Basil Cafe — Restaurant in Saint Paul

Communication via phone was not good. Was put on hold for 15mins n ended up hanging up. Called again to get a busy signal. Finally got thru n able to make reservations. Arrived n was shown our table. Took a bit to place our order. The menu using the scan code offers less options than if you were to go onto the website. Some mistakes were made, apologizes from the staff were made n things were corrected as best as they could. Overall, service was fine after the mistake. Now onto the food. Chicken wings were ok. Deep fried n nothing special to them. Papaya was fresh, but too sweet for my taste. I would not order it again, cuz I don't like my papaya sweet. Both spring rolls were fine. Got both options. One w/ shrimp n the other w/ chicken. Again nothing really different or special about them. They were both freshly made n u can definitely taste all the fresh ingredients. Eggrolls were ok. Ratios of meat, veggies n noodles were equal parts. Season well. Yellow curry was too sweet for my taste, but if u like sweet curry. You cannot go wrong w/ this one. For some reason, a sm bowl of clear broth soup was included w/ the curry. I didn't understand why but..🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ Broth soup was fine. Fried pork belly w/ garlic was nicely fried n seasoned. We got the crunch when bitting into it. Pad see-yew - noodles were nice n soft. The sauce was on the sweet side as well. Description of this dish offers an egg on it, but did not get an egg. Kinda just pick on it. Kao Poun w/ ground tilapia...looking at the picture, u would think that there was enough soup, but when u mix it all together...the soup ratio to the noodles was not enough. Plus this dish came out last. You would think that it would come out w/ the curry since it was most likely premade n the soup would just need to b heated up. Overall, I don't think I would be going back. All the main dishes was just too sweet for my taste. All the appetizer...I can order from other restaurants or can just...

Absolutely not 5 star spectacular like so many reviews are stating. Food here is lacking traditional spices/ingredients and was either overly salty with a lot of fish sauce or overly sweet. The atmosphere was just okay. Server didn't bring some items we asked for with only 2 or 3 other customers in the store.

Items ordered and my opinion:

Chicken kapoon - came with very little curry broth and was missing the red paste ingredient or had a lack of it in the curry. The main ingredient i could taste was mostly fish sauce and some coconut milk n peanut butter. It's a 2/10 imo. Just not kapoon done well.

Beef jerky - was good, but beef sliced a bit too thin for me. I wasn't a fan of the dipping sauce which was very sweet with a tiny bit of spicy. I prefer more a spicy salty lime sauce with cilantro instead. 7/10 on the jerky. 4/10 on the dipping sauce.

Lao style papaya salad - was the most disappointing dish. Missing crab and shrimp paste ingredients. The only ingredients i tasted was a heavy dose of fish sauce and a tiny bit of lime n sugar. 1/10 imo.

Cream cheese wonton - nothing amazing here. The wraps used are a bit too thick and clumpy for my taste. The cream cheese doesn't have much of any flavor to it. 3/10 imo.

Chicken springrolls - chicken meat minced too finely. Didn't like the coleslaw mix used in the springroll, it's chunky and a lot was used for the filling, felt like i was eating only coleslaw wrapped in a springroll wrapper. 1/10 imo.

Sticky rice - served in a bamboo basket. Good, perfectly cooked. 10/10 imo.

Overall - the authentic southeast asian taste is just not here. U won't be satisfied if u have a culturally traditional...

Great, friendly, very clean, and inviting atmosphere with a modern look. A small cozy little restaurant with great lighting and a modest menu to select from.

Waitress looks newer and still appears to be learning the menu and skills of waitressing (Which I am forgiving of. Been there, done that.). Staff was friendly and owner was thoughtful to speak with. Seemed like I ate at a busier hour but would have appreciated the waitress checking in with me at least once during the first half of my meal. (Was hoping to ask for some soy sauce condiment.)

Ordered the chicken drunken noodles, side of rice, and tri-color. Drunken noodles was fresh, nicely flavored and balanced, having a nice fresh fragrance of basil. Vegetables were cooked perfectly, leaving a nice crispy crunch for texture with the noodles.

Tri-color with the palm sugar left a nice, slightly creamy texture per every sip that had a similar aftertaste to almond milk. Jackfruit strips made for an interesting addition.

Overall, great little addition to the restaurants along University Ave, and a potential rising competitor. Enjoyed the Thai music playing in the background and seeing all the other colorful dishes come out. Looking forward to enjoying the rest of the menu.

For those looking for quality Thai food, or just wanting to have a different Asian-dining experience along University that has a fresher, modern feel, I'd highly...