clock there. never been into the centre itself. there's also a nice sign nearby with all the swiss canton flags on it.

i've been to london a few times since and seen the building in various states of demolition. there was just a giant hole in the ground the last time i was there, but i guess they must have started building now already.

Yep, been there, done that. I recall that the waitress was German, not Swiss - really like Switzerland...

yep, i definately remember it, the moevenpick that was in the basement. i used to go for a hot chocolate.
it was sad when they closed it down...i think most chinese in london know of it as it was on the way to soho and dimsum!

I worked in London in 1974. Before I moved there I had been working in Basel for over a year.
My new boss and his wife invited me to the Movenpick Marche for a Birchermuesli on the second day after my arrival and a few days later for Zurcher Geschnetzeltes. They were very fond of Switzerland and visited at least twice a year.
This was extremely funny and it still makes me smile. I even remember they only wore "Bally shoes" which they bought at the Swiss Centre.
I often went there to buy chocolates and cheese.

Yes, I remember it very well. I got my very first box of 30 Caran d'Ache neo color crayons from there. Happy days!

This really brings back lovely memories . . .

I remember going in there a couple of times to browse, hang out with friends and stuff (sometimes en-route to SoHo for a delish Chinese meal ).

The last time was soooooooo long ago and I never imagined that one day I'd visit Switzerland, much less live here . . . Oh, but for the unexpected twists and turns of life . . .

I remember it very well indeed. My dad's office was just around the corner at Waterloo Place (well, sort of around the corner) and we used to hang out there waiting for him to finish work and we'd have something to eat and then go home. Special treat!

Didn't realise it was going... Yes I remember it on the corner in Leicester Square too, and have a vague recollection of the clock.

Went to eat there once. Once only as I was student and even then I found 'Swiss' prices horrendous!