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    Thai Basil Restaurant

    3.5 (603 reviews)
    ModerateThai, Seafood, Noodles
    Closed 11:00 am - 3:00 pm, 4:00 PM - 10:00 PM
    Updated over 3 months ago

    Order Thai Basil Restaurant Takeout or Delivery

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    THAI BASIL RESTAURANT ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Good for groups
    Good for kids

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    Recommended Reviews - Thai Basil Restaurant

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    Indoors
    Karan L.

    So I came here on a Friday afternoon. I called ahead and asked if they have any lunch specials, which they do. Asking for recommendations I got the Panang Curry with Tofu. The service was incredibly patient over the phone despite my connection going in and out. The food was ready when I arrived 8 mins later. Amazing turn out time for take out. The restaurant was near empty when I arrived. It is underground so it doesn't get much sunlight. Lots of seating for parties or 2 or 4. It was quite quiet, and frankly a peaceful vibe for a quick lunch around 2pm. The lunch special comes with 2 small spring rolls and a dipping sauce which was absolutely delightful. I should have ordered more spring rolls in all honesty. As for the lunch curry. It came with white rice and you can change this to brown rice for a dollar extra. The curry used airpocket tofu so next time I am going to order chicken since it isn't my favorite. The curry itself was fantastic and there was plenty of rice to go with it. I fell in love with the taste of basil they added to the curry, pretty funny for the name Thai basil, but it was the best part of this dish. Great solid Thai place. Might be a bit overpriced but it is on newberry street so it is what you should expect. Will look forward to coming back and trying new things here next time I am in Boston.

    Phu-Ket Noodles (made with thin rice noodle due to supply shortage)
    Elias G.

    Nice spot on Newbury street, easy to walk past because it's in a basement. We got the treasure bags, siam fried rice, and Phu-ket noodles. The treasure bags were kinda fun, and tied together with lemongrass which was nice. The filling wasn't dry and went well with the sauce. The fried rice was pretty good too, and was quite sweet (it tasted like cane sugar); it was well fried though, without clumping, and seasoned well. My noodles came with thin pad thai-style rice noodles devise they didn't have any large flat ones, but i didn't mind that much. It was spicy, and was a ton of food for the price. I also got some tea, though it was not steeped well and tasted more like hot water. I would recommend everything else. Service was very friendly and accommodating. If you're in the area and want some Thai, I'd recommend.

    Tom Yum Noodle Soup
    Eric H.

    Great Thai spot nestled away on Newbury Street. The entrance might be hard to miss because you gotta walk downstairs from the street level but the restaurant itself is pretty nice and casual. Lots of servers were around so service was pretty fast if you were to wave someone down for help. The food was also great and classic with some tom yum noodle soup and beef pad thai. The Thai iced tea was a great refresher as well.

    Amina R.

    A co worker picked this spot. Food was ok nothing to cheer about. The ambiance was really nice and the location makes them a gem. The service was good but again nothing to fave about . I kept it simple with a fried rice plate. The rice was a little too soft for my liking but the flavor was good.

    Bo Bun Hue
    Kyleigh D.

    Great food and quick service. The curry dip with scallion pancake/roti is a must-try. I think about it all the time!

    Spicy Tofu lunch special with Singha
    Denice R.

    I was referred here by someone at Salon Monet after expressing my desire for a good Thai meal. The local is solid - I'm told the area is called Back Bay. So many shops, people watching, buzzing vibe, and great walk score. This place is popular with a diverse array of customers. And lots of solo eaters which felt very comfortable as a solo eater myself. I chose one of their lunch specials - Spicy Tofu - with spring rolls. I don't need to ask for additional chili here - the flavoring was perfect for me. The serving was perfect size for me, didn't leave me wanting or stuffed. Prices are reasonable as well. I really enjoyed this dining experience - one of my best in Boston.

    Veg pad Thai, chicken mango fried rice, tom yum soup
    Kelly H.

    This was in a really cool area of town, downstairs, which just seems cool on its own. My adult kid found this spot and I'm so glad. Staff were super helpful and patient as we tried to figure out what we wanted. Their Pad Thai was delish, as was the fried rice. The soup was just the right spicy in my lips and (although I avoided the mushrooms due to my texture issues) was absolutely delightful. They were happy to let us share, and to give us the to-go container and a bag for our little bit that was leftover.

    Drunken Noodle, Mango Avocado Salad
    Eva A.

    2.5* Ordered takeout. Didn't do my research, and the food didn't hit even though I was starving (you know how it is, anything is delicious when you're hungry- not in this case). Ordered drunken noodles with chicken. It had a lot of vegetables which I loved, but the dish lacked flavor and was very oily. Had to add my own garlic powder. Also got the mango avocado salad and it was quite disappointing, just avocado with one slice of tomato and a few chunks of hard mango on a bed of lettuce. Definitely not worth the $12. The peanut sauce also has a very strong, strange coconut flavor. Probably will not be ordering from here again, but if I do it will be something else.

    Thai Basil Fried Rice Lunch
    Jimmy N.

