Thai Basil is the very definition of 'hole in the wall', as previously stated by several observant yelpers, but don't let the appearance fool you. In a neighborhood with no fewer than 6 Thai restaurants in a 3 block radius (this may be an exaggeration), Thai Basil is my favorite by a landslide. Okay, the decor isn't great and it's about as spacious as eating in your closet, but the service and food are absolutely fantastic, and it's reasonably affordable to boot! Get the yellow curry with sweet potatoes and prawns, and tell them Derek sent you. (That won't actually hold any meaning for them, but it'll make me feel good about myself). read more

boost em up another star because the pad thai i had last week was super tasty. I've noticed a change in their presentations as well as the texture of the food, i.e the fried tofu balls. It used to be cute tiny plump pieces of tofu i think, now they're square-ish. Or maybe this crazed heat is making me silly. But anyway i loved the food i had here recently. read more

This place is yum-ity yum and that is goodity-good. I think this place is great! The food tastes great. I've not tried everything on the menu, but I've never left disappointed. A personal favourite: the pumpkin curry. As my mother would say, "It's to die for!" Okay, that's a little hyperbole for you, but you don't know my mother. The ambiance is a little lacking, but this ain't fine dining, but neither is the price, so just accept it already. Not good for groups because it is too, too, too small. Two outdoor tables, but you're literally sitting on the side walk, but on Thurlow Street which is a fair bit quieter than around the corner on Davie Street. read more

I normally love this place and would have agreed that they should have 4 stars. However, my most recent experience was quite disappointing. The thai fried rice and it was filled with what looked like the discarded stalks of vegetables. The spring rolls were extremely greasy and there was nothing inside but noodles and a tiny tiny bit of cabbage, they were tasteless. Maybe they ran out of veggies for the spring rolls and the rice. Only giving 3 stars because of this. Curry was amazing though. read more

Thai Basil - Rice noodles inside spring roll, no crunchy fresh veggies :( they were bland - Thai Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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The food here was great, especially the Pad Thai. The staff was friendly and the prices were reasonable. The only downside is the location is small and was a little cramped. I will definitely eat here again when I am back in Vancouver. read more

Overall Impression: **** Food: **** Service: ** Environment: *** Price: ***1/2 When Thai Basil first opened I wondered how long it would last. Davie Street must be one of the most competitive areas in Vancouver for a restaurant, and with two well-established Thai food restaurants already in prime locations on Davie Street, I figured Thai Basil wouldn't be around very long, what with it being situated off Davie, and kind of out of sight. I decided to give them six months to try and survive before I would try out their food. And much to my surprise, Thai Basil survived the first six months, and I soon figured out why. Food: Typical Thai dishes are offered. You can get your green/red/yellow curried chicken/beef/pork/tofu; you can find Pad Thai and fried rices on the menu; you can get spring rolls, satay, fish cakes and soups; and of course you can get the curry combos. (see menu for details: http://www.thaibasilvancouver.ca/menu/) What won me over, however, was the overall flavour and consistency of taste. The food is always well-prepared and I know what I'm going to get. The curries usually have a spicy kick to them which is well-received since some Thai restaurants seem to shy away from to appease the sensitive western palates. I usually go for the dinner combo which comes with a curry, salad, rice and spring rolls, all for less than $10. Word of advice: avoid the dipping sauce that comes for the spring rolls -- it's not good at all, and I really hope they replace it with a nice plum sauce or something similar. Service: As other reviewers have noted, service is a bit lacking, but there always seems to be a trade-off between product, price and service. While I have not experience any major issues, I have had to wait a little longer than I would like to be served and receive my food, and some of the counter staff have bordered on being rude. But I could tell that their English was not strong and they seemed to be newcomers to Canada, so I tried to cut them some slack. It's not easy adapting to a new language and culture. Environment: Not that they can doing anything about it, but the place is pretty small and cramped. But it's clean, the decore is pleasant, and there are one or two nice pieces of art to look at. I hope that as Thai Basil becomes more profitable they can expand the restaurant. Price: Combined with the food, this is the best feature of Thai Basil. Where else can you get a tasty, filling and comforting meal for less than $10 incl. tax? I've gone to Thai Basil a couple times a month since 2008, and will definitely continue to go when I need a quick, cheap, Thai meal. read more

Yes please! This is what I have been looking for in my hood. A Thai place that serves my delicious swimming rama, except in this case it was broccoli and not spinach, but really its just a vehicle for the yummy spicy peanut sauce! You can get the broccoli by itself for like $8 or so, or make a combo with rice, salad and an egg roll for $10. Obviously I went for the combo, since my eyes are always bigger than my stomach, and I have a pretty freakin big stomach. The BF had a tofu cashew thang, he wolfed down the whole thing, so I'm assuming it must have been pretty stellar. My only complaints, they're not open on Sundays, which is a huge bummer for me, since Sunday is usually the day that I am too hungover and lazy to make dinner and 95% of the time we order take out. I guess that just means we'll never be eating Thai on Sundays :P Oh and they don't take American Express, but they do take debit and visa. read more

