Basil Thai
8358 Point Meadows Drive
Jacksonville, FL 32256
Phone: (904) 379-3446
Hours: 11 am – Until…
Early during the summer of 2009, I decided to visit the quaint little cafe on Prudential Drive named Basil Thai. My visit was during lunch in this favorite of the South Bank business people. If this review were to be about that visit it would not be very good. The atmosphere was stuffy, we did not get our drinks refilled, forgot our appetizers and blah, blah, blah. This review is not about the original Basil Thai. Like I said, it is very popular with the local worker bees on the South Bank so I guess the popularity of this place gave them the incentive to expand. They decided to open another location in the ever growing popular area of 9A and Baymeadows.
The new location is not on either if the main drags of 9A or Baymeadows, although it is very easily accessible behind the Walgreen’s on the corner of Baymeadows and Point Meadows Drive. When you pull into the lot, you are able to see the beautiful green foliage that surrounds the full service patio in the front of the restaurant. As we walked in, there was a small crowd of college kids sitting in the patio. I was unaware that they were there for a reason…a reason that I will tell you about in a moment.
We were quickly seated near the sushi bar. The sushi bar was a little busy with a few customers sitting there. Looking around the dining area you could see that it wraps around to the left and was not full of customers at all. As far as the amount of business goes, we did stop by around 2 pm in the afternoon on a Saturday. Soon after we sat down our waitress arrived. She did not introduce herself to us. She did take our drink orders. I decided that all I wanted was a water and Rhonette ordered an unsweet tea. When the unnamed waitress came back she gave me my water and Rhonette her unsweet tea, but she didn’t bring no sugar or sweetener. Observing others in the place I saw a Thai tea. So I ordered one of those. She took off to get me my tea but first took our appetizer and lite sushi order. Soon she returns with the Thai tea and we have to request the sweetener for Rhonette. The still unnamed waitress takes our main course order. For this I decide to get the Jasmine Fried Rice with Chicken. As she steps away from the table the college kids come into the bar area. They line up and the bartender starts to belt out the ‘rules of competition’. Apparently, we get to see a show as well. These young men are there to have a Spicy Thai Chicken Wing eating contest. This was very entertaining and fun to watch. When they were finished I asked about the heat level of the spice on the wings. When you order any of your meals at Basil you are to order by number for the level of spice. A number 1 is the lowest and a number 5 is the highest. The wings were prepared at a level 7-8. I then asked to taste the heat. So I put my finger in the sauce and was actually impressed and disappointed at the same time. The heat level was good and it was tasty. The reason I was disappointed was the fact that I expected it to be hotter being at a heat level of 7-8. Now mind you I only got a little taste and not a mouthful. But at the historic CJ’S that used to be on Arlington Expressway offered a much hotter sauce on their wings.
Spider Roll Sushi
After watching the guys compete for the $25.00 certificate our sushi was brought to our table. Not being a big fan of sushi I decided to have only a little sample. The roll was actually very good. It was the Spider Roll, and to be honest with you… I could not tell you what was in it. I do know that it did not have cucumber though. Cause if it did, I would have been sick. If I were to be looking for sushi I would order this again. Soon after we finished the Spider Roll our main course was brought out. One of the things I must confess is my love for Jasmine Rice. The guys at Basil Thai did a good job on this item. In all honesty it was a little bit dry but not so much for me to complain. About 3 or 5 minutes after we received our main course the waitress (still nameless) showed up with the appetizer and her apologies. We let her know that the appetizers were no longer necessary. She then asked us if we wanted her to box them up. This was actually kind of an insult to me personally. The appetizer is to be brought out before the meal. It should never be brought out during the meal. One thing a server should know is that there is no room for an apology to YOUR customers. Before our meals were finished the person waiting on us asked us if we were interested in a dessert. She said that she knows that the prep time on the desserts can be a few minutes so she wanted to allow time for the kitchen to get it ready. This too was a little offensive due to the fact that we were still eating. But allowing her mistake I asked her about a Thai favorite that I saw on the menu. Because I did have in interest the Mango Sweet Rice. If you have not had this item, trust me that this is good. However, the person waiting on us informed us that they were out of Mango. This surprised me. Because the Mango Sweet Rice is a featured dessert and there is a Winn Dixie right next door, full of Mangos…so nothing more for us.
Jasmine Fried Rice with Chicken
As we got the bill I decided to visit the facilities before we left. Now, I gotta tell you. They did the bathroom right. This may very well be the best in the city of Jacksonville, Florida. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you that with our bill we got the name of the waitress. It is…. I know the suspense is killing you… Laura.
Now on the way out I requested a menu. After I got the menu I asked if there was a website, and there is. It is www.basilthaibistro.com this site is for both locations. After getting home we found out that Basil Thai on Point Meadows was celebrating their Grand Opening on this weekend we were there. If you look on the site you will see certain specials that we were eligible for, drawings for certificates and a FREE appetizer with the purchase of 2 meals. This was never mentioned to us. Neither was the fact that they had contests that were available to the patrons, such as us. Management should know that we will be back for the food and definitely not the service…they are just that good. But nonetheless, I am personally offended that there was no mention of the Grand opening specials, freebies, and the contests.
Review by Pie, email: pie@piesplate.com
Grand Opening Promotions = FAIL! lol