5907 Roosevelt Boulevard

Jacksonville, FL 32244-2369

(904) 619-0406 

Tuptim Thai Store Front

In the past I have made major mistakes with Thai food. Let me explain, Chicken Pad Thai is basically all I know of when it comes to Thai food. My curiosity has me wanting to try new dishes but it seems that with Thai places I always end up with a huge bowl of broth that taste like onion and tofu. Thankfully the night that we stopped in at Tuptim Thai on US 17 near the Naval Air Station this did not happen. Tuptim Thai is the latest addition to an already busy shopping center that is full chain restaurants. Thai food is very popular in Jacksonville, Florida but can be a hit or miss depending on where you go. Some of the places are very expensive and some are just not very good. Also the location of Tuptim is the first quality Thai restaurant on the Westside of Jacksonville.

Soup

When you walk into the place there is a small sitting area as you wait for your table. When we arrived there was already a line for both dining in and for take out. As a matter of fact the whole time we were there, the phones were ringing non-stop for take out orders. The restaurant was almost completely full the entire time we were there. In one corner there was a couple on a date while in the other was a ‘girls night out’ event. The latter of the two were a bit noisy, but they did have the beer and sake flowing at their table also.

One of my concerns when we got our table was how long of a wait that we might have. In watching other customers and listening to the conversation, I thought we might be in for a wait. This was not the case at all. There was a slight language barrier with our waitress but nothing that could not be worked around. Soon after we sat she brought us iced water, and then took our regular drink order. Rhonette loves her hot tea and I decided to try the Thai tea here. I am a fan of Thai tea, but this is an item that some places can really mess up. If you have not had Thai tea, it is a mixture of an Asian tea blend served iced with a cream that floats near the top half of the glass. Both the hot tea and the Thai tea took a little while to be delivered but nothing that deserves a complaint.

Chicken Panang

The only suggestion I would make is that when there is a wait for the drinks, for the staff to go ahead and take the meal order. At very least the appetizer order. When she took our order I decided to start off with a Tom Yum soup, this is a hot and sour soup with mushrooms, lemongrass, and lime juice. Then for my meal I wanted to try something different. This is where I always screw it up… Should I stick with what I know and get the chicken pad Thai? Maybe the spicy basil fried rice with chicken? These items usually won’t make me worry for the next 10 to 15 minutes about whether or not I have made a mistake. But, thankfully there is a lady at the table next to me with a plate that is all but cleaned off. I ask her about her meal and she begins to rave on it. This is the route that I decide to take. I order the Chicken Panang that she had. This is a curry dish that is a traditional item served with rice and cooked in coconut milk. It has a little spice to it but is not too hot, by any means. The meal is designed to have the customer scoop the rice from a bowl and mix onto the large plate. I decided to do this backwards and use the bowl as my main plate by scooping the food from the main plate into the bowl. This may have become my favorite Thai dish. The next time I go to Tuptim Thai I will probably get this same item, even though Tuptim has a very extensive menu.  When we were finished I took a glance at the dessert menu and decided that I would get the mango sweet rice. Man, am I glad I did. This was a fantastic topping off for what was already a great meal. 

Mango Sweet Rice

If you decide to make a stop off to Tuptim Thai be prepared to wait just a little bit. Even though we did not have an issue, it did appear that others were bothered by it. When it comes to the cost don’t worry about going broke here. They offer 8 different appetizers and an appetizer sampler for two. In the sampler for two, you receive spring rolls, crab rangoon, dumplings and calamari. My Panang with chicken was only $7.95 and if you decide to get it with shrimp it is only a buck more. Most of the items on the menu are in the $8.00 range. There are 10 items that are under the ‘house special’ section of the menu that are in the $16 to $30 dollar range however. Also the ‘entree’ menu is also slightly higher than that of curry or noodle dishes. They also offer many items that are made with rice noodles and are gluten free if this is an issue for you or someone in your party. 

