This is an attractive little restaurant, one of the newer ones in Elgin Street. Cherry blossoms hang over the bar bringing a splash of colour to a more traditional style decor. Opposite the bar there is a line of small tables. There are more at the back, and there is seating for large groups upstairs, but there is only one of me and I like to watch the chefs at work so I take a small table.
The tofu is made fresh every morning and I could have a choice of three types of preparation. Chilled, steamed or fried. I opted for chilled with diced maguro ($60). I also ordered a basket of Edamame, or steamed soy beans ($35) and a bottle of Yebisu beer ($42).
After a respectable pause and a replenishment of beer came the mixed vegetable and prawn tempura ($130). Like the other dishes it is a generous serving and there is plenty to share. To follow it I had ordered cold green tea soba noodles ($58). These are served with a quail egg, some shredded seaweed and some radish and spring onion. These are to be mixed into the soup to taste.Lemon Basil review
Back in the days when the old Kai Tak airport was operational that end of Kowloon City had been famous for a number of exceptionally good Thai restaurants. I got into the habit of always planning evening flights and then getting to the airport in plenty of time to have a good dinner before catching the plane. Since the airport moved I hadn’t been back there to what had become of the area so the other Saturday afternoon I set out to remedy the situation.
To my delight I discovered that, if anything, there are even more Thai restaurants in the area. Indeed there is a thriving Thai community. I also spotted kitchens specialising in Cambodian and Issan/Lao. I even a couple of Islamic restaurants which intrigued me a lot.
Bu I had come to reacquaint myself with the Thai food and so stopped into a place called Lemon Basil. It was still very early and there were only two other guests. The restaurant was simple but attractive. Orange and beige walls dotted with pictures of Thai kings old and new interspersed with small paintings of chillies and other familiar ingredients.
There is a menu which contains all the familiar items plus there is the paper place mat which add a range of snacks as well as drinks and desserts. I ordered myself a red chicken curry ($58) and some broccoli with mushrooms ($48). I was going to leave it at that but then I noticed chicken wings stuffed with shrimp meat ($60).
With that lot I decided rice wouldn’t be needed but I did order myself a mango slush ($30).
The curry was the first dish to show up. These curries are pretty much a standard item in all Thai restaurants. But both red and yellow curries carry the risk of becoming a little too sweet, a bit too coconutty. This one, I’m happy to say, got the balance between sweetness and spiciness just right. I relented an ordered some rice so I could mop up the last of the sauce.
The vegetables had arrived shortly after the curry. These were crisp and fresh but otherwise pretty straight forward.
The chicken was the last to arrive because it takes the longest to prepare. Funnily enough it would have made an excellent starter - and more sensibly for two people. The wings were deep fried in bread crumbs and served with the classic Thai sweet chilli dipping sauce.
I finished off with pandan flavoured layer dumplings ($28). Another dish that would more sensibly be shared between two people.
Kowloon City is well off the beaten track these days but if you are a fan of Thai cuisine it’s well worth the effort.
Lemon Basil
16 Nam Kok Road
Kowloon City
Posted: February 4th, 2010 under Reviews, southeast asian.
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