Aside from the numerous establishments in Chinatown, Pho Basil seems to offer one of the best combinations of tasty assorted asian dishes and low prices in Boston. It is the only asian restaurant in the Back Bay that I've gone to more than once. In fact I've probably eaten in or ordered take-out at least once a month since I discovered the place about a year ago.
The menu offers a wide range of Thai and Vietnamese dishes, with some items seemingly more Americanized than others. As far as I can tell the Vietnamese dishes are pretty authentic, but regardless, every dish I've ever had from here has been delicious. The dishes are always well spiced, the veggies are cooked but not obliterated to mush, the fried flat rice noodles are smokey and chewy in the best way, and nothing has ever been particularly oily or goopy (see bad pork lo mein or sesame chicken respectively, although you can't actually order either here). I particularly like that when they say a dish is spicy, or when you ask to make it extra spicy, they really follow through, which I guess is a warning to some diners and a bit of encouragement to others.
Some personal favorites my GF and I get all the time:
Kua Gai Noodle - Stir-fried flat rice noodle with chicken, bean sprouts, scallions, egg, ground peanuts, lettuce, crispy fried diced onions, and cilantro. The lettuce sounds weird but honestly is amazing. It lightens the whole dish up and adds some great texture. This a good choice if spicy is not your thing. If spicy is your thing, be sure to at least steal a bite from your scoville-shy date who orders this while you go for one of the dishes below.
Drunken Noodle - Stir-fried flat rice noodles with mixed vegetables and egg in spicy basil sauce with your choice of meat/tofu. I get it with the tofu and it works great since the tofu really soaks up the delicious and rather spicy basil sauce.
Wild Board Basil - Pork sauteed with pepper, mushroom, eggplant, string bean, green peppercorn, pepper and basil leaves in white wine chili sauce. This is a dish that I've only ever seen at Pho Basil and is a must try if you like spice and pork. It's incredible. Ask them to make it extra spicy and you will be in nose-running, eye-watering, juicy pork heaven.
Anything with basil sauce... really, anything. Crispy chicken basil, spicy tofu eggplant in basil sauce, spicy basil w/meat or tofu, etc. You get the idea.
Anything with lemongrass grilled chicken, especially the Bun Thit Nuong. The vietnamese dishes that offer a pile of veggies, rice or noodles, vinegary fish sauce, and lemongrass chicken are very light and refreshing and the chicken is grilled perfectly. Dump that questionably odiferous but oh-so-delicious fish sauce over your entire plate and enjoy.
Back to prices. For $8-10 bucks you can easily walk away with tonight's dinner and tomorrow's lunch in tow as the portion sizes are generous. If you sit in to eat you seem to get a bit more food, but if you take it to go you can get away with a smaller tip and more efficient dinner run. You decide what you value more.
Lastly, the Thai iced tea is divine. Not for diabetics or lactase deficient individuals, but I swear that thing is the tastiest caffeine and calorie delivery method known to man. read more