Basil’s Bistro

We recently had Easter Brunch at Basil’s Bistro. The ambience was awkward as the tables were out in the open directly across from the hotel desk. The service was non-​existent. The food was lukewarm to cold as well as fairly bland tasting. They used faux eggs for scrambles and omelettes. Their pastries and breads were old and hard. The Chicken Marsala was Very over cooked. The pasta in the salads was over cooked. Basically, the brunch was extremely overpriced for what they offered. We had a total of 5 cocktails with our brunch, and our bill came to $ 235 for 3 people. We added our tip then discovered after we left that they had included an 18% gratuity to our bill. That was $ 270 for a very disappointing meal. My husband and I are more than happy to spend good money on an inspired meal, but this was not it.

Stayed at the Hilton for the weekend. The hotel was lovely, and they advertised Match Madness specials in the hotel bar. We hustled down there to catch a game.
We were greeted, and then ignored for 15 minutes. They were by no means busy. So watching 3 employees and a manager stroll around like they had no customers was very frustrating.
Finally, my boyfriend tracked down a server to change the channel. She was convinced they didn’t have tnt… they did. Then we waited another 5 minutes for our drink order to be taken.
The service was beyond aggravating.

Have to agree with most of the reviews here. Decent food, horrible service, and there was nobody in the restaurant at the time. If we didn’t have a gift card I’d have felt very ripped off. Needless to say we won’t, voluntarily, be back.

Their breakfast station is a complete joke. I was ignored for the first 5 minutes I stood at the omelette bar, and then she forgot about my order three different times. During that time I watched her actively mess up three other orders. When a manager came by and asked why I had been standing there for so long, I explained, and he took over my omelette. Another 10 minutes later, I walked back and found him finishing what more closely resembles a scramble — which sounds bitchy, but I am not sure why he took over if he couldnt make omelettes.
I would advise letting people write down or check off items they want.
All the buffet food itself was cold, and there is nothing worse than cold, soggy bacon.
I have eaten better breakfasts at roadside motels.
But +1 to my server, Noira, for noticing my frustration and comping my breakfast. I really hope it doesn’t come out of her own pocket, as she was very kind and understanding, and it is seriously not her fault the back of house cannot produce decent food, in a timely fashion. The service is entirely worth a second star, on this otherwise disappointing experience.

I’ve eaten at Basil’s Kitchen at the Hilton multiple times through the past ten years. It used to be a pleasant, open-​space dinning room with middle to upper range dishes. They used to accept prime card for second entrée free of charge. No more. They built partition walls and closed it off. They forgot to put any décor on the new walls. They added a bizarre low quality buffet. Their prices remained expensive, but the quality of the entrees collapsed. The artisan salad my wife had was particularly horrible. Cold shrimps, cold salmon, cold crab, cold bacon (!). Yuk! The vegetables in the salad were refrigerated after they’ve been cut. I had a salmon entrée, it was ok although overly salty, with a heavy melted cheese on top. Maybe their chef quit and nobody decent runs the kitchen anymore?!? The room was empty and we should have taken the clue and bolted.
Only positive note is that their olive bread remains good.

Ordered the scallops small plate. The sauce was overly salty and the scallops overcooked. Gordon Ramsey would have flipped a lid.
Got the Kona Crusted Strip, medium rare. Came more rare than medium. One half of the steak was so charred all I tasted was burnt steak. It had huge chunks of unrendered fat that were hard to chew let alone swallow. The potatoes, asparagus, carrots and mushrooms were the best part of the plate.
For the price, I expected much better quality. I should have taken my friends advice and gone too Brooklyn Seafood in downtown Seattle rather than eat at the hotel.

I was staying at the hotel and didn’t feel like venturing out so I opted to eat at the restaurant. Like another Unilocaler said, if you find yourself in the same situation then take our advice and head out. The food here is mediocre at best. I had the fish chowder & the crème brule, neither of which I would order again. Soup was canned/​commercial & the crème brule was old — it was the consistency of thick old pudding. It was so cold I wouldn’t be surprised if it was made in advance and then frozen.
I can’t imagine that people come here to eat unless they are staying at the hotel.

THIS IS JUST ABOUT THEIR BAR SECTION:
Happy Hour is pretty good. The $ 5 martinis are decent and the food, while just a tad on the expensive side, is pretty decent and not your standard bar fare. Beef tips, curry dishes and truffle fries were good!
Our waitress/​bartender was very friendly, attentive and engaging.
Overall, I’ll visit this establishment but be warned, parking is really a pain! Since this is in the Bellevue Hilton, you must park in the gated off parking and get your ticket validated as you leave at the front desk so you don’t have to pay. Also, parking is on the ground level outside the hotel and you either have to go up outdoor stairs to get to the lobby, then the bar, or come in on the ground floor by the gym and go up a floor so it’s not exactly the easiest place to get to.
The bar itself is kind of dark, and the décor is VERY dated back to the 70s. Some of their chairs need repaired as the stitching on mine was coming apart.

