As I mentioned probably plenty of times in this blog, I love japanese cuisine. Moreover, I was fortunate enough to go to Japan in 2002, and enjoy innumerable tasty, exotic dishes there. And what they say is true: It’s almost impossible to find a bad restaurant in Japan, at least as long as you define bad as in bad for your health. Back home again, I like to endulge every once in a while in all these new taste experiences from Japan. But where in Basel can you get good japanese food? It’s not so easy …

First off: there is more japanese food, even in Basel, than you might think. Especially the last few years, sushi has become hip, and that phenomenon has trailed quite a few eateries in its wake. We’re not as developed as London (my favorite japanese restaurant there: Ikkyu, on 67a Tottenham Court Road) yet, for sure, but the draught is letting up.

Part 1: Eating out
The path of least resistance for sure is to go out and eat japanese. Cooking japanese food at home is a constant process of discovering how all these little dishes, which apparently don’t amount to much, keep you busy in the kitchen for a whole day. So, if you want to experience japanese food pain-free, instant-gratification style, head to one of these restaurants:

• Negishi Sushi, Barfüsserplatz
  To say the important thing up front, this newcomer in the Basel Sushi scene has made a bold entry. Currently the best place to eat sushi in Basel.

  This restaurant, part of a chain that also runs an australian steakhose, is located in the heart of Basel, in a small house next to the Piadina Bar. While the service could sometimes be a bit improved, this is mostly due to the fact that typically, they are fully booked out and the waiters are stressed out. Sushi is excellent and fresh, with a focus on maki and temaki. Some of the dishes have a more modern content, such as the Holy Roll, which is an inside-out roll with shichimi powder on the outside (somewhat spicy) and cream cheese, avocados and tuna on the inside, if memory serves me. Prices are within the normal range for Basel, except the green tea, which is some fancy variety, but served in a tea bag and overpriced.

  Mondays, they offer “all-you-can-eat” sushi night, where you first get served the platter of the day, and then can choose from a reduced menu. A good value when you’re hungry (it’s 49.- per person), but last time I went, the rice piece of the nigiri zushi was much too thick, suggesting that they’re trying to limit the number of orders per person. Then again, maybe that was by accident.

• Edo at Comino Bar, Freie Strasse:
  Edo apparently was the first japanese restaurant in Basel. A few years back, they gave up their premises and moved in with the Comino bar, a strange type of salad/light dishes restaurant in Freie Strasse, a prime location for sure.
  The restaurant now offers sushi and a selection of the more standard variety of japanese food.I have mixed feelings about this restaurant. I have been there occasionally, but always found the waiting staff stressed out to the point of being, well, not exactly polite. I have only tried sushi there, which was pretty good, but somehow the atmosphere is not all it could be, which makes the experience less rememberable.
• Sakura, Bahnhof Basel
  Also a classic among japanese cuisine in Basel, Sakura tries very hard to be a hip (and expensive) place. They have two rooms, one teppanyaki room, where cooks do all these weird showy things to your food before serving it, which is OK for me (the food is good, after all), but which also leaves you cash-strapped afterwards.The second room is more quiet, and is officially called the yakitori bar, however, sushi, shabu-shabu and sukiyaki are also on the menu, in addition to various other japanese dishes. Tuesdays to thursdays, they have an all-you-can-eat sushi offer, which is reasonable, however the choice of sushi is limited to the more standard ones. Don’t expect to see any unagi, flying fish roe, salmon roe, sea urchin, etc…. also, there’s only one kind of tuna (maguro) here, which would probably unthinkable in Japan).

  Still, if you’re hungry and like sushi, it’s a good deal. On the other hand, the shabu-shabu and the sukiyaki are so-so at best, and the waiting staff doesn’t really go to great lengths to make you feel welcome.

• Yoko Sushi Sushi Bar & Takeout, Heuwaage, Basel
  The quintessential industrial sushi place, and as far as I know, the only kaiten zushi in Basel (Kaiten zushi: conveyor belt-restaurant, the sushi parade in front of you). They also have premises in the Gundeldinger quarter, mainly for their sushi courier service. I have been in the restaurant in Heuwaage a number of times, and also have bought take-out sushi (which is also sold in Globus, by the way) occasionally.For some strange reason, maybe psychological in the end, I always liked the take-out sushi better than what’s on offer in the restaurant. They basically have sushi on the menu, with the rare exception of a miso soup or similar basic dishes. This place also offers an all-you-can eat deal on some days, but they exclude the two most expensive categories of sushis, and are more expensive than Sakura.
• Susu’s, Gerbergasse, Basel
  A very new, trendy lounge place smack in the middle of Basel, just off Barfüsserplatz. Downstairs, they offer soups and sandwiches, upstairs, japanese food is on the menu. I still haven’t tried it out, so I can’t comment.
• Wasabi, Gundeldingerstrasse, Basel
  A new sushi place, only open during lunch, in the Gundeldingerstrasse. Not tested yet, but sounds very promising.
• Lily’s Stomach Supply, Claraplatz, Basel
  Young, fast, quick, trendy, pan-asian. This restaurant is definitely styled after the type of asian restaurant that I’ve seen first in London. Long benches, fast service, you sit down and eat, almost mess-style. This is very contrary to the dining behavior of my fellow Basel citizens, so a certain amount of culture shock ensues. Traditionally, Basel people don’t go out much, and when they do, it’s a special event that takes the major part of the evening to do right. Not the best pre-requisite for a restaurant focusing on quick turn-over. Last time I was there, we had two ladies at our table who spent a good 90 minutes drinking a tea each and nothing else.The kitchen is of the short-order type, and in plain view. On the menu, there are numerous dishes from all over asia, with a certain focus on Thai and Japanese cuisine. Japanese dishes were predominantly noodle- or soup based. I had a shrimp tempura soup, which wasn’t that bad, but left some things to be desired. It’s a hard dish to get right, without the tempura getting completely soggy, and when there’s plenty of customers, your tempura arrives with a very soggy, not exactly perfect consistency.
• Namamen, Steinenberg 1, Basel
  Our first japanese-style noodle place! The owners obviously took their cues from places like the Wagamama chain in London, and innumerable noodle places in Japan, but with a twist. The d�cor is definitely designed (down to the CI’d menu), minimalist but very pleasant, and the food is excellent. Customers used to the prices in japanese “eat quick and leave” noodle places are in for a surprise, though, the dishes are quite expensive by japanese standards, but well in tune with Basel standards.I was there once, and had a ramen soup with various frills and add-ons, and it was very good. They even offer the choice of two soup stocks, soy sauce and miso/dashi, and both (my girlfriend chose the other) are excellent. Very good, very busy, be prepared to wait a little while before getting seated, but I will definitely come back here. It’s just sad that these folks only do noodles, I am sure with their quality and attention to detail (when you order green tea, you get a tea pot with a decent serving) could do equally well in a restaurant with a larger selection. As pointed out in the comments, they have a web site.

