Basel

Nestled in a corner of Switzerland between France and Germany, with it's airport in France, Basel is a lovely, medieval, quaint, tidy, well-preserved and disciplined little city along the Rhine. It serves as the headquarters to many renowned pharmaceutical companies, as well as home to one of the most famous watch and jewellery shows in the World, Baselworld. With many facilities, museums, pretty white churches and cultural activities, Basel offers something for everyone, even peace and quiet for those who like to eat and be in bed by 9! While I did a teeny bit of sightseeing last year, visiting the banks of the Rhine, the monastery, the Rathaus, a streetmarket and the amazing Puppenhaus (Dollhouse) museum (the Swiss extended their painstaking precision and exquisite eye for detail beyond watchmaking and chocolates!), this year I explored Basel gastronomically, and will give you a little bit of info, as well as pictures.

They speak mostly Swiss German there, so your French isn't really useful. Enunciate your english slowly and patiently.

Food:
Good Thai: Thai Cafe, Down the main road walking for about 5-10 mins towards Germany from MessePlatz, with its Thai Boy, Karaoke, and good food for vegetarians as well. Good spring rolls, Pad See Ew. Always leave it up to their discretion after giving them your dietary specifications.

Good Chinese: Noble House on Homburgerstrasse, in one of the side lanes ahead of Messeplatz. Ornate, and great individual broccoli and asparagus stirfry, though the string beans needed salt. the egg rolls were too greasy eeeeeek.

Mandarin, at the other, Southern end of Basel, on Sempacherstrasse. Same owner. Very enthu guy so don't let im order for you if you are vegetarian - he will give you everything on the menu, and I was stuck eating the spinach because no one else wanted to touch it. it "ducha valoes" after some time. We finished the meal in a record 30 minutes because he required us to leave by 8pm. Don't mind him!

Good Mexican: La Fonda Cantina in old Basel, on Schneidergasse (I think) before Marktplatz. Ask for their spicy Salsa which is basicaly ground peppers, not at all tomatoey, and which is really hot. Their veg quesadillas, both the starters and the main, are really yummy.

Excellent Swiss! Walliser Kanne mit Kannebar on Gerbergasse kinda parallel to Marktplatz, you HAVE to try their asparagus with bernaise sauce, their Raclette YUMMY. Fondue is quite nice too but book in advance.

Italian: they had quite a lot of places but it was mixed. Italian is a place one can never trust someone else's judgement because of the delicacy of flavouring involved. Pomodoro on Steinenvorstadt, a pedestrian street, has great, thin and delicately crisp pizzas and salads and nice desserts, but the marinara with their ravioli was simply mushed tomato paste without any flavouring. Al Colosseo on Binningerstrasse has yummy desserts, so-so salad, and kinda thicker, softer pizzas. Da Roberto on Kuchengasse near Basel SBB has a yummy-looking antipasti counter, and decent main course. GREAT cream of asparagus soup. Has the cheerful look of Olive Garden in the US, but is next to a strip bar in a corner of a lane past an Indian food store. Little shady.

Chocolates!!! Merkur for your chocolate purchases, from Gold Bars, wrapped like actual ingots and filled with delicious milk chocolate and crushed slits of hazelnut praline, and Caillers' Frigor, cocoa undertone delight! (In my experience, 4 Frigor pieces are the optimum quantity one must consumer before the Law of Diminishing marginal utility of chocolate sets in. The first three allow you to experience its delicious, unique sweet and rich milk chocolate, and the smooth glide of the coffee/cocoa hint sets in at the fourth one, after which its not as much fun.) And the Sprungli cafe at Basel SBB, for fresh chocolates and pastries. Try their mini burgers hehe. Expensive though.

A nice wafer-biscuit chocolate with very thin, almost filo type layers is Kagi fret, which you should be able to get at any corner store. Of course you must also get Lindt's assorted Easter eggs, with a wrapped chocolate bunny in a basket for your family if you ever visit in March!

A Swiss specialty sweet is Lackerli, which is like soft Indian chikki, or dryish, soft, chewy, sweet thing. Interesting.

Oh, food in Basel isnt cheap. Average 25-20 CHF (Swiss Francs) a head at a restaurant, not necessarily including wine, and not counting eating at a street vendor or a small place.

Pictures!!!! From top to bottom going left to right (Rathaus or the Mayor's House on Marktplatz and the vendors there), random gate to a street, me against a backdrop of the Rhine, old church, us outside Puppenhaus museum, us at swanky dinner at Walliserkanne, us outside Blindekuh, this restaurant in which one is served by blind people in very dim lighting, to experience what it's like to be blind.