    Honestly, this was probably the best basil fried rice I ever had lol I ordered through GrubHub and had it delivered to our clinic in Chinatown. Everything came as requested. It came on time and well packaged. Just confused why restaurants sometimes don't give you utensils lol I even requested it on the app. But I can't penalize them for that and ruin this review. I requested my dish to be spicy. Most Thai places either don't read the request or they just don't do it. But Thai Basil, compliments to the chef. Mine was cooked with the perfect amount of spice. I was super impressed lol the rice was well fried. The amount of crispy chicken they gave me for this lunch menu item was generous. It also came with an egg omelette at no extra charge. This was ONLY $14.95. Highly recommend coming here. Will definitely order from here again!

    Pad Thai
    Adina S.

    I've been to Thai Basil in person before, but this time, I ordered it through a delivery app. From what I can recall, the service and ambiance were pretty nice. This is a great place to deliver from, too, as the food is nicely packaged and it came pretty quickly. The food was still hot, too! Everything I've tried from this place has been pretty delicious. For appetizers, we went with the Steamed Delight (dumplings) and Fresh Basil Rolls. Both were really tasty and hit the spot. If you're a fan of peanut sauce, definitely order some extra for the rolls. The Drunken Noodle was also really great and had a really nice flavor to it. It had just the right ratio of noodles to protein to vegetables. All in all, just what I needed for some Thai delivery!

    Pad Kee Mao w/Crispy Chicken - Comfort food - Delicious!
    Warren H.

    While Asian, and more specifically Thai, restaurants can sometimes be hard to run into, especially depending on the area that you're in, Boston has plenty of choices to pick from and I was lucky enough to have this place recommended to me by a fellow co-worker who frequents this restaurant quite a bit. Known for authentic Thai cuisine and some delicious Thai Iced Tea, I might add, I had the opportunity to visit this place and see what all the hype was about. Let's take a bite into, Thai Basil. The Place (4 out of 5) - Thai Basil is located in the Back Bay neighborhood and is within walking distance from a lot of places (i.e. hotels, office buildings, shopping, etc). The nature of the buildings can make this place a bit hard to find, but having it in your GPS will definitely help make sure you stop at the right place. As with most of the buildings in the area, you walk down a few flights of stairs to get to the entrance of Thai Basil. Nothing too special about the space, but what's there is clean, pleasant, and quaint. There's plenty of tables to accommodate for a lunch rush and space can be made for large parties. In general, it's a bit small so if you happen to come and the restaurant is full, it can feel a bit cramped, but definitely not deterring by any means. The Service (4.5 out of 5) - The service is exceptional! Everyone is really friendly and very respectful. I didn't have any issues and, from what I gather, is a family owned restaurant. They greeted me as I walked in and promptly showed me to an open table. The food came out on time and my drinks always stayed filled with the staff coming around asking if I needed anything else regularly. The Food (4 out of 5) - Right off the bat, the food was every bit as exceptional as I was led to believe! I had a few offerings starting with the crab rangoon. They were fried to perfection and crispy; the filling was sweet from the cream cheese and the dipping sauce added a perfect tangy/spicy profile to each bite. I definitely could've had another of these all to myself. For my main course, I went with the Pad Kee Mao w/Crispy Chicken. Talk about comfort food on a plate. This was the ultimate comfort food that you could get, imo. The flat noodles were filling, seasoned well and the chicken was super crispy, tender, and gave a nice contrast in texture to the saucy noodles. To drink, I had a thai iced tea, and let's be honest, you can never go wrong with thai iced tea at a Thai restaurant. Refreshing! Overall (4 out of 5) - All in all, Thai Basil will definitely satisfy your craving for Thai cuisine. If you ever find yourself in the Back Bay area and are wanting some delicious, home cooked, comforting meals, take a trip here! Looking forward to visiting the next time I'm back in town and trying the other things on the menu. In the meantime, thanks for the hospitality, Thai Basil!

    Menu photo as of 1/5/2023

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    3 months ago

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    9 months ago

    Decent. I had the chicken basil and rice and pad Thai with chicken. Flavors were decent, but nothing special. Ok for a quick meal.

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    3 years ago

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    9 months ago

    Good lunch spot with lunch special. It gets busy during lunch hours, but food is served fast. Pretty good food!

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    3 years ago

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    9 months ago

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    2 years ago

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    1 year ago

    My favorite go to Thai spot in the city. Always fresh. Great service. And close to home!

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    3 years ago

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    7 months ago

    Horrible service, and food were mediocre at best. Do not come here if youre planning to waste money

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    1 year ago

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    4 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    10 months ago

    Amazing basil rice and fried pork! Service is quick and very kind! The location is cozy and very welcoming

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    2 years ago

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    1 year ago

    Good quality Thai food. Genuine place. Right in the heart of back bay on Newbury street.

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    4 years ago

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    Page 1 of 16

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    JiangNan - Boston - 金汤娃娃菜, Baby Cabbage in Chicken Broth

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    Front counter. Mainly for to go orders but window bar seating for 5 people and a table for 3

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