Basel, Switzerland - Johann

L'amuse bouche

chestnut soup with Kirsh, flambeed apples
and cinnamon croutons

filet of codfish with a crust of herbs, white wine sauce,
betroot puree and pumpkin

Restaurant Name : Johann

Location : St-Johanns Ring 34, Basel, 4056, Switzerland

Rating : 4 Marylicious Stars

Price Range : Around CHF 70 / person (2 course dinner with glass of wine)

Summary : Another triumphant dining experience in Basel!  Restaurant Johann serves Swiss cuisine with a modern twist, in a relaxing and sort of modern chalet dining room with large wooden tables.  

The amuse bouche was literally a surprise for me, since I did not expect a Swiss restaurant to serve L'amuse bouche, but apparently "modern" Swiss restaurants have this practice...  It was actually a substantial serving of creamy risotto, cooked al dente, served with slightly tangy pomegranate seeds to contrast the creamy risotto.  It was a good balance.  For starter, I had the chestnut soup.  Apparently chestnut is in season during the Autumn.  I was VERY glad to have chosen the soup for my starter, because the taste was superb!  While it was a creamy soup, it was not heavy, and I was very pleasantly surprised when I scooped a slice of the flambeed apple at the bottom of the soup.  The slightly sour taste from the apple coupled with the creamy chestnut soup was such a delight to the taste buds!  Then for the main dish, I had the cod fish, which was actually a big serving!  I was already feeling quite full after the risotto and soup... but the cod fish looked so yummy so I had to eat it ^_*  And I'm glad I did!  While the fish itself was well seasoned and cooked well, the wow factor for me was the beetroot puree.  Again, the slightly citrusy beetroot puree contrasted well with the creamy sauce on the cod fish.  Even thought I was so full, I still persisted to finish the dish because it was so yummy...

Overall, I would also highly recommend this restaurant.  The one drawback, again, is that its location is about 15 minutes away from old town Basel, on the tram...  However, this is a good reason to take a nice stroll back to old town after a very generously portioned dinner ^_*   

View of the bar area