I realise that you wrote this in January, but for anyone who is searching in the future and has a craving for decent Asian food, this place is fantastic:

http://www.hanoi-quan.de/

The family that runs it is Vietnamese, but they serve Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese food. It's not all 100% authentic, but it's better (and a lot cheaper) than anything I've found on the Swiss side of the border. The Vietnamese and Thai food are particularly good, while the Chinese food has been more tailored to the German palate and locally-available ingredients.

No buffet, but plenty of good choices on the menu.

This is one of those restaurants that reminds me of what I used to have back home that's really lacking in Switzerland -- authentic ethnic cookings without a load of frills, but where I can eat for under EUR15- per person including drinks. I never have to think about budgeting for a meal out at a restaurant like this, whereas shelling out at most restaurants in Switzerland can be seriously damaging to your wallet. I can have a whole meal, served on china, with a drink for the price of a take-away kebab in Basel.

I am open for anything. If I had to specify, creative, original, imaginative interior, just if anyone has a favorite I can look up. And should be open at night during the week.

Also, as a back up ethnic choice I would ask for Irish. Although that should not jade people's responses to the first paragraph. Two separate ideas all together.

I know I have been thru Basel more times then I have actually had a good walk around, and have heard there are great restaurants there. So, any advance help would be welcomed.

Thanks

You are looking for original Irish cuisine? What exactly is that? I never saw an Irish restaurant

See! I knew if I posted that part the whole request would be wrecked.

Irish normally equates to a Pub. Although in Ireland people are not always eating in Pubs. I am more interested in something different, and not ethnically based.

My favourite is still Don Camillo, top of the old Warteck brewery in Wettstein. I like their approach to food, the food itself, the location, ambience, and the staff are lovely too.

One of my favorites has always been Hasenburg (Chateau Lapin) on Schneidergasse 20. It mostly serves traditional Rösti-based Swiss items in a cozy atmosphere (tables may be shared with other diners). The prices are very reasonable, the short menu also includes an English translation, and the place is always full, so consider reserving in advance. I couldn't find a webpage, but you can take a look at some reviews here.

I second the recommendation of a prior post: buy "Basel geht aus" you can find it at kiosks or book shops, costs around chf 20 but is absoluteky worth the investment: Impressive collection of restaurants and well described.

I have already the same one for Zürich and Ticino. I suppose the one for basel is good as well...

If you would like a short trip on a regional train to just over the border in France i can recommend the Auberge d'Alsce in Bartenheim. It's next to the ststion. Take the train from platform at the SBB. It takes 17 minutes. There is plenty of parking In the station car park next to it or across the road .cheaper than Basel. Ritz.

It's a guide, but certainly not an objective one (and most definitely nothing like a Time Out London restaurant review/guide).

Some places in the book I've tried came nowhere near the superlatives that described them in "Basel geht aus", whilst other BS/BL restaurants I've been to and which I found pretty good don't appear in it at all.

Overall, I'm not impressed by the book, haven't bought one since the single copy I got a few years back and I rely more on EF-CH and TripAdvisor for the lowdown on good places to eat in BS/BL

There are a lot of places around the Spalenburg round the back of Marktplatz

http://www.loewenzorn.ch/ is good classic Swiss style food

http://www.restaurant-schnabel.ch/ is also excellent for the Swiss cooking style

http://www.comino-basel.ch/comino_allschwil.html have an outlet in Freistrasse near la Poste, it is freshly made sushi but also has fondue, schnitzel so good if you have a few people who disagree with what to eat

I have heard Stokli at Martplatz is OK, but it is smokey

Elsbethenstübli on Elsbethenstrasse is reckoned by others to be the best in town (I have not been there)

http://restaurantsteinbock.ch/112.html is where I take people if they visit me here, I have fed 4 for around CHF40 a head including booze so it is also inexpensive. They have a bit more of a varied menu as well

http://candriancatering.ch/d/restaur.../seite552.html in the SBB is also surprisingly good, and is set up for larger gatherings. It is certainly able to challenge other restaurants in Basel for cooking, and I would consider it one of the best station restaurants I have come across.

http://www.birseckerhof.com/Start.html is also good, and popular with people in my company visiting on business

http://www.gifthuettli.ch/ is another popular, if slightly touristy place, I reccomend it, they usually have perch meunier on the menu which is a favorite. It is where a Swiss friend of mine takes people when they come to Basel.

Hasenburg is more or less opposite. Good for Rosti.

