Skip to main content

Thai Basil ~ Livonia, Michigan


First visit: May 2025

---6/13/25

They have a second location in Novi.

You knew it was coming. No trip is complete for Mrs. RJG if we don't go at least to one Thai restaurant. Fine with me. The trick is finding the right one. I'm very particular with Thai. I favor traditional Thai places, generally found in Bangkok. And I really do not like "American Thai". Mrs. RJG is less picky on this front. We hit a homerun with Baramee in Kansas City two years ago. Will we be so lucky here in Detroit?

Location: Strip center. Nicely allocated restaurant. Old school setting that is slightly dark. Cozy for dining.


Food: I did my homework here. For one we wanted to be in Livonia if possible. Other than location, would I be able to find my traditional Thai? Despite Thai Basil doing everything they could to ward me off, by offering sushi, pho, and ramen, I sensed the cooks and owners were Thai and they were branching out to drum up business. My instincts proved correct! We started with fried shrimp appetizers, something we haven't had for ages. Crispy, hot, and delicious. For the main course, I had my traditional Thai Basil with ground chicken and a fried egg. And that's on the menu - no begging them to cook it that way. Ordered it hot and that's what I got. Not blazing Thai Hot but not wimpy either. And they gave me extra chili powder, which I added. My voice notes said it was a little dry and the basil could have been sweeter but nonetheless I loved it. Mrs. RJG had the Drunken Noodles which she devoured with glee. Temperature was very hot which she loved. We only had water though they offer wine, etc... I forgot to photo the main entrees. Looks at Mrs. RJG's turquoise nails!

Overall: Maybe the only place on this trip that I would insist on going back to if we revisit Detroit. Not because I didn't really enjoy the others (I did!), it's just there's so many other options. Maybe so with Thai too, but it's not always as consistent restaurant to restaurant. 

5/30/25

6/13/25 (new entry)

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Five Guys Burgers and Fries ~ national chain : Colorado Springs, Colorado

Latest visit: Oct 2023 (Colorado Springs - Interquest) First visit: Jan 2007 (Reston, VA) Locations: 49 states + DC. Only Alaska is missing. There are 30 in Colorado (4 in the Springs). That's +3 from last year. Texas has 68 (our former locale of Southlake is closed, so Hurst would have been the closest). There are 123 in California which is their largest state presence. The original Reston location that I first went to is still going.  In what appears to be a recurring theme, I state each year this will be my last visit to Five Guys. Only to return anyway. This year's excuse is I wanted to try their new location, which very recently opened up close to our house. This is definitely the closest we've ever lived to a Five Guys - even the Reston location was further from my office at the time. And I thought maybe it would make a good choice for a weekday lunch while working from home, thus putting Five Guys back into the rotation. I put that idea to the test here this Saturda...
2 comments
Read more

Denver's Old School Italian Restaurants

I know, I know... I haven't posted anything in 6 months. You were checking back every week, then every month and now I've fallen completely off your radar. Sorry about that. My only lame excuse is that I've been "saving up" for a good one. I've been wanting to write about Denver's Italian restaurants since we returned part-time last year. And you all know how the RJG feels about this style of restaurant . As someone who grew up in Dallas, perhaps I've been more drawn to cities that embrace their history rather than completely demolish it. Only recently has Dallas become more acutely aware of their past. Previously, any buildings not in use have been razed as fast as possible, to make way for the next brand new shopping center - all in the latest architecture naturally. Contrarily you have cities like St. Louis that are 19th and 20th century industrial ghost towns - places frozen in time because for most everyone who could, they just up and left to ...
8 comments
Read more

Taco Villa ~ Texas chain : Amarillo

Latest visit: May 2023 (Amarillo - W. Amarillo Blvd @ Tascosa) First visit: Jul 1981 (Amarillo) We blew through New Mexico and into the panhandle of Texas. As we were beginning to circumvent the Amarillo traffic I noticed Taco Villa. I mentioned to JL how great they are. How about a quick snack? We both were on the same page. It's been 5 years since we left DFW, and that's the last time I had Taco Villa goodness. I ordered 3 crispy tacos. Happy to say everything is as good as I remembered it (except the price of course...). The salsas, the meat, and the piled high cheese. And JL absolutely *loved* them. He mentioned it a few times on the trip. We have a new convert!  Now for some chain news: There are 5 locations in Amarillo; 5 in Odessa; 3 in Midland; 1 each in Andrews, Big Spring, Canyon, and Hobbs, New Mexico for a total of 17. They exited the DFW market not long after we left in 2018 (did we keep them in business?). ---4/19/18 update (Fort Worth) I often would eat at Tac...
5 comments
Read more