I love this place. Almost nowhere has authentic Thai food in Vancouver. I spent 6 weeks in Thailand eating vegetarian Thai food so I know the flavours. This place is great. I love their curries, wok veggies and eggplant and basil. Everything here is good and reasonably priced. I come here often and get double veggie dishes and leave happy and satisfied. Out of all the Thai places I've tried in Vancouver, this one is the best for taste and value. I can't stand paying $15 for a vegetarian Thai dish at other restaurants... That's crazy. My favourite dishes are the Massaman curry and the eggplant and Thai basil. It's so hard for me decide I always take forever picking one for lunch. Call in advance to have your order ready if you want to eat on fly! read more

Pros: - Decently priced. - Decent taste - Swift service - Welcoming staff - Nicely decorated Cons: - When you ask your food to go you seem to get less of it - They seem to only have 1 level of spicyness which is in the middle of mild and super spicy, which is a bummer when you ask for either or. But I will be trying other dishes since I'm right by there all the time. read more

This cute little place is a bit of a hole in the wall, but they have great food and the prices are great. Great curries and Pad dishes. read more

Thai Basil - Thai Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

This place has been consistently good throughout the years. I often order the noodle or curry dishes and find them to be stellar. It's a very small place, a hole in the wall, but it's charming and has outdoor seating too. The food is really great, and tastes exactly like what I ate in Thailand. The price is definitely reasonable too. Service is good and friendly. I just can't find any negatives with this cool little restaurant. Fantastic! I'm very happy to recommend this place for take out or eat in. 5/5 read more

I love this place! The flavours are so wonderful and authentic. It tastes just like the street food in Bangkok and the prices are reasonable. I usually order the yellow curry chicken or the pad Thai which are both very tasty! Their Penang curry is also really good if you're in the mood to heat things up. It's a small place with limited seating so be aware and plan accordingly. read more

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Disappointed....this used to be one of my favourite hole in the wall thai restaurant in downtown. I think it might be own by a different owner now since the staff look unfamiliar; the food taste so much worse than before and even the to go boxes are not the same. I ordered pad prik khing with chicken,and unfortunately the green bean was bland and undercooked and the whole dish was drenched into half inch of oil. It was just gross and lack of flavour. I will not be back anytime soon read more

Thai Basil - Look at all the oil..... - Thai Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

I have a thing with one of my best friends where we only eat Thai food together, and we try out new places every time we meet up. Checked out Thai Basil because we heard good things. It's a lot tinier than we were expecting but the more intimate the better! We got the pad thai and chicken fried rice. The pad thai was super yummy, and the fried rice was not bad. It was pretty bland (which I don't mind) as I didn't use the sauce it came with. Lot's of veggies which is always good~ It's a pretty standard place, not bad, not super amazing. Will go back if in the area! tips: -not so good for parties of more than 4 the place is tinyyyy -if you are coming after shopping it might be better to put your bags in your car or something read more

Little hole in the wall spot in Vancover. Vancouver can get expensive, so a lunch stop here is not a bad deal. The food is actually pretty good. I came here for soup. SInce I was sick at the time, I really wanted some tom yum soup. So I'm pretty used to the tom yum in cali cal but the tom yum they served was with noodles? I ordered their red curry with beef and asked if I could get a small bowl of soup on the side. Now this is why I gave it a 3 over a 4 star. The service was awful and it really was just from one lady working the register. Everyone appeared to be smiley and friendly but since I was dealing with this lady directly, she regretfully ruined my first meal back in Vancouver. - She snidely said " No, we dont do that." I said okay nevermind then. - She then charged me for a full soup and the curry dish. I mentioned that I didnt want the soup anymore and she sighed a little bit as if it was such a hassle. Besides the service, the red curry was delicious. It was weird because it literally was curry, beef, and squash. No peppers or green beans like I'm used to, just squash which for the most part im not a fan of. But the curry and beef on top of my rice was delicous! My friend ordered the pad see ew which seemed to be a customer favorite as there were many that were ordering it! THAT WAS ALSO YUMMY YUM YUM! :) read more

