Bozz Eats at Basil Thai Bistro a Tasteem Review
I can't tell you the number of times I have passed this restaurant. In fact, if I tried to guess I would probably be exponentially short.
You see, Basil Thai Bistro used to be on the other side of town and the building where it is now located was once a laundry mat. The new location is right near downtown Midland and part of an area that is growing every day.
Where houses and old office buildings once stood, there is now a minor league baseball diamond, new condos, office buildings, hotels, and a growing list of cuisines for the people of Midland to try.
Midland, MI is home to Dow Corning/Dow Chemical/Dupont (whatever they are calling themselves today), and that means there are a large number of international travelers that live in the city for short or long term assignments. This gives Midland a very diverese cultural footprint for being such a small town.
In fact, off the top of my head I can name at least ten resturants that carry specialty cuisines from around the globe. In fact just down the road from Basil Thai is a sushi place that I have heard is fantastic.
Although, I whole heartedly enjoy food, I wouldn't consider myself adventerous. I have a sensitive stomach at times so while I don't purposely avoid things like Thai or Indian food, they are never on my short list of places to go.
In fact, this was my first time visiting Basil Thai because my friend wanted to meet there for lunch. Boy am I glad he picked this place!
The interior is warm and appealing. I have heard from another friend that when they are busy it can get quite loud in the dining area. That wasn't an issue for us since it was New Years Eve and we were only one of three other tables being served around noon.
My friend let the waitress know I had never been there before and she quickly did a run down of the menu for me. She explained that they have four heat levels for their food.
- no heat
- Thai mild (similar to American medium)
- Thai medium (similar to American Hot)
- Thai hot
There were seriously so many things that sounded good on the menu, but I finally settled on the Garlic Stir Fry with Chicken (broccoli and choice of protien in a rich garlic sauce topped with cilantro and black pepper).
My friend got the Pad Thai with beef (rice noodles work fried in a tangy red sauce with egg, green onion, and bean sprouts, topped with ground peanuts and fried onions).
I choose to get mine Thai mild because even though I have a sensitive stomach, I do enjoy a bit of heat. My friend has an iron stomach and I expected him to get Thai hot, but he stuck with Thai mild.
I encourage you to follow the link I provided above for a full look at their menu. It has pictures though, so you might not want to do it while you are hungry!
After taking our order they quickly brought out two bowls of their house specialty soup. I wasn't expecting this but it was a very welcome surprise.
The flavor was fantastic with a rich and savory feel that just wrapped its arms around you. I'd eat a bowl of this every day if I could.
I got a water to drink and my friend got a soda, but I have heard that their tapioca drinks are fantastic. I am going to link an article from when they first opened at the bottom of this review if you want more information.
It wasn't long after we finished our soup that the main dishes arrived. Here is a picture of my Garlic Stir Fry with Chicken.
Likewise, this is the Pad Thai with Beef that my friend got. He was nice enough to have them bring an extra plate so that I could try some of it.
I have to admit, they were both amazing. I had to control myself from gobbling down my whole plate because I really wanted to take some left overs home for @mrsbozz to try.
With the exception of the small portion he gave me to try, my friend cleaned his plate. I was afraid his Thai medium would be too hot for me, but the small portion he gave me was not too bad. The Thai mild on my dish was perfect along with the black pepper they put on it.
The cilantro gave it a really fresh and bright finish.
Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the receipt becuase my friend insisted on paying for the meal. Looking at the menu though, I don't feel the prices are that unreasonable for the amount and quality of food that you get at this place.
I am defnitely going to be back here and my mouth is already watering at the thought. @mrsbozz was very impressed with the leftovers I let her try and I am really excited to take her here so she can try a full dish.
The biggest problem will be figuring out which dish to order next time! I could seriously see myself eating through the whole menu of this place.
Here is the article from when they opened in 2013.
If you are ever in Midland to check out a Great Lakes Loons Baseball game or just there on business for one of the Dow corporations, I highly suggest you check out Basil Thai Bistro. I have a feeling you won't be dissappointed!
Restaurant Information
Basil Thai Bistro
416 E Ellsworth St, Midland, MI 48640, USA
This post participated in the Tasteem contest All about noodles
Thank you for entering our <All about noodles> Contest . Thanks to @bozz, Tasteem has become a more attractive guide. We upvote your post, wish you the best of luck in winning our Contest!
Congratulations @bozz! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!
Glad you enjoyed it! It does look really authentic. I just had Pad Thai myself tonight.....prices are not so authentic however. Mine was a 40Baht, about 1.30USD! Of course, I was sat at the side of the road rather than in an ice restaurant!
Happy New Year mate, hope this one doesn't bring you any devastating dramas.
Thanks I appreciate it! Yep definitely a huge price difference. I am guessing this was about ten times yours!
That sounds like the meal offered really was well worth the visit. Enjoyed the detail on how you decided to be cautious, wise move some places can be excessively hot in spices.
Great review, enjoy your next visit to taste your way through their menu.
I am definitely looking forward to it. Tonight is my wife and I's grocery shopping and dining out night and it is going to be hard not to recommend we go here.
A great review sounds so good and the food looks great
Thanks! It really was. Living in a smaller town, this place is a real gem!
I sometimes feel the restaurants in smaller town strive to be better as there is limited clientele
Thai restaurants are a rarity here, Manchester being our closest 25 miles away.
Looked good that stuff, I like the coconut dishes they tend to serve, mixed as savoury ones.
Posted using Partiko iOS
I have never been a fan of coconut but I am willing to try one of the Curry's sometime. I have a feeling the other flavors will make the coconut more subtle.
Hi, @bozz!
You just got a 3.63% upvote from SteemPlus!
To get higher upvotes, earn more SteemPlus Points (SPP). On your Steemit wallet, check your SPP balance and click on "How to earn SPP?" to find out all the ways to earn.
If you're not using SteemPlus yet, please check our last posts in here to see the many ways in which SteemPlus can improve your Steem experience on Steemit and Busy.
beautiful place
The portions are massive but it is the States so I suppose we are known for that. I'm glad you liked it. Was this your first experience with Thai food?
The interior is nice and the description they have for spiciness sounds like a pretty great scale to follow. The problem we have over here is that when you tell a Thai chef that you want something "just a little spicy" it is normally much more than what a westerner would consider "a little spicy" and tends to be more like "melt your tongue."
Glad you got to experience that pal!
Yes, this was the first time I have ever tried Thai food and it definitely will not be the last! Yeah, our portions are insane but my wife and I have gotten pretty good at only eating half and taking the rest home. It was just as tasty warmed up the next day! I have a feeling their spicy range varies a little day by day depending on who is cooking. My next goal is to try some real Indian food!
careful with the Pad Thai. A lot of people presume it is healthy but it is actually one of the worst things you can eat on a lot of different levels. Loaded with carbs, cooked in oil... you may as well have a double whopper value meal. The thing you actually ordered though it likely pretty healthy although I can't say I am familiar with the sauce.
Thanks for the tips! I want to try one of the curry's sometime, but I am not sure how I feel about the coconut milk. They have a pretty decent menu if you visit the page. Like I said, I could see myself eating my way through it because it all sounds so good. The Drunken Noodles is supposed to be one of their signature dishes.
Looks so delicious! !CTP
It really was! I need to get back there sometime soon. It has been too long since I last visited!
Pad Thai is one of our favs!!!! Hard to find REALLY good pad thai though.. or maybe we are just picky lol
I don't really have anything to compare this to, so I think it is pretty fantastic! :)