In this thread I intend to post restaurant reviews and other food related articles, but with a Basel slant to things.
The articles will already have appeared on my website - http://www.bastronomy.com - and you are invited to take a look there when you have a moment to spare.
Bastronomy.com is an entirely non-profit website devoted to my passion of food and drink, and I created it really just as an excuse to play about with PHP.
Cheers,
Nick
Henric Petri-Strasse 12, Basel
Tel: 061 281 14 14
Date of visit: 4th Nov 2006
Smoking policy: Restaurant area is smoke-free
by Nick Steven
Situated on Henric Patri Strasse off Elisabethenstrasse, Noohn is on the premises of what used to be a furniture shop. The space is quite large, with the décor being something between Bauhauslager and "Blade Runner". They have gone for that kind of Japanesey kind of cyberpunk look which would probably not look out of place in a William Gibson novel.
We initially went to check the place out on a midweek afternoon for a cup of tea while on our way to buy a book on Vienna at Bider and Tanner. My partner fancied a cup of Japanese tea - but in spite of the decor the only non-black teas were jasmine and chamomile. I just had a schale. The place was empty then, and in the light of day it had about as much atmosphere as the moon.
At the front is a bar and at the back is a large space with a restaurant and on one side a sushi bar complete with conveyor belt. I had a quick peek at the menu which seemed to have balsamic and miso in equal measure so I put it in the category of fusion cooking.
It was a couple of weeks later that we went to Noohn for an evening with a larger crowd of friends and we at Bastronomy were not planning a review; but after the experience having a meal there we felt we could not let our readers down. With the lights down the décor is actually not too bad and kind of works. It seems to be popular among the yuppie banker crowd that inhabits the St. Albans / Aeschenplatz areas and the place was quite busy.
Price for a drink is average to high - a small beer was SFr4 while a "deci" of plonk was around the SFr6.50 mark. Quite a jump when I consider we were paying €2 for an "achtel" in Vienna - but as we always say at Bastronomy Towers, this is Basel. I imagine the ground rents in that part of town ain't cheap.
We were shown to the restaurant area at the back where we were going to have a set menu. The tables are that kind high-chair arrangement you see in Sushi bars and you have a view of goings on in the kitchen. The printed menu indicated different courses involving chicken sate, dim sum, seared salmon and perch fillet, grilled venison, grilled beef, pumpkin curry.
When the food came, the minimalist nature of the décor appeared to be extended to the portion sizes. The red meat was a small slither of each to be shared between four people. There was one sate stick each and one small portion of the fish. The pumpkin curry was a small ladleful with rice next to it.
Cutlery was either chopsticks or knives and forks. The meat and fish should really have been presented in bite sized chunks if people are supposed to use chopsticks - but never mind. I was wondering if the chopsticks would come with an electron microscope so we could locate the miniscule morsels on our plates.
Two of our party were pregnant and as the red meat was not cooked through, that ruled out two of the dishes for them.
One chicken sate skewer arrived with the meat slightly pink in the middle and when someone complained to a waitress she got into a panic about it and had no idea how to deal with the situation. Clearly the chef and the rest of the staff fell asleep in class on the day they taught the principles of food hygiene at catering school.
The food actually tasted alright but the portions really were not enough and one lady in our party actually went on to MacDonald's afterwards as she was still hungry. Indeed at home we had to have cheese and biscuits or go to bed starving.
Given the small portion sizes and the erratic service - it took ages for ordered drinks to arrive and the staff did appear clueless at times - the bill for the food alone was rather steep at SFr68 a head. My total bill was SFr108 as I also copped for a bottle wine.
The restaurant area is non-smoking but I think they missed a trick by allowing smoking in the bar area. After a meal in clean air it was a bit of a shock to hit the tobacco fug in the bar.
There is in Basel a market for bars and restaurants offering something slightly different than the usual run-of the mill. It is a pity that the Noohn did not really come up to scratch as a place like that does have a lot of potential.
This article appeared originally on http://www.bastronomy.com - a non profit website devoted to indulging the owner's passion for food and drink.