I came here with a large group of friends, and personally I wasn’t a fan of the menu, so I decided to just ask if I could order plain pasta with butter and parmesan cheese and a side of asparagus. They ended up charging me $ 22 for the pasta. It was ridiculous and all because I had a special order. If I knew i was going to pay that much for pasta with butter then I might as well have ordered something fancier.
Then after we paid, our waiter comes back to give my friend his change. The waiter said, and I quote,“Your change is $ 5.79 but we don’t have the change so here is $ 5. Have a nice day” and then he walked away. We were just so stunned that we didn’t know how to respond. My friend ended up stealing 2 knives saying that he would happily sell them back to Basil’s for $ 0.79. A bargain if you ask me.

We use to go to Basil’s often for dinner.
The food is quite expensive for what you get, and for the ambiance which overlooks 405.
We do enjoy Basil’s for the daily breakfast buffet.

I’ve only been there once… It’s self seating and you really have to fight for attention. I felt kind of ignored even though I walked right up to the bar (where the waitstaff was hiding out exclusively) and waited. Pointedly.
They have an «express menu» for «quick» ordering «…But even though soups are on that menu they do not have soup containers… So my soup was tossed into a big paper coffee cup.
And They put a whole LEMON slice in the northwest seafood chowder and you can taste it. Just a heads-​up. Mine was in a takeout cup and the lemon really overwhelmed the whole thing. I didn’t like it. Maybe you will. I felt like I should have just had a sandwich from the coffee place next door.

I don’t usually do reviews but this place really calls for some honesty. I was staying here but didn’t feel like venturing out — first recommendation: just venture out.
The server was nice but hovered — a LOT! The French onion soup was decent. The chicken entrée at first glance looked good but had a glop of melted cheese on the top and upon further inspection, the grilled chicken breast still had the skin on it (thick gooey skin — and it was gross!) and the edges of the chicken looked dark and hardened like it had been defrosted in the microwave — it was awful!
Finally, he claimed the cheesecake is their best dessert — all I can say is I sure hope not — this wouldn’t pass as cheesecake at McDonalds — much less should it be served at the end of a $ 50 meal of nasty! Just don’t bother! :(

We attended Mother’s Day brunch and were disappointed. We waited at the reception podium for 20 minutes, the staff was not addressing the customers, so we finally spoke up. After being seated we waited for our server to instruct us, as we waited we realized that 4 out of the 5 glasses were dirty. The server didn’t come so we finally went to the food area which was VERY dark, I am not sure why they keep it so dark but it is hard to see the food selections. The food was nothing special, the crab legs were yellow and tuff, not fresh. The servers were not very attentive I had to move plates off our table twice. When we asked for the bill we were suprised how expensive this brunch was. We were never given prices but $ 48 per person for the food quality seems really high. On top of that they added an 18% tip onto the bill for a party of 5. We will definitely not be back for any meals at Basil’s.

My son and I ate there for Easter brunch. The food was very good, and a lot of choices. The only negative on the food was some of the chilled seafood at the beginning of the day was it a lot of it was still frozen, and should have been put out earlier. The shrimp still had ice on it.
Also the wait staff overall was a major disappointment. A lot of staff but most of them stood around, and didn’t come back to see if you needed coffee. Often if you needed something, you had to flag them down. They served cooked and chilled crab but no crab crackers. I asked the waiter for one and he thought I wanted crackers. Also I asked about the food and if we pay at the table or outside. I was told I don’t know, or I don’t think so. Sounds like their own fault or they weren’t trained properly. I know it is not their regular menu but you should be ready for any restaurant service.

I found my experience here to be quite pleasant. I never knew the Hilton in town had a restaurant, and my grandmother wanted to meet here for lunch, as she had a convention she was attending in the hotel. It was pretty empty at first, but filled up as it got further on into the lunch hour. My sister ordered a cobb salad, which looked pretty run of the mill I had the gyro, which was decent enough. My grandmother had crab cakes, and they were decent as well. The service was attentive, the atmosphere is comfortable, and though it was a bit pricey, I come to expect that of Bellevue.

Five of us went to Basil’s kitchen for Thanksgiving turkey dinner. The quality of the food was very good, but we were disappointed with the quantity of the main dishes: we each got only a wee dollop of stuffing, like one small spoonful. The wonderful dessert buffet almost made up for it, but not quite.
I was happy that the environment was pleasant, not too loud.
I would go there again, but probably not for Thanksgiving dinner.

I stayed at the Hilton Bellevue for several weeks when working in the Bellevue area, and I frequently visited Basil’s Kitchen for dinner.
All of the food I tried was very delicious and satisfying. The service was always great and I never had an issue with anything. The only drawback about Basil’s Kitchen is that it’s a little pricey and can be hard to justify choosing it as a dining option.

Run away, run far away.
With so many options in Bellevue, I can’t think why anyone would choose a hotel restaurant. But for a quick breakfast I did just that. Hoping for a nice eggs benedict, I found there was no benedict option on the menu. Strike one.
So I ordered a lovely Florentine omelet, which was pretty tasty. But… it took 20+ minutes to arrive (the restaurant was mostly empty!) and it was cold when served.
The bacon was almost paper-​thin, really just one step up from the crap you would find at Denny’s or Shari’s.
To top that off, the «breakfast potatoes» were JOJOs. Really?! JOJOs for breakfast? Why on EARTH would I want to eat something that I could go buy at a gas station deli? Very, very disappointing.
The coffee was burnt, and so over-​roasted it was somewhere close to charcoal.
I will not return. Ever.

