Thai Basil

I don’t think I could have been any more disappointed in this place, after being a 10-​year fan of Thai Basil. I bought a basil dish that had absolutely zero basil leaves. None. The noodles were lumped together. Hardly any veggies — and it was presented as a veggie dish. It honestly didn’t taste like anything. Never going back.

Not bad but nothing special. I give them three stars for friendly service and immediately remaking my pumpkin curry when I found the pumpkin was still frozen inside the first time. Big portion for $ 6.

Great portions, great taste, great price! $ 6 plates

I ordered an entrée with eggplant. When I got back to my office I found some random Thai food which didn’t include eggplant. It was a huge amount of bamboo shoots and slices of red pepper with random sauce. If they didn’t have eggplant, they should have let me know! It was so yucky I just threw it away. With so many great carts around I wouldn’t bother with this one.

Word on the street is that Thai food pods are a big deal in Portland so when the weekend came I was ready to gobble some down. Unfortunately, nobody told me that most pods closed on the weekend and I was nearly left out to dry. Luckily there were a few open, including Thai Basil. With little other choices, I figured I’d give it a try before I left town.
I ordered some chicken mussamun curry over rice. At only $ 5, this was a killer deal for any hungry traveler. However, there wasn’t much in the way of meat or much else besides the curry sauce and rice, although sometimes that’s all I really want. Flavor was good and at only $ 5 for most meat dishes, I could definitely afford to order several dishes to try next time.
Service was quick and friendly and it was great that they open weekends to serve their hungry guests. While there are many Thai pod options, their great prices and weekend schedule make it one of the only choices. Since its also outside, it makes it a great place to bring your dog too. Just don’t feed them any curry.
Food: ⁷⁄₁₀
Service: ⁷⁄₁₀
Price: $
Atmosphere: ⁶⁄₁₀

Panang Sauce was flat and not enough served to flavor the rice which seemed scraped from the bottom of a pot. Sorry.

Gone are the days of Thai Iced tea and spring rolls included in the meal. Spring roll was nowhere to be found, and tea an extra $ 1. Still a decent value, but makes the ESAN restaurant a block away an option.

With 2,627 Thai places in a five block radius, I still can’t escape the gravitational pull of Thai Basil’s Yakisoba noodle. Throw in a Thai iced tea, all for $ 5, and I am SO sold.
The service also can’t be topped. Always smiling, always friendly. Don’t miss it.

They call me the wanderer yeah the wanderer I roam around around around…
Such is my life when it is lunchtime and I was too lazy the night before to make anything to take to work.
Signs, signs, everywhere there’s signs.
Walking around in SW I saw a sign (not a light). This sign pointed me in the general direction of Thai Basil. The main piece of info on that sign stated a $ 5 lunch deal that included a drink and a spring roll. Done and done. My lunchtime problem had been solved.
I don’t like lines, but lines are a good thing for food carts. That usually means the food is good. Thai carts are a dime a dozen. Why should you go to Thai Basil you might be asking yourself? Well, if you are looking for good food at honest prices, why not? Plus as your free beverage you can get a Thai Iced Tea. How could that be a bad thing?
I had the Pad Prik Khing which was full of chicken, green beans, cabbage and carrots in a spicy sauce. A side of white rice (I wish I had asked if they had brown) and a spring roll could make for 2 meals. I ate the whole thing. The Thai Iced Tea also helped to keep the heat of the sauce down. Plus it tasted great on a warm afternoon.
I don’t consider myself cheap, but a $ 5 meal is a $ 5 meal. When a place like Thai Basil can offer an inexpensive but good meal, why wouldn’t you give it a chance?

That kind old man who would hand out hot tea to shivering patrons? He’s gone. Had a stroke and went to live out his last days in Thailand. So sad.
At least that’s the story his son told me back in January.
It does, indeed, seem like new owners have taken over. My beloved, complimentary salad roll morphed into a weird, deep friend turd of an egg roll abortion. Free soda is no longer a can of coke, but a cup of flat soda poured from a room temperature 2 liter. They did something to the tofu. Not sure what, exactly. But it got weird. Less edible. It frequently appears in the form of chicken. The curries and noodle dishes are now served in a array of confusing and ineffectual take-​away containers. Always leaky. Ruined my dress.
Thai Basil will now join the ranks among downtown Portland’s many mediocre and forgettable Thai carts.
Que Sera, Sera.

