Paddy Reillys, Basel, Switzerland

Paddy Reillys, Basel, Switzerland

I know what you’ve all been thinking – can you get a roast dinner in Switzerland? Indeed – you can, at Paddy Reillys in Basel.

Sure, Paddy Reillys is an Irish pub so it doesn’t come with a gravy topped side of Toblerone wrapped in Gruyere – there is no Swiss twist to this pub, unless you count one or two Swiss flags for the football.

The day started foggy. At least the entrance to the art gallery was, Fondation Beyeler.

Granted my judgement is from just two days in Basel, but it seems like Basel tries to look uncool, but actually scrape under the surface and it is a rather quirky and cool city…but really pretending not to be.

A very orderly city, well-connected, bloody expensive and the trains/trams almost always run on time, though I did catch one tram being two minutes late. I think I deserve a badge for that, though will probably accept getting away with going 14 stops on a 4 stop single ticket.

Don’t look at me like that…I didn’t know better.

Wo Ist Das Roast Dinner?

It is also a ludicrously expensive city to eat and drink in.

Like, I’ve just about got used to paying over £7.50 for a beer in London, but my first beer in Basel, albeit a rather good beer, was £11.14. It’s enough to make me sober…or at least buy a bottle of Leffe to drink in my Airbnb.

And meal prices are scary – I was walking past crappy kebab shops at £12 a donor kebab, much nicer pizza places at £24 a pizza…and proper restaurants are easily £40 for a main course.

In the end, for my first night in Basel I found a chicken burger for £18, which came with nothing else, though burnt sweet potato fries could also be purchased for £7. I have to say that the sriracha mayo was superb. I have no other compliments.

So I didn’t especially have high hopes for Paddy Reillys.

My worry turned to anguish when I arrived to find it was CHF39.50 for the roast dinner, which is £35.10. And to think I’ve been moaning about paying £25+ in London during 2024. Ouch.

Meine Roast Dinner Blog Ist Dorf

There was only one option for a roast dinner – beef. If that isn’t what you are looking for then you are reading the wrong blog – unless you are solely interested in my art critiquing abilities?

Ya das ist gut kunst.

I’ll show you a menu but guess it doesn’t really mean much when there is only one option:

Paddy Reillys, Basel, Roast Dinner Menu

I ordered the beef. Well, it was either that or walk out and buy a sandwich for around £125.00 in a supermarket.

It was very much Irish pub vibes inside – you’ll likely have been to a few and this ticks off the usual boxes – 10 million TVs showing different sports, wood panelling, slightly sticky surfaces, friendly service, dimmed lighting, harp symbols on the outside, fake old Irish posters and somewhat smelly toilets. All the cliché boxes ticked.

It was craft beer on tap, brewed locally for Paddy Reillys – I don’t remember how much it was a pint, but I can remember that I was pining for the second half of my trip in France, and a pint for less than £10.

Beer was pretty good to be fair.

Ich Bin Ein Roast Dinner

And the roast looked proper when it arrived.

A Swiss person would probably conclude that they are getting their money’s worth – I was just relieved that a £35.00 roast dinner didn’t look completely awful. Have you been to Torremolinos for a roast dinner?

Two colours of carrots which seemed to have been steamed, and were pleasant if nothing out of the ordinary.

Both the broccoli and the cauliflower had been roasted, both fairly soft with somewhat charred outsides.

And then there were some crispy things, I think crispy parsnips that gave a really nice textural contrast with the mashed potato.

Das Beef Is Thick Ja

It being an Irish pub, you get all the types of potatoes. Well, there are only two types that should go on a roast dinner, and both were present.

There was a veritable mound of mashed potato – and it was super creamy. I really enjoyed it.

Even the roast potatoes were good – like, people are supposed to go to London on holiday for good roast potatoes, but actually in reality, apparently I need to go on holiday to get good roast potatoes. Crispy on the outside, fairly soft on the inside.

The Yorkshire pudding was also pretty good, freshly cooked, a little crispy on the outside and rather fluffy on the inside.

I haven’t really complained about anything yet, though the beef was a fairly basic cut – CHF39.50 certainly doesn’t get you fillet. I’d guess it was topside or something, and a bit more well done than I’d prefer. That said, it was heavily peppered, which I enjoyed.

Finally, the gravy was gloriously thick. It was a red wine gravy, and it was very much on the rich side and became a little tiring. Yet it was gloriously thick.

Overall, I thought this was a really good roast dinner – thick gravy, super creamy mash, good roasties (a rarity in London) – the only thing that let it down was the rather basic cut of beef, and maybe the gravy being too rich. Oh and it being CHF39.50. Jeez Switzerland, become poorer. Maybe put up a load of trade barriers with your neighbours or something.

My rating for Paddy Reillys is a pretty whopping 7.90 out of 10, which makes it the best roast dinner in the world so far. Bravo Basel, das ist gut roast dinner.

Ich Bin Any Other Gut Food Ein Basel?

Believe it or not, the roast dinner was the best meal I had in Basel. Granted, I only had two others meals – one was the aforementioned misery burger, the other was at some traditional place, where I had pork knuckle with sauerkraut and potato salad – which a German Twitter follower shrieked at the apparent bastardisation of putting potato salad with this.

I wouldn’t know better, and neither would the fake Germans in that corner of Switzerland.

Basel is a cute place, but I don’t have any restaurant recommendations for you, as the rest of my trip was going to cheaper places – Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and France, and without an unlimited budget, I only ate out once a day.

I would highly recommend the Fondation Beyeler if you are into your art (only circa £25.00 to get in) or a trip to Holzpark Klybeck which is like a hippy commune type of area, with street art, theatre and bars – I even had a pint for around £7.00 there. Otherwise…maybe go elsewhere in Switzerland, it is a seriously beautiful country, though Basel has its charm too, hidden away.

Holzpark Klybeck

I should be back before the end of 2024 – two more trips booked with a roast dinner probable in each.

Ya. Ist gut.

Rating: 7.90

Country: Switzerland

Year visited: 2024