A very nice restaurant located in the Hilton downtown Bellevue. I really enjoy eating here as it has a nice view of trees and although it seats an ample amount of people, it’s always quiet in there, so a great place to go if you want to have a conversation with someone. I have eaten there several times and each meal has been excellent. The service is always warm and friendly. Just a great place to relax and have a great meal.

My 2 children and I were greeted by hostess. I asked for a booth. (Only one table of two guests was occupied.) We were led to a standard table. I again asked for a booth. Only 3 booths were available. 2 w/​o table cloths & 1 w/​a table cloth but with crumbs scattered about it. We got that one. While climbing inward on the seat, the cloth started pulling with one child. The hostess stated, «I knew the other table would’ve worked out.»
Our waitress was polite and friendly. Kids liked their spaghetti and my steak, a filet, was superb. My compliments to the chef.

This is what it comes down to, everything I tried here wasn’t even half good as to what I can make in my own kitchen for a fraction of the price. Save your money, go somewhere else.
Accepts the Prime Card (buy one get one entrée free) but with that discount it’s still not worth trying. Sorry.

I was staying at this hotel for a week for a conference in Redmond and I ate here twice for breakfast. The food was OK, not great. I really only ate bacon, sausage and potatoes, allergies sort of kept me from eating much else. The bacon was OK, little on the fatty side. The sausage wasn’t that good I only took one bite and pushed it away. The potatoes were tolerable but I did put a good amount of ketchup to make them not so dry. I don’t know how good it was, but they do have an omelet bar.
The pricing was a little strange, their menu says the breakfast buffet was $ 18 bucks, but if you «stay» at the hotel it’s only $ 13 bucks. The first morning I just ordered two sides, the waiter told me to just help myself to the buffet for my portions and the price ended up being more than just the buffet. So lesson is that the sides are pretty pricey on their own, but $ 13 for a mediocre buffet is still more than I would normally pay.
Looking around it seemed that most of the people eating the breakfast were going to the same conference I was, so I can only assume we were all eating there out of convenience and not entirely by choice.

So staying at the Hilton and not feeling adventurous I have ate here two nights in a row. First night I had their Buffalo Wings, Smoked Turkey Club Wrap, and a Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad. The wings were ok, but they were to Saturated with the sauce, and they were not all that good. The Smoked Turkey Wrap was awesome and it came with a side of fries that were pretty good. The Cobb Salad was not what I was expecting, plus they forgot the Salad dressing, so I had a few bites and was done with it.
The second night I decided to try something else, it was late, I was tired, didn’t feel like driving around trying to find some grub. So I ordered their Basil House Salad, and their Calamari. The Calamari was pretty big pieces, it was pretty fresh, I was expecting to get the rings or the tentacle pieces, but they brought up strips. They were pretty good, their dipping sauce was not very good, it was a cup of mayo and a cup of marinara sauce. Not very impressed. The Basil House Salad was excellent tho. Now comes the COST! OMG. I know to expect room service to be higher priced, but this is outrageous. The first nights bill came to over 40.00 and the Wings were free. The second night for what I had was 32. Don’t get me started on the cost of the «Dinner Entrees»! When you have a 40.00 Expense limit for dinner you can usually get a nice meal, not here! If I wanted to get a RiB Eye it is 32.00+ alone.
The food is marginal, I have had better. The cost is unreal. So I suggest if you are going to eat here, you should think about being adventurous and checking out other spots.

This is a fairly standard expensive hotel restaurant. The Hilton is where Microsoft puts up many of its prospective employees during recruiting weekends, so if you go in late fall or spring, 5 of the 6 people in the large dining room will be recruits uncomfortably eating alone and trying their best to max out their reimbursable food budget.
Service: The waitress is very attentive, pleasant, and happy to give dish or wine pairing suggestions.
Food: The short story is that leaves a lot to be desired. The long story (what to order/​not order if you are a recruit and don’t want to leave the hotel) is below.
Appetizers: The French onion soup is on the oily side, but quite good nonetheless. The baked brie is bad — if you are a big fan of baked brie, I suggest seeing whether they could put honey on top of it instead of this weird raspberry coulis that plagues most of their desserts. Salads are standard.
Entrees: The sauces in the pastas are gummy and unappetizing. The pizzas are good at first, but gets icky when it cools and the cheese congeals. (I’m also unclear on why the margherita pizza is mostly feta cheese.) I haven’t tried the steak; it looks like steak. The pan-​seared ahi tuna comes in a huge quantity and it is a bit tough, but not terrible, and the side of tempura veggies is quite good. Dinner salads may be the way to go here if you aren’t big on steak.
Desserts: The chocolate cake is a little dry but tasty; the cheesecake sub-​par. The rhubarb blackberry cobbler is the hands-​down winner. The cobbler itself is odd, but the flavors are very good and make up for it. I would request that they hold that terrible raspberry coulis, though.