Disappointed. We just got back from Bangkok and were craving some authentic thai food. Seeing as this place had 4 stars and we were in the area, we thought we'd drop in. Our order: -pad thai : very sweet, not authentic at all, but if your tastebuds gravitate towards sweet flavours and ketchup... you may like it. Big pieces of meat ( we substituted shrimpnfor chicken) and tofu. - massaman curry (beef) : not bad... but not great. Decent amount of ingredients in it. - tom yum soup : the taste is missing something...felt like a soup base with some garlic/lemongrass/keffir leaves thrown in for looks - thai tea: very sweet. Very very sweet. Suuugar hiigh. I gave it 3 stars because the taste quality was average, but portions are generous and the staff were friendly. read more

A three star review just like Crystal! I actually have only been here once. It was a blustery February afternoon and I was craving pad thai. It had been a year or so since I've had any, and we finally spotted this little place off Davie and Thurlow. If I remember correctly, there were only three tables to sit here. That's reasonable and I don't mind, BUT... It was February. It was windy. It was cold. They kept the door wide open to allow the chill air to rush in and give our food a quick cold kiss of death. :( On top of that, one of the seats at our table (which was positioned RIGHT next to the open door) was smooshed up against a windowsill that unfortunately juts out into the diner's lower back. The food itself was actually quite good, though I didn't eat it fast enough to enjoy it hot. The presentation was nice. I'd recommend either coming between rushes, during warmer months, or getting it for takeaway. read more

-Good prices -Excellent Tom Yum, and Thai basil fried rice. -The Satay is good too, but spring rolls are just so so. -Not as spicey as I'd like but still good read more

This place is pretty awesome for the price. Good Thai food in Vancouver is few and far between so finding this place was a breath of fresh air (literally). The place is right on the beach and has a large garage door that was open when I came here for dinner. It gave the place a really nice feel. The staff was very friendly and fast. We got our food 11 minutes after ordering it. I had the pad see yew. While it didn't have the truly wide noodles, the noodles they used were a good firmness and consistency. The yellow curry was also quite nice and had a good kick to it. Chicken satay was good, but I think they could have done better with the peanut sauce. I'll be back for the cheap price and quality food. read more

This 4 star rating is for food only! Now I understand the previous review- take out only! This place is too small to sit and eat comfortably. Although I should say, even if you do decide to sit down, elbow other diners and experience extreme winter conditions every time the door opens (and it happens quite a lot!), the food would be worth it! I had chicken with cashews and spring rolls and it was delicious! It's spicy enough to get your eyes watery. I am yet to go back and try the notorious pad thai! For dessert aftewards go to Cho Pain. Your welcome read more

Solid lunch option and pretty tasty grub at Thai Basil. The place is super small, the service is damn fast and the prices are fairly reasonable. I ordered one of the noodle dishes and a friend ordered the Masaman Curry. The food came out within minutes, and everything was mighty tasty. Not to mention, the portions were huge! The flavors were great, but despite ordering them both 'extra spicy', we were let down with medium spice levels. Seems to be a trend in Vancouver though? Would def. come back for lunch again! read more

I lived in Thailand for a year. I had to eat Thai food for sometimes three meals a day. (Thai apartments don't have kitchens.) This is very good Thai food for Canada. Thai people work here, so it's more authentic than many places. If you want a real phad thai -- order their Bangkok version. Wow! This is flavourful, authentic thai food. (The typical western-style phad thai is not really eaten in Thailand.) All of their curries are great. I also love their soups, true to what I ate in Thailand. The prices are very reasonable and now you can order online, with pictures!! Thai Basil, never change. read more

A solid Thai lunch option. You can get most of their regular entrees off the lunch menu for less than CA $8 with a small salad. The Pad Thai isn't the best I've ever had, but it's satisfying if you've been jonesin' for some noodles. It's tight inside and busy at lunchtime, so don't expect much elbow space. read more

This place is ok. Not bad. Tom Yum noodle is very big. And cheap:) Fish cake was soooo oily though. read more

Simple Tom Ka was ruined by way too much lime juice and not enough of all the beautiful aromatics that should be in this soup. It's rare to get this soup done so poorly. Only one time I've had worse. If you can't get a staple of Thai cuisine right, why should I come back. read more

Just a little door on an off road of davie, it's the perfect place for lunch if there are only two of you. The staff is friendly and the food comes out quickly, love love love this place! read more

Thai Basil - Love how the menu is also up on the wall, makes for easy ordering! - Thai Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

The food in Thai Basil is delicious! Ingredients are fresh and the dishes are a wonderful mixture of flavors. It is a cozy neighborhood place. Service is fast and always with a smile. Prices are student-friendly too :) read more

Sooooooo darn yummy! I can't decide which part of my meal I like the most! If I was stuck on an island and could only eat one thing for like a month or something, I think it would be anything from this place! Chicken skewers!? YES! Curry!? YES! Broccoli- YES! YES YES YES!!! read more