  UPDATE: I have been there once again, and I am still very happy with the quality of the Ramen served here. What surprised me more that time was the friendlyness of the service. Through a mix-up, they prepared our Ramen with miso instead of the clear soy soup that we had ordered. The waitress realized her mistake and offered us to bring what we ordered, but apoligized that we would have to wait for the preparation. So we decided that miso would be just as fine, and kept the dishes. A minute later she was back, apologizing once more and declaring that if we wanted a sake or coffee after lunch, that would be on the house, of course. Mistakes can and do happen, but it has become rare that the staff professionally acknowledges them and tries to recompensate, so this is a big bonus in my eyes.

This about rounds up the places where you can eat japanese in Basel. If you know of a place I missed, please let me know in the comments!

Part 2: Buying japanese groceries
If you look around a bit, you can find a surprising variety of japanese groceries and kitchen supplies in Basel. There’s unfortunatly no single-stop solution, you need to prepared to travel around town to get everything you need. But hey, I am not complaining!

• Major food retailers
  Even the major supermarket chains, like Coop and Migros haven’t completely ignored the recent trend towards japanese cuisine. Coop Spalenmarkt has a very nice selection of fish for sushi, and a very knowledgeable fish vendor, who is always very helpful in recommending you good fish for sushi. They also have japanese rice crackers and Sapporo beer. Migros has a good fish shop at Kirschgarten, and sells three kinds of japanese cooking knives in their bigger stores. At first, I was very disappointed with a sashimi knife I bought there, but after giving it a good sharpening on a whetstone, I had to revise my opinion: The knife is not that bad, it just comes in a very blunt state. Migros also owns the Globus chain of stores, more on them below
• Globus, Marktplatz, Basel
  Globus has a little asian corner in the basement of their food department. You’ll find most of the essentials here, including rice, nori, spices, rice vinegar and mirin. You can also get very good and fresh fish here, but keep in mind that this is a very exclusive shop, and prices accordingly.Sadly, they re-shaped their assortment of japanese foodstuff a year or so ago, and many things they sell are actually re-branded, they carry both Blue Dragon and Sushi Chef products, which seem to be made in the US. Before, they used to have original products. Also, they stopped carrying deep-frozen sushi cuts of a number of fish that are hard to get otherwise.

  In the housewares department, they, however, have a small but tasteful selection of japanese crockery and some kitchen ware.

• Mikado japanese shop, Gartenstrasse 59, Basel
  This shop is a real discovery. It’s small, it’s hidden, and at first, it looks as if there’s not so much to buy there at all. That’s a big deception. You’ll find most specialities you may be looking for here, and the japanese lady who runs the shop is always very willing to help, if you ask her. Their freezers are a true treasure trove (that’s where I finally found edamame and unagi, after looking at just about any asian shop). They also have some curious things, like Calpis concentrate, or cold canned green tea, or from time to time, some weird japanese candy and snacks.They also have a small range of housewares and kitchen wares, plus: if you ask her about a particular item, she may actually order it for you. As far as I know, she also offers to prepare sushi for parties (if you notice her in advance), but I’ve never tried it.

  Most surprising maybe is that their prices are very reasonable, despite them being a little shop with certainly not what I’d expect to be a huge customer base. Keep in mind, you’re getting the real thing, imported from Japan, so sure, it’s not exactly cheap, but mostly, things are less expensive than what you’d pay at Globus.

• A-Chau Trading, Viaduktstrasse, Basel (close to the Swiss railway station)
  This shop has many things from all over asia, but only very few japanese things. One of the great buys here are the deep-frozen shrimp, which come in 1kg packages and are much cheaper than in supermarkets.They have thai, vietnamese, indian, chinese, and some japanese food, groceries and even some vegetables.
• Asian Market, Spalenring, close to Burgfelderplatz, Basel
  This is the closest asian shop to where I live. The range of goods they carry is mostly thai, but some select japanese articles can be found here. I especially am fond of the wasabi nut snacks (also available at A-Chau).

This wraps it about up, now you know all my secrets for getting japanese articles here in Basel.

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^* “it was delicious”, according to my life-saving japanese phrasebook.

Posted by Michael on Tuesday, April 20th, 2004 at 1:14 am.