Not many restaurants in Basel offer butter as an accompaniment with bread
It was a nice treat for us.
We hosted our very first visitors from the U.S. this past weekend...our good friend and her husband who was celebrating his big milestone birthday while in Switzerland. I thought, what better way to kick-off a Switzerland birthday weekend than sampling some authentic regional cuisine.
My first inclination was to make reservations at Baccara Zermat for some traditional fondue. Unfortunately for us, a private party had booked that restaurant for the entire evening last Friday. So I began my search for an alternative restaurant and stumbled on Walliser Kanne. To ensure it was the "right" place to bring our friends for a traditional Swiss meal, I checked the reviews on TripAdvisor. The overall rating ranges from very good to excellent, so we reserved a spot for three adults and two children.
Walliser Kanne's interior has a cozy Swiss chalet touch with its exposed dark stained wood beams above and heavy set wooden tables and benches for dining. As we entered, we were escorted upstairs where, before seating, we hung our coats in a tiny closet at the top of the stairs. I would highly recommend hanging one's overcoat here to avoid having it smell like Raclette cheese for days after. Then, our friendly waitress escorted us to a shared style, long medieval-ish table near the center of the restaurant. Our party took the end closest to the wall and we were later joined by an older Swiss couple at the other end.
For a flavor of Switzerland, we ordered cheese fondue, wiener schnitzel with spaetzle, raclette, and apfelschorle (bubbly apple juice). Everything tasted delicious and beyond my expectations. The wiener schnitzel, Walliser Kanne's specialty, was tender and perfectly seasoned. All of us loved the raclette, including the children who devoured it. We liked the fondue as well, but for me, it tasted a bit heavy on the liquor. Perhaps this is the traditional flavor of cheese fondue, but I'm not one who likes heavy liquor in my food. That said, our friends mopped up every bit of that tasty melted cheese.
I thought the cost of the meals was quite reasonable for three adults and two children. After all, this is Switzerland, and every thing is over-the-top overpriced. En guete! (a.k.a "Have a nice meal" in Swiss German)
Click here to learn more about Walliser Kanne.
Schnitzel and Spaetzle Cheese fondue
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