Friends suggested to go here. Was disappointed. Attitude of service was poor, people working there have a poor customer service attitude. Food in my personal opinion was so so .. one friend had a good item, the rest was fair to poor. They also don't have a bathroom. They told me a story that the City Inspectors said they had to close bathroom to public. It's my understanding that any restaurant that has as many tables as they do need to have a washroom available. Not clean. Was very busy, so I guess people like it there, but for me and my friends and our friends friends, we will certainly not return there ever again. read more

I was looking for a cheap eat which would be filling - that is certainly delivered on. The food was quick to come by for a Saturday afternoon. I went with a tofu pineapple fried rice for $5.95. It was a bit too salty and greasy so I'm not going to say I was blown away. That said I was hungry and left full without breaking my wallet. Mission accomplished :) read more

Yum! The best Thai in the Weat End! Cheap food and line ups make it the go to fast food Thai place! We ordered the Massaman curry and the pad Thai! Both were flavourful (although you need to add hot sauce). And the portions are decent sizes! Great place! read more

We checked in right about closing time here but unlike some other places I have been to, the staff was really nice and gave us time to order. The portion size, cost and taste is mind blowing. I ordered a Tom Yum Noodle Soup and let me tell you, I think I am good to go till tomorrow. My brother had the Tom Ka Gai and that was delicious as well (I sneaked two spoonfuls). We ended the meal with ice cream and sticky rice and I am just going to have to return there again. Wonderful experience! read more

Thai Basil - Sticky Rice with Ice cream! Yum!! - Thai Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Location is nice. Close to Kits Beach. The atmosphere is "ok". Meaning that it's not the best ambiance. And certainly not the worse. Could be a little cleaner. Found the place to be a little dirtier than I'd like. The food is ok. I'm not sure we would come back often. We got a Thai Basil Beef to share with the wife and it was quite salty. Large enough portions. They were generous. So the food isn't terrible, but it certainly could have been better. Not sure I can recommend the place though it is cheap enough that it's a nice place to go to for "fast" Thai food. But if you're looking for a nice night out for Thai food. I'm not sure I can recommend this place as a place to go to. Decent. But not great enough to earn four stars on the review. Maybe in the future if they change certain things. Another star could be added. For now. Three stars and a recommendation to try. But it's an ok place. read more

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I have been going there for many years. A few months ago I ordered from there and it was not very good. I noticed a distinct drop in quality. Nevertheless, I decided to give them another try. It was horrible. The portions are tiny compared to what they used to be. However the quality of the food is horrible. The beef is the toughest I have ever chewed in my life. The sauce gives me allergic reactions on my skin. I believe they have cut corners beyond belief. I will not be giving them another chance. They really should close their doors and go out of business. Unfortunately Yelp would not permit me to give less than one star. read more

This place was walking distance from my hotel & I was craving Thai food. The menu is simple, typical to what you would find in your average Thai restaurant. I believe this place cater more to take-out orders assuming by the size of it and the limited seats. Food was average(portion size was a bit small for me), service was also average. Prices are cheap so I would say that if you're looking for quick, a tad bit higher quality food than fast food, stop by here! read more

I think we hit it on one of their less awesome nights, but it was still good, cheap, and hella fresh. Just not as vibrantly tasty. Will update again in a few weeks, I am sure. read more

Only for take-out, I do stand by my word. But for amazing Pad Thai with the freshest prawns, chewy noodles, fresh cilantro and perfectly deep fried tofu - Thai Basil earns another star (and a *pad* on the back!) read more

Really tasty Thai food! The curries and pad see ew are delicious and the lunch special portion is a good size to get you full but not too bloated feeling. They often have a special of the week that changes routinely (but can get sold out). As previous reviews said, the place is teeny-tiny and probably is best for take out. They can get very busy during lunch peak hours, so it might be best to call in your order ahead of time if you're busy. They make your food to order so it's fresh but might take a couple of extra minutes (so be mindful of that if you're in a hurry). read more

I wanted to come here because of the tiny small hole-in-the-wall label. Came around 2pm and it was still lunch special hour- unexpected and was a pleasant surprise. I ordered the pad thai which came with a side salad, total around 8$ with tax. From trying this particular dish, I can't say this place serves authentic Thai food. I've just had better pad thai's, the one here was just too sweet. Bummer. BUT positive is portion size is pretty big, the salad(romaine + ginger dressing) was a nice source of veggie and also plentiful bean sprout in the noodle. read more

Love this place. Food Recs: - Beef Panang Curry (~10 bucks) - i usually order it VERY SPICY which is perfect. - Pad Gra Prow (~10 bucks) - Excellent dish with ground meat, rice and a runny egg. YUM!! - If you order for take-out, it usually takes only 15 minutes (during Dinner). - Staff is really nice. - Parking is readily available in the front or laneway. - There's a couple dining tables for two just right outside the restaurant. A+ read more