Best thai food in the Lafayette/West Lafayette area! Â The prices are a little high for the kind of food but worth the price since there's nothing else like this around. Â I am disappointed that they are charging $2 for one chicken spring roll and $2.50 for the peanut sauce! Â The sauce should NOT be more expensive than the spring roll itself!
Review Source:Who doesn't love a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that's walking distance from the office and can satisfy simultaneous curry AND bubble tea cravings?
Don't *rely* on this place: you may not be able to get a seat, their card machine might not be working. Â But if you want solidly good curry or bubble tea (both milk and green tea options available) that's not too expensive and that you don't have to drive to from campus, stop by. Â Worst case scenario, they can't seat you, you are impatient about waiting, and you walk anywhere else in Chauncey for your meal.
Makes for a good change of pace from standard near-campus options. Â Don't feel like yet another sandwich? Treat yourself to Thai! Â If you're vegetarian, rejoice that you can select from among options, rather than having to go for that one meatless menu item.
I come here for lunch around once a week because I love it so much. I always get the green curry with tofu which is AMAZING and my boyfriend gets the Number 16 with beef. I've also had the Tom Ga Kan (spelling?) soup which is excellent. We often find ourselves craving these dishes even when we're not on campus and order take out. I think you have to have at least somewhat exotic tastes because it is not super americanized. For example, my parents would have much preferred the typical americanized Chinese buffet.
The place is small but usually there isn't a wait and, if there is, it's only 5-10 minutes. The service is good and quick. As to its authenticity, I'm not really sure. I think the owner is Thai, but I know the cooks are Hispanic. However, I do see Asian patrons very often.
We usually come here for lunch which is what I recommend. The atmosphere is casual and you can tell its a family-run business. This is not the place for a romantic date night, just for a yummy eat night.
This is my favorite restaurant in West Lafayette and the one I most often visit. CAN'T GET ENOUGH. GREEN CURRY WITH TOFU! GET IT!
3-4 for the food, 1-3 for the service (depending on which server you get).
Not all of their food is great, which is a problem because if you get something that is either not well cooked or doesn't taste great you won't be able to send it back. They have a strict policy against sending food back. Their menu says something like "we are very proud of our food and the way we cook it so we won't accept any food back." Really? Modesty, people, come on. This one time I had an awful mango salad there that was just drenched in some extremely sour dressing and clearly I just ended up not eating that night.
Some of the curries are okay, the pad thai is decent, but I usually get the pork with eggplant which I find to be pretty good. The only problem is that they put so much sauce that by the end its almost inedible because of all the salt added to the salt. The bubble tea is also pretty good, many times I just go in and take out the bubble tea.
As other reviewers have pointed out the service is a huge problem, probably stemming from very bad management. Â The owner sits in the tables closest to the counter and I've heard her sit there yelling on the phone or loudly making fun of customers that weren't in the restaurant. One of the waitresses rolls her eyes (even when there is really no need) as she's talking to you. The white blondish waitress is really the best to get. Also, I feel like this is the only Asian restaurant I've seen that you actually get treated BETTER if you are white. Personal observation. The food can be pretty good (specifically ask for less sauce) but bad management/servers take out a lot of the joy of dining out.
Horrible service. I have been many times and there seems to be only one nice person that works there. Everyone else is downright rude and unfriendly. Which is too bad because the food is pretty good. It's a dingy hole-in-the-wall place, which is usually where you find the best food. I love the Pad Thai and the Tom Yum soup. I tried to overlook the service but will no longer go back. If you don't mind being treated like you're putting them out by being there then by all means try it out. At least the food won't disappoint.
Review Source:It's a bit pricey. The food is meh. They put a weird twist on thai food, adding ingredients that don't belong in the dishes. Huge chunks of Egg plant? Bell pepers? In my curry? I think they do it to fill up space in the container, to make it seem like you get more food. I asked them not to add bell peppers or egg plant in my curry, and they only filled the container halfway. Jerks.
That said, it's mostly delicious. Employees are friendly enough. There's no other thai restaurants except for thai essence, which is owned by the same people.
Visited here with my cousins and other family members after going on a tour of campus as an alumni. Â It's still a good place to get some decent Thai food. Â Just note, the place is tiny, and it can get chilly whenever people walk in because the tables are so close to the door. Â
The different salads are good with nice vinaigrette. Â My favorite thing to get every time I go is the "Pad Thai" (without peanuts, just because I don't like them). Â I know it's typical, but always delicious. Â My other family members have gotten "Pad Kee Mow" and said it was good too. Â "Thai Barbecued Chicken" is great too! Â It's a nicely portioned. Â
I'm not a huge fan of bubble tea, but my family seemed to enjoy them.
