Basil Cafe Restaurant — Restaurant in Town of Smithtown

Generally we had a great experience at Basil Cafe, which is a well rated establishment. But, we have a couple of reservations about the service that we received which we hope that the owners can take in account. Firstly, we ordered several dishes which were all within same price range, $30-40. The food was delicious so there’s no complaints there. We were advised by the waiter about the specials, and we went with the Chilean Sea Bass, which I suppose is priced at market price, and this was not available in the menu. Neither did the waiter mention that the special is a market price item, and we were surprised with a $57 price tag on a fairly modest portion of sea bass. Perhaps, waiters should be instructed to make an effort to alert customers as to the market value of an item, especially when none of the dishes on the menu exceed $45 dollars. Yes, the customers should inquire as well, but if you know that you price your market value items exceedingly above your top price items on the menu, this information should be provided at the time of the order. A customer should not be left to assume that market value is a $20 surcharge on a piece of fish which is regularly available at the market for reasonable prices. Also, this saves the customer from having an unpleasant surprise experience at the end of a reasonably pleasant meal. And one last suggestion is to look into the restroom space that you have, which is really subpar to your overall dining experience. The restaurant itself is tastefully decorated, and has a pleasant ambiance. This is completely ruined by the use of the restroom in your dining establishment, which is below the standard even of a small corner deli, with no decor and very aged materials. With a price tag of $57 for a piece of fish, one expects all the facilities to live up to your pricing tier. We hope that you will consider these suggestions as a way to improve your guests overall dining experience, as we would have had a marvelous time if these aspects were just as carefully curated as the rest of...

Another perfect dining experience.

The food was amazing as usual, everyone loved what they ordered.

From the appetizers to dessert, everything came out in a timely manner and was delicious. The entrees were perfectly seasoned, the recommended jeweled rice was fantastic and complimented each dish nicely. The eggplant and bbq chicken apps were prepared just right, not heavy but tasty. There was also the Chocolate Bread Pudding and Baklava that were amazing.

Water glasses were constantly filled, and we brought our own wine which they uncorked for us.

Pretty much ate everything.

Always a great dining experience at this little gem of a restaurant.

11/9/2024

Back again for a birthday dinner! We were a party of 8, and if you've ever been to Basil you know it's not a very big place. They had another 8-top seated, and by 6:30 or so it was full. All seats and tables were taken, but the service and atmosphere seemed to thrive on that. The Lamb Shank was amazing, my Duck could have been more on the rare-medium side, but it was still very tasty and soft. The Wild Mushroom Ravioli, Mediterranean Sea Bass, Pork Loin (!), Koobideh, all fantastic.

The other guests were conversational, wine was shared, and they all even greeted me a happy birthday.

Logan, our server, was on top of things and didn't miss a beat. We had no room for dessert, but we enjoyed everything. I...

Funny I forgot this place existed until it came up on Google search. I actually ate here awhile back with family, and the food was good. The owner/chef, however, is a complete jerk. During our experience, the server was so nice, and the food was different but delicious. Things went downhill at dessert time. One of the kids accidentally knocked over an empty wine glass (glasses were super thin) and it shattered into her cake. The server brought a new one (though the ice cream scoop was left off), and I thought we were all good. When bill arrived, we were charged for 2 pieces of cake. I asked the server and her response was “I had to charge you - the owner says it was your fault the glass broke.” Really?? We had a bill over $250 and you HAD to charge for a replacement slice of cake because of a small accident (which wouldn’t have happened btw if server had cleared empty glasses from table). Though we liked the place, we decided in that moment that we would NEVER give this man our business again, and we have held true to that. It’s not about the cost of cake, it was petty and ungrateful of the owner and speaks to the kind of man he is - not someone we want to support. When it came up in search, my gut response was a...