I don't use the word "exquisite" very often. Bel Etage is exquisite and hands-down the best dining…read moreexperience we had in Europe. We later learned it had a Michelin star, and it fully earns it.
As a warning, you will pay for it; it is far from inexpensive. However, adjusted for the general prices in Basel, Switzerland -- which are all far higher than you will experience in either the U.S. or even (to a lesser extent) in the rest of Europe -- it is costly but not out of line if you are looking for high-end dining.
Before I get to the food, I want to mention the service. It was efficient, timely, attentive and the friendliest we experienced in any city. Our main waitress in particular was wonderful about answering questions and even giving us some information about the area. I say main waitress, because the small team of servers all took responsibility for everyone in the dining room to ensure you were never left wanting. In fact, each time an item was served, more than one was recruited to make sure the wife and I received our respective dishes at the same moment. Whenever we asked questions, even about things like Basel itself, they were more than happy to take the time to answer and throw in little bits of useful info.
In general, while prices in Switzerland are very high, we noticed that once you've paid the price, they are generous with everything. Bel Etage was the epitome of this; we didn't want a whole bottle of wine despite them only selling it by the bottle, for example, so they found us a vintage that had been opened and gave us choices from that. They also threw in about 2 small amuse-bouche type dishes along with the meal.
So, let's start with those amuse-bouche dishes. The first was thinly sliced pork. And when they say "thinly sliced" they aren't kidding around. It's almost not there, and melts in your mouth.
The other was a lemongrass and citrus shot, which was like an exceptionally good wheatgrass smoothy that was actually tasty, along with some excellent paté on rye.
The bread service featured three types of fresh bread, with two types of butter: one with volcanic salt and the other lemon basil butter. The volcanic salted butter was fantastic.
Although not what one may think of when eating in Northern Europe, we also had a chilled lemongrass coconut soup with teriyaki rabbit was a savory, gazpacho-style cream soup that wasn't too heavy.
The entree of venison (roebuck) in a vanille sauce and pancakes was, hands-down, the best venison dish I've ever eaten. And while the spinach and gorgonzola ravioli with canterelles and macadamia nuts wasn't quite to that level, it was likewise far, far above par. As a second opinion, my wife liked it perhaps more than my dish.
The dessert was likewise great. The Bolivian chocolate cubes were extremely rich without being sickeningly sweet, and the woodruff herb ice cream was likewise tasty, but not overly sugary.
As a note, again they threw in a little extra for us, with an assortment of 6 pralines in three flavors -- so my wife and I would each get one -- as part of the complimentary portion of the meal. All of them were great, with rich filling. And when asked, yes... they made them in-house.
All in all, as you can tell, I recommend Restaurant Bel Etage in the highest terms.
