Thai Basil Restaurant — Restaurant in Malay

It's a real mixed bag..

Started badly. It's a small restaurant and it was full when we arrived...we were told it would be 10 minutes and we were booked in... However when a couple got up to leave, a family just walked in and sat at the table! There was no manager in , and the staff didn't know how how to handle it, so we had to wait a while longer for a table!

When seated, the staffing was poor. Ignored us for around 10 minutes , so I had to stop one to get a drinks and food order ... Our HOT calamansie came in a glass, so we couldn't pick it up! Had to ask for a cup..

The starters were both excellent, with lots of flavour and texture.. Fish cakes, and satay chicken skewers

My red chicken curry was also very tasty at the start, and my partner and I decided to share that with a pineapple fried rice before moving on to her beef curry with 2 portions ok plain rice....however this is when my partner found a piece of metal in our dish...

We called over staff who said they would need to phone their manager, and to the managers credit, she arrived ( on a day off ) within 10 minutes... She was pleasant, apologetic, and had already been to see her kitchen staff to find out what had happened.. I just asked that the dish ( we believe it was the pre prepared pineapple rice) be thrown, and a fresh batch made to avoid and other customers being at risk.

The manager said we would be credited for the dishes not eaten, and left.

However when the bill arrived, it had only had the pineapple rice removed, and a 10% discount applied, after a 5% service charge had been applied ! We were too shocked to complain...we paid and left.

In summary, I think we were unlucky. The staff without their manager there were poor. The actual good tastes were excellent, and we would recommend thrm. The manager herself seemed pleasant and helpful, but the bill was an insult after what we had...

Disappointing. Not authentic. I did not want to give this 1 star as it’s a bit harsh but I believe the owner needs to see this.

We ordered 2x pad kra pao. (to anyone who knows Thai food, this is the famous Thai basil stir fry, with the main flavour being holy basil and chillies. My favourite Thai dish that I have eaten in Thailand and other Asian countries many times. It’s a simple dish to make). However our dishes came out and there was no basil in it whatsoever and was fairly bland. Instead it included mushrooms, onions and baby corn, and there was no fried egg. It is not an authentic ‘pad ka pao’ at all. I mentioned this to a waitress in case they brought out the wrong dish. She advised that it is the correct dish, they just ran out of basil… and later ‘that’s just our version of pad kra pao’. If this is their version, they need to name it something different, or take it off the menu completely.

It’s funny how a restaurant that calls itself Thai Basil doesn’t even have basil to serve in their supposed basil stir fry dish… 😅

Other than that, the spring rolls and papaya salad were very nice. It was good to see chilli flakes and chilli fish sauce on the tables. Staff were polite.

We spent 1800 pesos here between two pax and we do not think it was worth the money. If you want authenticity, I do not...

So far, the only disappointing food during our current stay. The food doesn't taste bad, it was just ok. Unfortunately it isn't the authentic Thai taste I long for. The green curry was almost there, just a touch more curry and more Thai spices to lift it up. The massaman definitely doesn't taste like massaman at all! The spring roll was more Filipino Lumpiang Prito than a Thai spring roll. Probably the tastiest among the three we ordered but it wasn't Thai tasting at all.

You can say I'm being harsh as we are not in Thailand but I've had Thai food outside of Thailand who are quite authentic in taste! I'm surprised they couldn't replicate it.

A bit pricey as well and there is a 10% SC automatically added. The servers were quick and knowledgeable so I don't mind this part.

On walking today, just near D Mall, I stumbled upon a Thai food place which is full with no seats available at all and they are mostly foreigners that kinda signify that place might be the one I'm looking for. I'll give that a...