Our October Foodies gathering was at Basil n’ Spice on Shrewsbury Street, a relatively new restaurant on the Worcester dining scene. Thai cuisine is a favorite of mine so I was looking forward to it.
It is in a location once occupied by an Indian restaurant. They did a contemporary-casual makeover to the dining room including a new eat-in bar area, freshly painted walls, and updated lighting. The room accommodates large parties and small intimate tables for quiet dinners.
The proprietor promptly greeted us saying, “Get ready for a meal full of authentic flavors.”
The menu is extensive with many popular Thai dishes such as Choo Chee and Pad Thai as well as the soups, curried dishes, rice options and several sauces.
My dining companion and I began our meal with Shrimp Fresh Rolls. The rolls combined crisp lettuce, cucumber, carrot and basil with shrimp all wrapped in rice paper and served with a peanut hoisin sauce, which worked well.
As interesting as the menu options looked, I ordered a classic: the Chicken Teriyaki with jasmine rice. It was a generous portion of freshly sautéed chicken cooked with a salty-sweet teriyaki sauce. I opted to add some additional spice. The heat was the perfect complement to teriyaki flavor.
The service team at Basil n’ Spice was outstanding starting with the owner who greeted us, sat us at our table and also took our order. In addition, she answered many questions we asked about the menu. She even told us she cooked some of the meals we enjoyed. Plus at least three or four other servers were there to help clear dishes, serve food, refill water glasses, and take drink orders.
Overall Basil n’ Spice was excellent. The atmosphere, food, and service make it a restaurant I highly recommend. I definitely will return to try some more adventurous dishes.