Basil 1791 — Restaurant in Hamilton

This restaurant is beautiful inside, and really could not look better. truly a gorgeous interior and exterior with patio. I did not try the drinks, because I ordered carry out twice and after trying the food twice I think I'm ready to review. As with many Asian restaurants in the US, the spicy items are not anywhere close to being spicy. The spicy items are not just mild, they're very sweet as well. even if you order the spiciest heat level available, it is as mild as it could really be, which is a common problem amongst Asian restaurants in the west. moreover, the food in general needed more flavor. the fried rice needed more salt, soy sauce, fish sauce, msg, or just simply more salty flavor. the spring rolls were, in my opinion, too large and lacked flavor. but the biggest offender was the sushi that I ordered. I ordered a Maki roll, and it was abysmal. the rice was not sushi rice - it was just plain white rice. generally, sushi rice is made with rice vinegar, sugar, kombu kelp and salt mixed in with the rice while it's still warm. The rice in my sushi was just plain white rice, which made the sushi flavorless. also, there was no eel sauce, which is a must for this type of sushi, especially if the rice is not vinegared. the only item I enjoyed from my first order was the salt and pepper shrimp, which was not traditional, but was still pretty good, so I ordered it again the second time I placed an order. The host was very sweet when helping me with my order, but my order was wrong. They gave my calamari instead of shrimp, and it was rubbery and soggy instead of crispy. I tried to call back to hopefully correct the issue, but even though it was 20 minutes before closing, no one picked up the phone. so in conclusion, the restaurant itself is beautiful, the staff is very sweet, but the food is both not traditional, and unexciting. It is typical American fast food "Chinese" and poor quality sushi for a premium price. The spicy items are not spicy, the foods lacks flavor and excitement, and really needs to be of a better quality for the price. making a spring roll is not difficult - spring roll wrappers are less than a dollar, and ingredients to go inside are easy to come by - make these items from scratch, and add more salt to your fried rice. sushi rice should be made in the Japanese tradition, always. Kimchi is not homemade. The food really leaves a lot to be desired. I will not be...

I was underwhelmed and unfortunately disappointed, as I want to support local businesses in my community.

At first entering the restaurant, I was overwhelmed by the smell of plug-in air fresheners. A restaurant should never have these as taste and smell are something critical to a person’s dining experience.

As for food, the mussel sauce recipe does have hope, but had a rather high sodium content that overwhelmed my palate. The pho, do not try it! It resembles instant and is equally bland, and leaves an unpleasant aftertaste. The Pad Thai, flavorful and decent; however, contained an excessive amount of egg, almost as if scrambled eggs were dumped in the dish and stirred. However, I can say that the sashimi was fresh and great, but should be cut thinner.

The service was quick but in need of some minor corrections. The drink glasses had a film inside and were not cleaned prior to serving the table. I had requested a new glass, and the second was exactly the same. Also, I had put my utensils to the side, upside down on a plate, which signaled the waiter to take the dish and utensils away, only to have the server take the utensils off the plate and place them back in front of me — guests should always be offered clean silverware. Moreover, we had ordered the sushi sampler but received the sashimi instead. When we questioned the waiter, he asked if we wanted rice. I suppose he thought this would correct this? I’m sorry, but we cannot roll our own sushi.

Overall, it was slightly mediocre. The menu should be cut down to offer fresh food (pho) and the chef should have tasted the sauce before it left the kitchen. The air fresheners must go! Finally, the manager should come around and greet the guests and assure their happiness with the meal.

I will give this place another shot and hopefully things will be...

My wife and I ate there with a group of about 18 people. I knew that some of them did not like Thai food so I asked about their American menu. The man on the phone told me they were working on it but that you could get a hamburger anytime. When we were seated, guess what! The waitress informed us that's not true, they don't have ANY American menu items yet!

Regarding the Thai food, Thai is one of my favorites and this is not excellent Thai food. That is all I'll say about that.

Immediately before coming, I called again and asked the hostess if there was a parking lot behind or near their place. She said no, but there is usually street parking available. Well, there wasn't street parking available and actually there is a parking lot right behind their restaurant. My wife and I arrived first in the group and we were seated at the wrong table. No one bothered to check the name on the reservation and they just sat us at another group's table downstairs. Our reservation was actually upstairs.

When we go to Thai we usually split because portions are usually large. So we ordered an appetizer and a main and told the waitress that we were going to split. When the food arrived my wife got the dish first. There was only one plate and she asked the waitress to bring another. After making two trips back to the kitchen to get all the rest of the food she finally brought the second plate. Why she didn't bring two plates the first time (or even the second or third time) I don't know. But I do know that she was in no hurry to correct the mistake.

Actually if I could divide my ratings I would give the food a three star, and the service a one or two star. This restaurant has a long way to go to get their...