Tuptim Thai is open 7 days a week and they are closed from 3pm til 5pm daily. They open at 11am for lunch and serve dinner until 10pm.

Review by Pie, email:  pie@piesplate.com

8358 Point Meadows Drive 

Jacksonville, FL 32256

Phone:  (904) 379-3446

Hours:  11 am – Until…

www.basilthaibistro.com

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

 Basil Thai 

8358 Point Meadows Drive 

Jacksonville, FL 32256

Phone:  (904) 379-3446

Hours:  11 am – Until…

www.basilthaibistro.com

I frequently go to Basil Thai on the Southbank, one of my favorite places for lunch.  The girls and I from work could go there pretty much everyday.  I was thrilled when I saw that they opened another location on Point Meadows which is down the street from my home.  Yay!  I couldn’t wait to go there and give it a try.  I was hoping they had the same dishes they have at the other restaurant.  Again, yay!  They did.

We went there for lunch on a Saturday.  We were seated quickly and were given menus.  Great décor, kind of edgy and minimalist with rich woods and granite counters. There is a patio available for outdoor seating which some patrons were taking advantage of and they also have a full service sit down, stocked bar.  Our waitress, Laura, who never introduced herself, took our drink order and brought us our drinks and walked away without taking our order or bringing any sweeteners with our unsweetened tea.  This must be a pattern since the other Basil Thai location makes this mistake with the sweeteners too.  Laura seemed frazzled like she was super busy; however, there weren’t that many people in the restaurant.  She came back to our table and we ordered appetizers of spider roll sushi and fresh spring rolls, my lunch of Phad See Ew (rice noodles, carrots, broccoli, egg, scallions in a light coating of Phad Thai sauce) and Pie’s lunch of Jasmine fried rice with chicken.  The sushi came out without any shrimp sauce which Laura had to go back and get.  When she brought it to our table, instead of placing it on the table, she held it out for me to grab.  I told her she can put it on the table.  I’m thinking, “What?  No, she didn’t! Did she just try to hand me a dish?!”  She set the shrimp sauce on the table and scurried away.  The sushi was great; I wouldn’t expect any less from this restaurant.  Hmmm, where are my spring rolls?  Helllloooo?

Spider Roll Sushi

Our lunch orders were brought out by the kitchen staff.  They looked fantastic topped with long, thin shreds of beets and carrots.  I love the way they plate the food…not too fancy but definitely not your average sprig of parsley on top!  Ehh-hemm, yoohoo…Laura…honey…spring rolls?  We got Laura’s attention and asked where the spring rolls were and she smacked her forehead and scurried away, again, to the kitchen.  We were almost done with lunch when the spring rolls finally came out.  Our waitress started with the apologies and I told her that we didn’t want them anymore; we wanted them as an appetizer.  We were sitting there with empty drink glasses and when our plates were cleared, we finally were asked if we wanted a drink refill.  We opted for the check, which is when we found out our waitress’ name, it was on the receipt.  Pie went to the restroom after dinner and claims it had to be the bestest bathroom in all of Jacksonville (I thought that might be worth mentioning.  Kisses!)

Phad See Ew

Now, my biggest pet peeve is customer service, it can make or break a restaurant.  If I didn’t know there was another Basil Thai location, I wouldn’t go back to this restaurant solely because of the service.  I know the Basil Thai I go to on the Southbank has great service and their only “ding” is taking forever to bring the check, oh yeah, and not bringing sweeteners to the table with the drink.  But that is all forgivable! The food is fantastic at both locations and both places are upscale casual (if there is such a thing).  The service at the Point Meadows location can kill this potentially successful restaurant in no time at all.  That would be a shame, I hope they make sure their staff knows how to waitress professionally and succeed at this location.  If you go to Basil Thai on Point Meadows, please…go there for the food, not the service and you won’t be disappointed.  

Review by Rhonette, email:  rhonette@piesplate.com