I have a confession to make. I am not a big Asian food fan. I like Chinese food, but I am pretty sure what I enjoy is its American-ized version. However, I don’t really care for Thai or sushi or anything like that. When my husband Bobby told me that Basil, an Asian Bistro was coming to Wooster, it wasn’t like I was jumping up and down to visit it. It has been open for four months and we finally did go. We met our friend, Greg Long, for lunch on Friday, September 30.
When I walked into the restaurant, I was impressed with the contemporary style and open floor plan. Greg was already there, so I joined him at a booth by the window. While we waited for Bobby to join us, Greg told me how much he has enjoyed the restaurant. He did admit that he didn’t venture outside of the “classics” area of the menu, which includes the typical Chinese food like General Tso’s Chicken and Sweet and Sour Chicken.
I was really glad to see this, too. My go to favorite is sesame chicken, which is on the classics menu, but with a twist. Basil makes it a honey sesame chicken. I almost ordered that until I saw the crispy pineapple chicken. The dish is battered chicken that is tossed with pineapple, onions and red peppers in a sweet pineapple glaze. I asked if they could keep the onions out. Our waiter assured me that it would be no problem.
The menu has a great variety of options. Some things I have seen before, like egg rolls, fried rice, noodles and sushi. Some things I haven’t seen before like Dragon and Phoenix which is found in the “Chef Specialties” area of the menu. The menu description for this dish is “stir fried chicken, shrimp, baby corn, carrots, water chestnuts, and pea pods in a Cantonese white wine sauce.” There are also several Thai dishes available, if you like that kind of thing.
Bobby got the General Tso Chicken and an egg roll. He enjoyed the food, but would have liked it to be a little more spicy. (I had ordered it for him and told them to make it spicy, but not too spicy. I guess I should have just let them go to town with it.)
Greg ordered spicy garlic chicken. One of his regular choices. He said it was good as usual.
As we enjoyed our meal we had a short chat with Tony Ly, the owner of the restaurant. He explained the name of the restaurant, because Bobby and I admitted that we thought of Italian food with a name like Basil. Tony shared that basil is a common spice used in Thai cooking, although it is a different kind of basil than what is used in Italian food. He also told us that he got into the restaurant business because he had grown up in it. His family used to have Ricky Ly’s near the Belden Village Mall when he was a child.
I am glad we finally made it to Basil. While it is more upscale than the typical Chinese take out we get, it is a nice place to meet friends and enjoy some really good Chinese and Asian food. I can’t be sure, but I might even venture from the classic side of the menu some time. Whatever I do, I am pretty sure that I will enjoy it.
