It’s not my thing to write a bad story about any restaurant. I’d rather just not write anything than criticize someone’s hard work. But I’ve been through so many ups and downs at Thai Basil, that I just can’t hold my tongue after today’s experience.

Today the rain is pouring down. It was one of those days when I felt like some really hot and spicy and steamy Pad Thai from my favorite Thai restaurant in Berkeley. So I schlepped the seven blocks over in the pouring rain to get it.

I like bringing my Pad Thai home so that I can eat it at leisure throughout the day. Eating really spicy Pad Thai happens a little bit at a time. So after I put my umbrella in the bucket, I made my order to go and asked for Pad Thai “three-star spicy”. Three star spicy at Thai Basil is the equivalent of asking for something Thai spicy anywhere else. It’s about as spicy as it gets. I also ordered a side of rice, in a box.

There were a number of orders ahead of me, so I waited patiently. Pad Thai from Thai Basil is usually worth the wait, once I had finally got the ordering instructions down so that the cook actually prepared the Pad Thai as spicy hot as possible.

Thai Basil is off the beaten path for anyone who doesn’t live on the Berkeley Campus. It is tucked into the back corner of the food court on Durant Street, and is usually packed every day for most of the afternoon with students taking their lunch break in between classes. They offer really inexpensive lunch specials, but the better food, even though it is a little more expensive, is ordered off of the menu.

I stop in every time I get pang for Pad Thai. For months though the spiciness was iffy, even though I said spicy when I ordered. I finally noticed the cashier putting stars under the order on the ticket, and realized they had a star rating system for the amount of heat that either the customer asked for, or they thought the customer wanted. That’s how I finally learned to ask for three stars.

So back to today’s order. Asked for 3*** and got 0. Zip. Nada. None. No spice, no heat, whatsoever. Terrible Pad Thai, bland, and inedible. Although I had to eat it because I can’t justify wasting the nine bucks.

So sad.

I’ve had the women cooks there not season my food before because they thought I 1. didn’t really want it spicy, nor 2. that I couldn’t handle the heat, nor 3. I didn’t know what I was talking about. The woman cook always tries to push hot sauce on me when she doesn’t spice my food in the wok. I can’t get her to understand that the Pad Thai tastes totally different (and not very good) with the hot sauce added later.

Anyway. If you are up on campus and need a bite to eat, go somewhere else. There are certainly many other inexpensive food choices in this neighborhood.

Thai Basil
2519 Durant Ave
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 548-6692

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