Season’s greetings fellow diners!
As it is almost a full year since we began our venture through the culinary alphabet, I decided that it is time (as has been suggested by several people) to reflect briefly, on the dining events of the year.
I am sure that many of you who joined us along the way have your own critical appraisals; some negative but hopefully mostly positive.
In any case, what follows are my own personal reflections only:

January – `Abyssinia`restaurant (Ethiopian)
This was our inaugural event and there was a great turnout.
Ambience – very nice
Service - excellent


Food – Authentic/delicious! . . . although, that bread. . it was grey. . food is not grey. . is it?

February – Brazilian `Churrascaria Rincão`
Ambience – Lively - but the promised Brazilian dancers were no-where to be seen – what the hell! That was the only reason I came!
Service – Good – but the billing was a disaster with those cleverly `hidden` dessert costs. This was a fixed menu (One choice only) and for what we got, the general feeling was that it was over priced.

March – Chinese `Suan-Long`
We had a big, big turn out for this event – despite those 8 `no-shows`on the night.
Ambience - Very good!


Service – excellent, plenty of staff to cater for our large rebellious and often rowdy group.
Food – well ask any Chinese about `Chinese`restaurants in Zürich and they will tell you that it is not really authentic but I think almost everyone was very happy with what they ordered.

April – Deutsche `Zeughauskeller`
Ah yes – the Zeughaus Keller – well it’s sort of Deutsch! That was a great night.
Ambience – loud, lively, bright – just what you would expect from a Zeughaus Keller in the centre of town.
Service – Brilliant, the staff here are superb and it’s a very slick operation given that they are always busy.
Food - `Hearty` is the one word for it. Let’s just say you won’t go home hungry.

May – España `Taverna Catalana`
This is a great little restaurant tucked away in the heart of the Alt-Stadt and we were given a half of it just for ourselves.
Ambience – Cosy
Service – Good.
Food – We took the option of tapas for everyone as a starter and then free choice on the main course. The food was excellent, especially the tapas. Some of the main courses were a little slow coming. We passed the time by consuming copious quantities of alcohol.

June – French/Indian/Basel `Mandir`
The `F` that never was, well it was a good idea at the time, as I had been requested to bring the event to Basel and we decided to go all French. Due to some unusual booking restrictions imposed by the French restaurants (in France) that we approached, at the last minute we were forced to abandon that plan and fall back on plan B. or should I say plan `I`. . The thing about Indian restaurants is – you are pretty safe.
In any case, the Mandir is a typical Indian restaurant in the heart of Basel although the Ambience was decidedly non-Indian.
The service was excellent, very friendly.
The food, well I am no connoisseur of Indian food but although very tasty, it could have been spicier to my liking. Generally good.

July – Greek - `Athena`
Ambience – The jury is still out on this one, as it felt a little `cold` to me.
Food – I was more than happy but there were a couple of less than happy bunnies – I think I was a bit pissed to notice . . Hey don’t get me wrong. . I do care . . I do! The one thing I do remember though, is that the food was awfully slow coming.
Service – well apart from the slow food, the general service was pretty good and just as important – friendly.

August – Hebrew `Baranes`
H, H, my God, H was a problem – I was pretty upset that the Himalayan restaurant was closed for the summer but thanks to a wizard brainwave, I came up with Hebrew.
Ambience – We were not late leaving but by that time had been the sole diners for quite some time – so I had the feeling that we were almost intruding.
Food – Can only be described, as on the side of bizarre – I just did not expect to be eating a Thai curry.
Service – Friendly – but in a bizarre way. How can I put it . . . well - `Can we see the menu please?` `You don’t need to – I can tell you what we have`, `Well I would like to see the menu`, `No, that’s okay, I can tell you what we have` . . thought . . `Just give me the fu**ing menu!`

September – Italian `da Michelangelo`
I was not actually at this event – having cried-off at the last minute (what a loser). However, as usual, I did visit the restaurant for a meal before I was mightily impressed by all aspects. The staff are very friendly and enjoy having a good laugh with the diners. As there is a large staff at this extremely vibrant restaurant, the service is very good.

