Hot Basil Thai Cafe — Restaurant in West Hartford

I'm no stranger to Thai food. It's hot, it's sweet, it's sour and complex. But Hot Basil is one of the few places that gets it right! I came here today with my mom because I wanted something that would properly clear out my sinuses. The first thing that struck me was the decor. There were plants everywhere! Due to this, the air in the restaurant was crisp and fresh, and I didn't realize how much I appreciated that until I left. The place was cozy but not cramped at all and I enjoyed the quiet buzz of conversation from the other patrons. My mum got the Thai iced tea and it was yummy and fresh. We got the chicken satay for an app and the peanut sauce that it comes with is nothing short of f&$king delicious. The lunch combo comes with soup and spring rolls. I opted for the tom yum chicken soup, which was hot, sour, and loaded with fresh veggies and tender morsels of chicken. I ordered the drunken noodles with pork, and holy hot sauce, it was packed with flavor. You could tell that the veggies were fresh and that everything is hand selected. My meal was about $15 after everything was said and done. I'm...

We eat here a lot (take out mostly) because we live very close by and love Thai food. We normally get the same thing every time, but two nights ago I decided to try a few different things. I ordered samosas, pork dumplings, sriracha pad thai (the one standby item we always order) and the green curry. I spent $70. The samosas and dumplings were some of the worst I’ve ever had. The samosas were soaking wet and mushy and the dumpling wrappers were steamed but almost over cooked if I had to guess? They were completely falling apart and had a bad texture. The green curry came with a shockingly small amount of rice for $24. Overall extremely disappointing. And for reference, the food was being bagged when my husband picked it up and we live a mile away, so the food was fresh and had not sat more than 10 minutes before we opened it to eat. Maybe it was a bad night, but it put me off enough to not order again for quite a while. $70 now a days isn’t chump change and I would expect better quality...

Worst green curry with pork I’ve ever had. A minuscule amount of tasteless ground pork with a few vegetables. Ground pork in curry? Not only is it one of the cheapest meats that money can buy, I have never, ever seen it in curry at a good Thai restaurant. Just as an aside, one of the vegetables was broccoli, very large stalks—really? Who puts giant broccoli stalks in curry?

I asked for sticky rice because I figured it came with the curry, but not so sure, because the price overall was outrageous. Will get to that.

I also ordered the spring rolls which were OK, nothing special. The bill was $29. I have no idea how this place stays open. Stay away! This place is a joke in terms of Thai restaurants. There are much better and better priced options...