Hot Basil Thai Kitchen — Restaurant in Mukilteo

I have previously eaten at Thai Rama which I found to be good, but not great. After reading the positive reviews about the new management, I was excited to give the restaurant (now Hot Basil), a second look.

I placed an order for pad thai at 11:45am via their website, which listed the hours of operation as opening at 11am. Upon ordering I received confirmation that the food would be ready between noon and 12:15 for pick up. I arrived at 12:10 and the restaurant was closed, lights off, no one inside. Confused, I negan to check to see if I had ordered from the right place when a truck pulled in and the owner and several staff hopped out and rushed into the restaurant with a "We're running late today, but you can come in and order." I told them I had already ordered through their website and would give them some time to open. A little annoyed, I went back to my car to wait, noticing a piece of paper stuck to their door reading "Now Open All Day Saturday and Sunday" - what "all day" means is anyone's guess, but it didn't coincide with their website or Google profiles. After waiting an additional 15 min past the time it was supposed to be done, I walked in to find my order being bagged and ready to go. At least it'll be fresh, right? From the kitchen I hear someone yell, "Let me teach you how to make pad thai the right way," which seemed peculiar and didn't inspire confidence.

I wish I could say the wait was worth it, but the food was sadly bland and subpar. I had ordered a 4 out of 5 spiciness and the pad thai tasted about as bland as something you'd get at a grocery store counter made for mild palates. The dish was 90% noodles with very little in the way of protein, veggies, sauce, or flavor. It felt about as rushed and slapdash as the opening of the restaurant over an hour past their stayed time.

I love to support local and I hate to have to write a negative review about any business, but was so disappointed by my whole experience I had to share. Maybe it's growing pains, maybe just a bad day, but it definitely left a bad impression. I hope they're able to get it together and iron out whatever issues they have going on, but as of now I can't say I...

The menu description was not what I got. I ordered takeout, potstickers, Thai Rama fried rice, and Chicken Over Rice-5 star, which the menu description said was chicken sauteed in fresh garlic, with bok choy, onions, carrots, baby corns, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots. What I got was dingy-looking chicken that wasn’t even 1-star as far as spiciness. The only veggies in there from that description were the carrots and onions. No bok choy, baby corns, or bamboo shoots. When I called to request a refund for the one item-the chicken over rice they told me to bring it back and argued with me that my order wasn’t wrong before even allowing me to tell them what the issue was. The potstickers were also doughy and chewy with barely any meat. Now, I used to live in Mukilteo and eat here when it was “Thai Rama”, and always had a great experience with good food…so I was craving it and drove 30 minutes from where I now live to get it. So, it was my fault for not opening up the boxes to double-check the orders were correct, but they had the bag all tied up so I took it and left. I didn’t realize the mess-up until I got home…and at that point I’m not spending another hour to drive there and back to drop off the food that they messed up on. I couldn’t believe how rude the woman was when I called. And then she ended up telling me to keep the food and hung up on me. No refund, no apology for their error. TERRIBLE SERVICE!! We will never go to Hot Basil Thai Kitchen again…and I’m so sad to say that. Not sure if it’s new owners, management or what but in the 20ish years I’ve went there, I’ve never remotely had an...

I live in Mukilteo and have been coming to this Thai restaurant regularly for their coconut soup and papaya salad—both of which I’ve always found excellent. On my most recent visit, I brought some friends with me. We ordered two portions of coconut soup with seafood and two Pad Thais. One of my friends, who was very hungry, received his Pad Thai first and started eating right away. He immediately commented that it was extremely salty. A few minutes later, my Pad Thai arrived—and it was perfectly seasoned. I let him and the others try mine, and they were surprised at how completely different it tasted from his. We also noticed that the coconut soup with seafood came with crab sticks instead of real seafood.

We brought all of this to the attention of the waitress, who casually explained that the Pad Thais had been cooked by two different chefs. That was it—no apology, no offer to fix the dishes, and no acknowledgment of the soup issue.

I felt bad for recommending this place, especially since my friends didn’t enjoy their meals. We were given a $4 discount, but this wasn’t about the money—we didn’t ask for compensation. We simply wanted to have a good meal and a nice time, but ended up disappointed with both the food and the service.

I hope the restaurant takes this feedback seriously and works on improving consistency, ingredient quality, and...