October – Jamaican `Clarkes`
Declining the outrageous prices of Japanese restaurants in this part of the world, I thought `No, we’ll do something ourselves`. This was the Jamaican evening with food supplied by the excellent Clarke’s café.
We rented a room down in the Rote Fabrik complex and organised it all ourselves.
I am indebted to Prof.Taratonga for the music, I-b-deborah for the room and much organisation, finally Zwissmiss for her bully tactics in getting people to pay.
So, service? Incredible waiting staff, very friendly.
Food – Spicy, I mean S.P.I.C.Y.


That only leaves the up and coming December event, which was always planned, for Le Cedre (Lebanese). As Jamaica came so late and Lebanese comes early, I decided to defer K until January 2012.
So although this is not a full year’s report – it is a good reflection on the happy evenings that we have had so far.
Coming up? . .

December – Lebanese `Le Cèdre`
January – K (?)
February – M (? actually I do know what this is and it is going to be superb - just glad that I am NOT going to be there . . yes, I did say GLAD, as anyone who knows me, will know why)
March – N (?)

Now for a special announcement – As I will be out of Switzerland, on a work assignment, from the start of January until early April – I am happy to tell you that the A-Z of dining WILL continue in my absence – but in the more than capable hands of 3 `celebrity` hosts who have kindly offered to step in.
January (which will be the missing `K`) will be hosted by Federica.
February (which will be `M`) will be hosted by Zwissmiss.
March (which will be `N`) will be hosted by Prof.taratonga.

Please support them as you have supported me.

For those of you booked on December’s event, I look forward to seeing you there. For everyone else – I look forward to seeing you again when I get back.

Cheers, Basher! Great summary. My personal favorites were the Chinese (March) and Zeughauskeller (April). Although I missed the events, I have been in other occasions to Abyssinia (January) and Clarkes (October) and absolutely loved them. The Greek one (July) I was neutral about - not bad but not exceptional, while the one I disliked was the Brazilian (February). Then again, as I said elsewhere, I met you all at the Brazilian, so wasn't that bad at the end The others I unfortunately couldn't make - but I have been to Michelangelo (September) and liked it also quite a bit.

Special thanks to you for organizing such great events! See you at the Lebanese place

Final years update - to include December`s event:
This was actually `L` and we went to `Le Cedre`, the most excellent Lebanese restaurant.
This was generally agreed to have been the year`s best venue and event, closely followed by the Jamaican.
Food - Amazing, we took the chef`s advice and all opted for the Lebanese buffet . . and were not disappointed . . a dazzling selection of tastes to suit both vegetarians and non-vegetarians.
The inclusive dessert was also very extensive and included both sweet pastries and fresh fruits . . . of the most exotic varieties.
Service - Given that the restaurant was completely full on the night we were there, they could be easily excused for the quite long time between the main course and the desserts . . . however - we were entertained in between by a fantastic belly dancing display (er, not by one of us of course . . by a professional!).
Ambience - Well, what can I say, we were in a room that was decked out as a traditional tent - circular room with huge comfy cushioned seat around the outside, where we were all seated. The atmosphere was absolutely perfect and I would say that the room alone made this particular event a very special evening.

I would have to say that, for me, Le Cedre is an exceptional restaurant and the prices represent real value for money.
For a truly memorable meal, in a great ambience and with good entertainment - we all paid around 60 chf per head . . . it just doesn`t get any better than that . . .in Switzerland.
The belly dancer did try to entice several of the girls to join her and have a go . . but sadly they all declined - maybe she should have asked some of the blokes? . . . well, not me.

Okay - that is IT for 2011, a big thanks again to everyone who has supported this event during 2011.

Thanks basher for organizing this. I've only been able to attend two of the dinners so far, but am looking forward to the next dining events.

Awesome post/review Basher! I would so love to join you guys this year!