All the stir fry dishes tasted the same.
Their bubble tea is kinda nasty to be completely honest. Â I didn't understand why this place was so popular when I was at Purdue, always packed on a friday night. Â The price is pretty steep for what you get.
Bottom line, not a fan of Basil Thai because it tasted nothing like Thai food.
The yellow curry is great. Good comfort food if you want an entire MEAL. I go maybe once a month to get my fill of rice since I'm from California and can't really get it at the sorority house or the dining courts. (heh).
The boba/"bubbles" whatever is okay. I *may* be just completely spoiled by really great bubble tea back at home but I mean this will do if you have a craving. I've had the taro (was gross, man. for the asians totally into that, this will just ruin all taro experiences ever), and the honeydew flavor.
Like I said, it's good if you need your fill of thai food/bubble tea but its not the greatest. Then again, I guess it could be the greatest thai food in West Laf seeing there aren't many places to go...
I love Basil Thai and it saddens me I didn't eat more of it while I was at Purdue. Despite hearing complaints about the price, I've always found the prices to be more than reasonable given the amount of food provided, which is alot.
Its a bit small so it can get crowded at times but there's always takeout and of course, bubble tea.
Dishes that I've always liked and recommend
-any of the curries, for those afraid of spice the yellow is fairly mild and sweet. I've always liked the red since it was spicy and flavorful
-basil fried rice
-mango and sticky rice if available
Basil Thai is one of the most popular Thai resturants in West Lafayette. They have a pretty decent sized menu but the prices are a little on the expensive side.
I always get the pad thai ( they are the only people that make a good pad thai). They also have some other interesting dishes that I stayed away from due to the interesting coloring in the food.
Their apple green tea bubble tea is pretty good. But if you want an extra scoop of bubbles, I was charged $3 extra just for BUBBLES! Again, it is pricey. The restaurant is cramped and the owners aren't very friendly. Its certainly not the best Thai food I've had but it is decent for West Lafayette, IN.
Good place to find some quality Thai food in West Lafayette. Â I would have to agree with alot of the reviews that there are not really any other Thai places. Space is fairly small needs to be a bit bigger, gets crowded during lunch time. Â Overall really good food. Â I would give it 3.5 stars.
Review Source:Basil is no frills and casual. I've been here a few times, and it's not memorable, but if I must have Thai and only Thai, I know I can get decent vegetarian dishes here. I ordered a Jasmine boba recently that was the one and only tasteless milk tea I've ever had. Maybe it was an off cup. Hope so.
Review Source:A marginal place for Thai and really the only place on campus. A few of the dishes will definitely please, but its a bit pricey for how much food they give and their bubble tea is a bit sub par.
Lafayette/West Lafayette really lack good Thai restaurants and this one is about the same as Thai Essence (same owners) and its definitely not worth a trip to the other side of town to eat at Exotic Thai (lets face it this one sounds like a strip club) If you are like me and can't go more than a month without Thai food this place will do the job until you can get to a larger city.
Probably the worst Thai restaurant in the Lafayette area. The only reason they're always busy is because of its location. It's conveniently located within walking distance from campus. The food isn't terrible (one star), and the fact that they serve bubble tea is also a plus (second star).
Review Source:I was very disappointed with this place. if it really is the best in the area (as another review claimed), than W. Lafayette really doesn't have a lot to offer!
Basically, the problem was in the food, which ranged from uninteresting to bad. My beef red curry, for example, certainly packed a spice, but it was actually pretty boring -- as if the spice was the only interesting thing they put into it. Ever worse, the beef had that grainy, I've-been-frozen-defrosted-and-refrozen-again texture to it -- and there's simply no excuse for that regardless of how much rice costs these days.
My dad's pad-pak chicken wasn't any better: the chicken was fatty and the whole thing was doused in a sweet syrup that, for both of us really, made the whole thing inedible.
And, just to be clear, we are NOT picky eaters!
Long story short, if people think THIS is the best in town, then either Lafayette is a pit or they're not looking very hard.
(Two stars, because at least I didn't vomit ... though I kind of wish I had.)
This place is good but really options for thai food are limited here in west lafayette, in so we have to take what we can get. Â If you don't mind going further, I think Exotic Thai is better.
The pad thai needs more to it, it was kind of skimpy  The chicken satay with peanut sauce is very tasty.  I also really like their salads, cold and refreshing.  Bubble tea is okay but sometimes the tapioca is not chewy like it should be.
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