Ristorante Da Roberto — Restaurant in Basel

When you find a restaurant that shares your name, you know you have to give it a try. However, I was disappointed I did. Da Roberto is in a great location in the city of Basel and the food was tasty, however, I don't think they served what I consider "Robert" sized portions. The Calzone I ordered was one of the smallest I've ever eaten in an Italian restaurant and it was very doughy for almost the first inch and a half (3.81cm*) inwards. Serving it on such a massive plate may have added to the effect, but I didn't feel full after eating either. My dear wife ordered the lasagne which I thought had some nice flavours, however it again was on the small side (maybe about 9 square inches / 58.06 sqcm). Thankfully, my dear wife dislikes bread so I ate all four complimentary bread rolls which were filling, though unremarkable. My dear wife though had to eat a bag of crisps for a snack an hour later to fill full. Yes, we could've ordered a second course of food, but have you seen the prices in Basel? Although Da Roberto is on paper reasonably priced, this seems to be at the expense of portion size in our experience. Lastly, the restaurant said they would not give us a jug of tap water (our go to drink) and we had to by a bottle of still water - despite the fact the table to our immediate right was served a jug of water. In conclusion: nice location, nice atmosphere but underwhelming overall and would most likely try somewhere else next time in Basel (once I've remortgaged to be able to afford to). Note: all dimensions provided are approximate - I left my tape measure...

Good food served with too much attitude and not enough service, for my taste. We arrived late in the evening (pre-arranged) but in time to order food before the kitchen closed. The waiter was keen to do as little as necessary, which included failing to prompt us for a dessert order, knowing that the kitchen would be closed before we had finished our main course. He seemed to take some pleasure in telling us we couldn't have dessert. Thankfully the lasagne was quite good, but I was surprised to be told a simple cocktail of Campari and sweet vermouth was not possible because they did not have sweet vermouth in the restaurant. How then, did they make my companion's Negroni? "We use a pre-mix", was the answer. Wow, I cannot pardon a pre-mix Negroni, at full-metal Swiss prices, and an Italian restaurant without Martini Rosso behind the bar?...

The food is good. We have been several times for work trips. I give it 3 stars because today we returned and it will have been the last time. The waiter removed our empty plates at 9:00 p.m. without telling us that if we wanted to order dessert, the kitchen would close at 9:00 p.m. He didn't listen to us until 9:07 p.m. and then told us that we couldn't order dessert since the kitchen had closed. He could have told us when he collected the empty plates but it seems that he was not willing to serve a tiramisu because perhaps he simply did not like us. Anyway...we won't be back They are not...