Used to be a favorite, but has since fallen from favor… What used to be a large quantity of food for $ 5 that came with a free beverage and salad roll has since shrunk down in quantity AND quality. I am not sure if there was a change in ownership or just workers, but if you went to peacock a year or two ago, don’t expect the same food today.

Though you often forget my rice or sauces in a to-​go order, I forgive you. And your atmosphere is more modern and cold than the more homey Thai Basil on the eastside, but the food is just as delightful. The spicy coconut noodle soup is great. The wait staff — great. The fresh spring rolls have a perfect ratio of crispy, fresh ingredients (and ample mint). Cocktails, and even beers, are a little overpriced. But overall, a great restaurant.

Nowhere in town (that I know of) offers such a steal for a good portion of Thai Food, along with salad roll and your choice of drink (get the Thai Ice Tea) for $ 5, as people have mentioned below. Check it out!

Word of advice: call your order ahead. Not that this place is slow, but I was jealous of the many people who walked up and got their food right away because they were smart enough to call.
I ordered one of the specials today: spicy asparagus stir fry for $ 5 (everything is that price). As I waited, I kept reading the menu and realized it came with a drink: soda, water or Thai iced tea. The wait was probably 15 minutes, but I don’t think I could count how many meals came out of the window while I was there. They have the process down!
When I opened the bag, I discovered a salad roll. What a deal this meal is! The taste and quality would be about three stars. It’s not super exciting and a bit salty. The service and bang for your buck added another star. One of the best food cart deals out there!

I remember reading some non-​Yelpian review for this place and being really excited to try it. Today, I decided I was either going to try this place or Nong’s Khao Man Gai, the new Thai cart on 11^th & Alder. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the review I’d read of Thai Basil to refresh my memory about why I was excited to try it, but most of the reviews here seemed good, and I live in SE and the laziness factor kicked in, so Thai Basil it was.
When I got here, I checked the daily specials first thing. The spicy mango immediately caught my eye, as I love mango, and so I ordered that. In almost no time at all, my meal was ready, and I rode over the the waterfront to dig in.
As other reviewers have noted, you get a free spring roll and drink with your meal. The drinks are water (bottled), coke, diet coke, and Thai iced tea. If not for the latter option, I wouldn’t care, but considering that most places charge $ 2+ for a Thai iced tea, I think that’s pretty awesome. The tea was a little too sweet, but I don’t think I’ve had a Thai iced tea that wasn’t. And the spring roll was so-​so. They put tofu in it (not sure if they might’ve done otherwise if I’d asked), which I don’t really care about, so to me it was on the bland side, but they give you a peanut sauce to dip it in, so that’s cool, though I just saved mine for dipping in nuoc cham later.
As for the spicy mango, I’ll admit I was slightly nervous, as I’ve never had mango hot, but according to my taste buds, mango is wonderful no matter what the temperature. The dish overall wasn’t anything amazing, but it wasn’t that bad either. The sauce was pretty tasty, and the vegetables (carrot, cabbage, broccoli, and onion) were decent, just nothing special. Also, despite it being called «spicy,» if you like spicy food, you’d probably disappointed. Maybe specifying «extra spicy» would help in the future, but I didn’t think of this at the time.
In short, if you want Thai food and you’re looking for a good deal, definitely check this place out. The meal+spring roll+drink was only $ 5, compared to other carts where a meal only is $ 6 or $ 7. On the other hand, if you’re looking for an amazing Thai food experience, you might want to consider going elsewhere.

best cart deal in portland. entrée + roll + drink = $ 5.

One of the best Thai food carts downtown, great food at a great price. $ 5 gets you entrée, salad rolls and a drink — not bad for our economy.
My favorite dish is the pineapple fried rice — great combo of veggies, fruit, cashew and tofu. In fact, every time I’ve ordered any dish, the vegetables have always been super fresh and super tasty.
The owners are also super super sweet. Occasionally they give you green tea while you wait, and I have also been given slices of fresh mango — always served with a smile.
Since it is not located with other carts downtown (like on 5^th between stark and washington or up on alder) it is never really mobbed, and the wait is never too long

Wow! This is my favorite Thai cart! The old man was very nice and gave me a hot tea while I am waiting my order and even gave me a basil roll for free! How sweet. The foods are very tasty and only $ 5 includes of a drink!
What a deal.

This little food cart downtown might be the best value of delicious Thai food that I’ve been able to uncover in this city. For just five bucks you get an enormous entre and the sweet folks that run the place insist on throwing in a couple of spring rolls and a thai iced tea into the deal. Plenty of food to share with a friend, making it even more dirt cheap and just as delightful.