Chili Basil Thai Cuisine — Restaurant in Ventura

Best Thai I have had in the Cam/Oxnard/ventura area. In my top 5 for all of greater LA. Fresh ingredients. Lots of flavor. Cool atmosphere.

I have a new favorite dish - their Pra Ram. It's so peanuty and flavor packed. The chicken was all perfectly chopped and was high quality meat. Highly recommended.

Next we tried their Pad Thai. You can tell a lot about a place from their PT. Theirs does a few things perfectly - the noodles were loose and not clumpy as they should be. Also the noodles were flavored well. (Bad pad Thai noodles are clumpy and flavorless). Also the dish had a heavy hand of lime which brightens it up and brings out the other flavors. The peanut topping was perfectly toasted. The beam sprouts were very fresh, white, and crunchy. (Bean sprouts tell you a lot about a restaurant so very fresh ones speak well of it)

Last, the panang curry - it lacks a little peanuty-ness, but makes up for it with great lemongrass and/or galangal flavor. It's also nice and thick. Some Thai curries end up too watery, but this was very nice and thick, sticking to the rice. Another very good dish.

My only minor dings - the Thai tea is slightly on the sweet/creamy side. I prefer mine more bitter. 2nd, the panang curry container was only about 80% full, and for the price of food now days I expect a full container.

They also have an extensive selection of gluten free amd vegetarian offerings.

Overall I am very pleased with this new place and am already planning my...

This is my first time trying Chili Basil and will not be my last. First of all, the restaurant is gorgeous- everything is so well decorated and clean and gives off a very nice ambiance. There was outdoor seating but I prefer indoors- so that’s where I decided to sit. As for my food, I went for a light brunch so I got a Thai tea- which was delicious. I feel like when you come to a Thai restaurant you have to try their thai tea. It wasn’t too sweet and it was creamy. As for the food, I got the pork rib and then veggie wraps with tofu and shrimp. The pork rib is nicely seasoned, not spicy, very tender— it literally fell off the bone. You get quite a lot too- so definitely can be like a sharing plate with a friend. For the wraps, the two sauces that come with it are SO GOOD. you get the crunch from the lettuce and the herbs, and you get the noodles, and then the sauce just makes everything come together. I wanna say it’s a clean bite- it’s refreshing and light and the pieces of tofu and shrimp made it very filling. Next time I’ll come for a lunch or dinner so I can try the entrees too. 10/10...

Chili Basil is Top Tier Thai food. Well above average. Their Praram with peanut sauce is amazing and an uncommon dish to find. This instantly became my new favorite thai dish, and seems healthy with lean protein and tons of wilted spinach.

Their Pad Thai is also excellent. It has just the right blend of peanut, lemongrass, meat, egg, and sauce. Many pad thai are bland, sticky or dry. But Chili Basil gets it right - lots of flavor, dark seasoned noodles, bursting with lemongrass and lime, and house toasted peanuts. One of the best I have had.

You can tell a lot about an Asian restaurant by how fresh the bean sprouts are, because sprouts get limp, gray, and gross very quickly. Chili basil has some of the freshest, whitest, crunchiest bean sprouts around, which is a good indication that they take their ingredients seriously.

My only suggestion is that they make their Thai Team more bitter. A good thai tea should be more bitter than sweet/creamy. Chili Basil's leans towards the creamy/sweet side a little too much. (its still acceptable, just...