i dont get pad thai at thai restaurants. i never really like it in the first place. the only time you ever get the first thing on a menu… is vietnamese pho.

anyways, pass a lot of people eating in the “villa” (i dont know what to call it) and head into this place in the very back and have some meat and rice. i got the eggplant and pork and it was pretty good. the eggplant was cooked with enuf heat and long enuf so it was mushy, the pork was…pork. the sauce was pretty good, and it comes with a bowl’s worth of rice to use up the abundance of sauce. this is traditional asian fare, its not spectacular, but its clutch at 10pm in a city/state that closes at 8pm.

i got the wontons. dont get the wontons.

Thai Basil is deceiving. Although there only appears to be a couple people waiting for food, in actuality the whole restaurant is waiting. Typically you’ll have to wait 15 minutes for your food. OMG And the old man at the cashier is mean too.

Thai Basil’s best quality is probably its location. It is located close to campus, in the area Berkeley students dub the “Asian ghetto.” The area is usually packed, especially at dinner time. Thai Basil is a close, Thai place for most students (not me tho) and at the center of a social hub.

Anyways, on to the food. It is okay Thai food, and doesn’t seem to excel too much. The pad thai doesn’t have a lot of extra stuff in it and doesn’t seem as authentic as other places. Thai Noodles has better Thai food in my opinion. A positive about the place is you get your food at a decent speed. But unless you are a Berkeley student looking for food with some buddies on Southside, I would recommend going to some other Thai restaurant.