Date of visit: 30th March 2007
Smoking policy: Non-smoking tables
We were looking for a Friday lunchtime spot and had tried to get into Acqua but not having reserved we were out of luck. As I was on a worktime lunch break we decided to give the Rialto a go. Situated halfway across the viaduct between the Markthalle and Bachletten tram stops on the number 8 route, the building has entrances on the viaduct itself and on the street running under the viaduct.
The restaurant opening hours are really geared to the lunchtime trade - it closes at 6pm. The Friday lunchtime offer is a buffet a-discretion, today being an Indian theme. We got to the reception area and it the staff were so busy chatting among themselves they didn’t seem interested in serving customers. We eventually got attention and were given a table next to the window. There is a terrace outside which looks like it would be baking hot in the summer.
We got a non-smoking table, but there weren’t many people in so I have no idea how smoky the place can get. We ordered drinks - just soft drinks as it was a “school” day. There was no alternative menu to the Indian buffet but for SFr19 a head for unlimited curry it didn’t seem too bad.
The buffet consisted of some fried starters - pakora, samosa, spring rolls, poppadoms; then a fish curry, a vegetable and coconut curry, chicken skewers, tandoori chicken thighs, lentil dhal and rice. The starters were a bit disappointing - nothing to write home about. The curries were okay but I felt the food lacked soul in general. My mother-in-law found the sauces a bit too spicy to the point that the flavours were drowned out.
The service was okay - but one had the impression that the staff were disinterested; contributing to a mediocre experience overall.
Price was alright - three of us had the buffet and drinks for SFr70. The Rialto is okay but certainly not upto the standard of its sister establishments; the Kaserne, Parterre and Basilisk.
This article appeared originally on http://www.bastronomy.com - a non profit website devoted to indulging the owner's passion for food and drink.
By Nick Steven
Tel: 061 692 73 33
Smoking Policy: No smoking area
Date visited: Friday April 20th 2007
I had actually been to this place before - in about 1993 I was driving my goods and chattels from Frascati, Italy to Leiden in The Netherlands and Basel was more or less the halfway point between the two. I booked into a hotel close to the Wettsteinbrücke and wandered around the area looking for a drinking hole. The crowd at the time was studenty and I had a longish chat over a few Weizen with a guy about my age about how much he disliked doing military service.
In more recent times I have been for a beer at the Hirscheneck with friends and they do serve a decent glass of Appenzeller on a hot day.
On this particular Friday we were too lazy to cook and decided to try the Hirscheneck out for a meal. The bar is known in Basel as being popular with the alternative / left wing crowd - so not the place to meet folks in pinstripe suits; a bonus in my opinion. When we got there, the tables on the terrace were full so we strolled inside.
The interior is fairly traditional with a few posters glued up just like you would find in a Students Union building. The atmosphere was fairly relaxed with punk/alternative rock being played over the speakers in the main bar area. We adjourned to the side room where you could hear the music but still have a conversation. At the back of the side room is the enclosed no-smoking area.
To start I ordered a Stänge and my partner an apple juice. The menu had a half dozen vegetarian starters and main courses and about two meat main courses. I went for the nutroast (Nussbraten) with roast potato wedges and red cabbage. My partner for Chimichange (Mexican tortilla with vegetable filling), garlic dip and salad. For an extra SFr3 we could have a menu salad so we went for that as a starter.
The salads were nice and fresh with a good dressing; the bread that came was fresh also and very crusty. My main was very tasty - it came with a mushroom sauce which I liked. My partner’s main plate was piled hight with loads of salad as well as the tortilla wraps. Both of us enjoyed the food. The main courses were good value - all of them less than SFr20.
The wine selection was alright too, I had a couple of dl of a quite respectable Navarra.
The service was friendly - I think the staff are more on-the-ball with customers than you will find in far more expensive establishments. The guy who looked after us was never too far away to get his attention.
In the end we paid about SFr64 for a starter salad each, two main courses and a few drinks - so we had no hesitation in leaving a tip.
Definitely a place to go if you want a decent meal or a drink out without all the hassle.
This article appeared originally on http://www.bastronomy.com - a non profit website containing restaurant reviews and other foodie-related stuff with a Basel bias.
By Nick Steven