Basil another of Dublin’s hidden gems
It’s been awhile since I have posted a review on here as I have been shaking off a stomach bug. It’s not fair to do a review when you can’t fully enjoy the experience of eating out. How can you enjoy a nice meal when your stomach can’t appreciate it?
The cost of living crisis has also not helped, with restaurants and gastropubs closing or increasing their prices. Coming just after restaurants and gastropubs are getting over the pandemic and trying to recruit and retain staff so that they can remain open. This means that I will probably be doing only 2-3 reviews per month.
This week’s restaurant is?
One of my old college friends called around, a friend who was with me when I reviewed Hot Chix last year. My friend was hankering for a pizza and I knew the perfect restaurant to take him to. There is a lovely pizzeria that is around fifteen minutes’ walk from where I live. And because of its location is another well-kept secret. The video below will reveal all.
Basil is a lovely boutique pizzeria based in Ringsend and named after its owner. Basil is also based in the childhood home of the owner Having eaten here on numerous occasions over the years, it was good to be back here. It’s my first time here since the pandemic started and nothing has changed. The menu is still the same and incredibly the prices are the same. This is something that you won’t see much these days.
The pizzas in Basil are cooked in a woodfired oven. They are made with a fresh homemade base, sumptuous sauce, the finest Polselli 00 pizza flour and juicy Italian tomatoes. The pizza is Neapolitan style, which means it’s thin and not too cheesy.
Walking into Basil you will notice that it’s not a big restaurant as you can see below.
So, if you are coming for dinner later in the week, booking in advance would be advised
What did I order?
As well as offering pizza, Basil also has interesting starters and pasta dishes. Alongside this there is the accompanying desert menu. As we were here for pizza that what I was going to have. I also had something I never had here before, a starter. My starter was tomato soup and my main course was a 9 inch margherita pizza. My friend had garlic bread followed by a 9 inch margherita pizza. We both decided to forgo desert.
How was my meal?
Well, my starter was an interesting and pleasant surprise. The soup did not look like your typical tomato soup. It was orange in colour, reminding me of carrot soup as you can see below.
The soup was just incredible. It tasted better than your average tomato soup and was full of nutrition. You will have noticed that my soup came with bread, lovely warm flatbreads which you can see more of below.
The flatbreads are made daily and as you can see are thin and crispy. This also makes the bread light and perfect for dipping into my soup. As the bread is light it’s also not too filling leaving plenty of room for the main course.
As we were midway through our starters, the only slight disappointment to our meal happened, our main courses arrived. We both had ordered 9 inch margherita pizzas and as you can see below mine looked perfect.
As you can see it was not cheesy and one of those pizzas that the cheese does not drip or fall off. When we finally got to eat our pizzas, they were still warm and tasted delicious as you can see below.
Our pizzas had just the right amount of mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce and crispiness. One of my pet pizza hates which I have mentioned before is big thick crusts. Thankfully, the crusts on our pizzas was perfect so I was able to leave behind an empty plate. Something I can’t always do when I have pizza.
What did my meal cost?
My tomato soup and flatbreads cost €6.50 and my 9 inch margherita pizza cost €9.50. This brough my final bill to €16.00 before tips. I have eaten in Basil before and I will definitely be here again but I will make sure that my main course does not arrive until after I have finished my starter. You won’t be disappointed with the food in Basil especially as they allow you to byob.
Basil, 95 Ringsend Rd, Dublin 4, D04 R893
See more reviews here.