Out of town...

http://tel.search.ch/rheinfelden/mar...schen-am-rhein and on a nice day you can sit on the balcony over the Rhine

http://www.ochsen-rheinfelden.ch/ is opposite the station and have Tapas

http://www.parkresort.ch/en/ is also good for food, and for CHF25 a piece you can spend 2 hours soaking in hot salty water...

Hope that gives some ideas

Thanks Bexie for the recommendations. Do you know some good places to go during Fasnacht for the festival 'snacks' (if I recall from last year it was a brown soup and onion tarts) - I suppose it is the bars and smaller restaurants?

It is in pretty much every bar and restaurant in town.

As I recall you can get little else on the Monday...

In the cliquestubbe

From experience (living in Gerbergasslein) you can get an excellent experience in the South Bank side of the birseck (South of Marktplatz) there are two really interesting cellars in Pfferergasslein, both of which are very charming and do the usual stuff.

Also there is a courtyard used as a kind of cellar at the other end (barfusser platz) of Gerbergasslein at the bottom of the steps to Leonhardsberg, they do the usual stuff, and finally the Sans Gene Strittzli bar a little bit further along.

Just explore. The best place for the experience is in the little clique bars.

I suggest for italian food Vapiano, near to aeschenplatz, just dont know exactly the street. Its cheap and good quality, nothing extra special.
http://www.qype.ch/place/1942478-Vapiano-Basel

In Liestal is also Scenario, spanish and mexican food, very good environment but not that cheap actually. But it really worth it.
http://www.scenario.ch/

Oliv is good, slightly overpiced though.Also there are some good places out in binningen just jump on the 10 tram.

Ok I have quite a few south east Asia restaurants to write about but I may write a thread for these fou us basel folk.

But to kick off we used to go to prima for Italian but recently we have gone off them. It's still good for the city. But if your looking for cheap good pizza pasta no frills place we like to eat at the pizza place at landhof station on the 11 tram. They serve a nice bruschetta as a free starter and the pizza is really good don't be intimidated by the mostly Swiss German folk and the Staff.

I much prefer the carbonara here to prima. And love there calzone. Damn I am getting hungry! So if your on the 11 tram to go home or pick the kids up. Give it a go! Basic, cheap, good quality! No upmarket modern feel though, has a pizza delivery section bolted onto the side of the kitchen and the food comes out really fast.

Wow they even have a Facebook page!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Restau...004614?sk=info

I hate the fact I can't edit my posts I always type so fast and edit them. There is plenty of things I would edit in the previous post.

Also tried murano at the end of hardstrasse. It's open all day every day. It's dated but there is always quite a few people out side eating and drinking. I am mixed about this place some selected dishes are better than prima for Italian. But they lack consistency. Some times there stuff is a bit greasey.

They have a Huge menu which to me isn't a good sign!
I tend to stick to italian there but they also do Swiss/german favorites such as schnitzel Rossi and the usual rest and they do Texmex although I am to scared to try it. Including fajitas. It's on the 14/3 line.

One place I would say to avoid is tapaderra up next to market Halle we had fajitas there and the nachos and it wasn't good, wasn't good at all. Won't be going back. Heard reasonable stuff about the Mexican in dornach though haven't been out to try it!

I know lots go on about lilly's but I really really don't rate it! But that's one for a different thread. I very recently tried hotallo just up from barfuserplatz. It westernized noddle box is small but cheap. It's not great but you can get a lot worse for a lot more (mr wongs).

Hope to share some stories with you folk who may attend the Basel monthly lunch on the 3rd June.

I would sugest "Vapiano" , it is a very nice restaurant in the center of Basel, near Aechenplatz.

Hard to describe Vapiano as a restaurant; more like a self-service cafeteria Albeit a posh one.

Pasta dishes are prepared in a wok while you wait (basic sauce ingredients stir fried, your choice of pasta boiled, then all mixed and garnished). Then you take your food, find somewhere to sit and eat. There's a counter selling drinks too. And for pizzas you get a pager which calls you once it's ready. Everything is charged on to a smart card and you settle the bill when you leave.

It's great fun, and the pasta dishes are surprisingly good, but it's hard work if you're trying to co-ordinate a large group. I've arranged a group of around 20 people a few times and we ended up sitting spread around the place, all getting our food at different times.

Note: This "review" is based on me visiting many times the Vapiano in Stuttgart (it's a German company). I've never been to the one in Basel as the prices are just over double the German ones so I refuse on principle. I'm like that.