This is a hidden gem in Hamilton Central City. The owners are amazing! They aim to provide the best…read morecustomer service and provide a little respite from the rest of the city. Located on Casabella Lane, an alley that has more of a European feel than an Aotearoa vibe, Basil Thai has been in operation since the family moved to New Zealand. The menu isn't vast but it has all of what you'd expect of a 5-star Thai restaurant. Everything is made to order, so don't shy away from making even the most eclectic requests. They've heard it all! Note that the Kiwi palate is very bland in comparison with other parts of the world. So, if you're keen for HOT & SPICY Thai food, you have to request it. You'll likely have to say it twice because the person taking the order probably won't believe you. I am a huge fan of "The Devil" and always ask for it "Thai HOT." And they deliver a quality dinner every... single... time. Outstanding!

I feel like this may be a starter review. I think there is definitely more potential here. I am…read morebasing this review on the one meal I had here (Pho Bo (Tai - raw beef, no beef ball) It is a different style of Pho from what I am used to. Coming from Los Angeles, I have grown accustomed to getting ethnic food that is just as good as in the Home country. Here in New Zealand, ethnic food choices are very limited and the few that do exist seem to adjust flavors to the local clientele. That being said, this wasn't a bad bowl of Pho. I finished it. I felt that there could have been a lot more broth, and the broth could have been much more flavorful. When it comes to Pho, the broth makes it or breaks it. This broth had much more oil than I am used to, but still had a decent flavor. Again, not the best, but not the worst. The noodles seemed more like pad thai noodles vs. Pho noodles, and didn't have the same fresh chewy texture that I've grown to love.. Again, that may have been due to this restaurant also serving Thai cuisine in addition to Vietnamese. I will try this restaurant again and see if perhaps the Thai food is the forte. I hope to be able to upgrade my rating since I feel there is some definite potential here.

An extensive menu, friendly staff, and generally typical but pleasant Thai restaurant atmosphere…read more The menu offers Vietnamese and Thai options, making it a lengthy read. Not ideal if you don't know what you want, but fantastic for choice. The dishes we had were not a disappointment, and the food was prepared in good time. Service was good - a little interesting in the way they went about things, but intentions and attitudes were good. It was nothing unpleasant. Overall a nice restaurant, not overly busy on the Tuesday we went, and they were looking to close as we left at 9-ish, but this isn't reflective of the food quality. Worth a go.

On a recent trip to Tauranga, we needed a place to celebrate our son's birthday. This place did not…read moredisappoint! The food was delicious, the service was great and value outstanding. I called to make a reservation earlier in the day as I wasn't sure they'd be able to accommodate our group of 8 which included my 98 year old grandad who requires a walker. No problem! They also held my son's birthday cake in the back and brought it out as a surprise. I definitely would go back. Too bad we live in the US. My NZ family will be going back for more delicious food!

Amazing. I eat here so often I consider it a good ol' home cooked meal (although I could never cook…read morelike this!) Drunken Noodles are my favourite, but I'm eating the BBQ duck right now and had to review 5stars. So delish!

The food was alright - the staff were absolutely amazing! They were incredibly helpful and…read morefriendly. The sun was blinding us, so they remedied a solution for us, which was incredibly nice of them to do. They also made sure we had everything we needed. Most definitely the best customer service I have ever experienced.

I've been here twice during lunch times and have gotten take-away a couple of times as well. I…read moresuppose the fact that I continue to patronize the place says something, just to start out. I most recently came here yesterday for lunch with my husband. It was a week day and we were literally the only people in the restaurant, around 12:30 pm. We both ordered lunch specials, which included some rice and a "salad" on the side of the dish. I had the yellow curry with chicken. It was just right, not too coconutty and warm and filling on a winter day. The "salad" though, left a lot to be desired. It was basically bag coleslaw mix that had honey mustard dressing on it. It was weird and didn't really complement the lunch in any way. I did think that the rice on the place was cute - they served it shaped as a heart. It took us about 10 minutes to receive our food after placing our order. On other occasions, I have been irritated by the length of time to receive our food, but this time was certainly reasonable. We'll continue to come back. It's not the greatest Thai place in the world, but it's good enough (if you aren't in a rush).

We were staying in Waitomo for a few days and went in to town nearby where this restaurant is…read morelocated. There is a small business thoroughfare, very sleepy, it reminds me of the in between towns in California. The restaurant is easy to spot, has tasty Indian cuisine, beer, and friendly service. We were happy to discover some diversity in a small town like this. There are shops and grocers on the street as well for your all around needs.

I'm here in New Zealand on vacation and after a day of Glow Worms and Ruakuri caves in Waitomo...we…read morehead back to the little town of Otorohanga. My wife and I was wanting to eat Thai food after a good experience we had in Cambridge, so here we are at Thai Aroma around 6pm. It was relatively quiet, there was another group of family that just ordered before us. The waiter brought us water and came over as soon as we looked like we were ready to order. My wife opted for the shrimp tom yum with jasmine rice and I went with the shrimp pad siew. My wife is big fan of tom yum and it wasn't exactly the way she wanted...she said it was missing the broken straw mushrooms and could have been a bit more sour, otherwise we both were blown away at the pad siew. It was so flavorful with every bite you took you just didn't want it to end. We forgot our backpack that night and drove all the way to Auckland (a little over 2 hours). We called the restaurant that same night and luckily they were still open, the waiter told us he has it and will have it for us for pickup. We picked it up the next day and nothing was missing from our backpack. He did tell us he opened it trying to look for any information to try and contact us and advised us of leaving some sort of contact information. Awesome waiter, will definitely dine here again if we visit Otorohanga again!

Met with friends for a meal before a concert. Atmosphere was great. Service was attentive and…read morefast. We ordered the spring rolls as a 'thai tapas, so fresh and delicious with a chilli sauce that had just the right amount of heat. The food was amazing, in fact some of the best Thai we have had outside of Thailand! Will be coming back to sample more of the menu in the near future.

Very nice small eatery tucked away on the main street. We had the Pad Thai which was very morish,…read moreif not a little on the sweet side. Well priced for simple meals that you can add plenty of extras to. Very lovely service and a nice airy space to eat in.

Visited Cambridge after PYO blueberry, walked along the quiet st. found this one. Ordered Pad Thai…read morebeef and Green curry chicken for just myself lol. Chicken dish wasn't big but the Pad Thai was. Pad Thai was really well done compare to those that I had in AKL, and I finished curry in no time, was really delicious！all together cost 32 bucks. Couldn't finish it all in one go took the rest home. Realise from the little menu said the chef Noom worked in Chiang Mai in high level hotel cuisine for more than 10year! No wonder. Love the food and highly recommend to people who visit Cambridge town. Yum....

Yelp doesn't seem to be used as much in New Zealand as Google for restaurant reviews. But this is…read morean excellent restaurant. You'll also see that on the Google reviews. We had the lunch special. There are about 10 choices on that. For $12. You get rice and a curry or pad Thai or other traditional dishes. They offer four different spice levels. I also had the tom yum soup which was very good. The service is very nice and very friendly.

Make a phone order for a takeaway pad thai, first time trying Lemon Grass! was good, ready when I…read moreshowed up (about 15mins), was happy with it and the service, looked like a nice place to dine and was full of people, will dine in next time!