New Turkish Restaurant

Basil Mediterranean Kitchen
9955 Interstate 10 West

(in the Colonnade)

This new Turkish restaurant occupies the space recently filled by Zaytune, one of the better Middle Eastern restaurants to fail in this sometimes unappreciative town. But the quality of cuisine I found on this first visit to Basil goes a long way toward assuaging my grief.

The ambience here is suburban-nice. There are a few tables in the shaded area out front, though the noise from I-10 makes me suspect that the pleasure of dining al fresco here might be somewhat curtailed, even on a pleasant day. We chose to sit indoors, where twenty or so tables occupy a bright dining room.

The service was prompt (until it was time for the check) and professional. The menu is reasonably comprehensive, and includes several mix-and-match lunch specials. I chose Doner kebab, because I always like to have a known dish on a first visit to any restaurant; my friend ordered chicken kebab, because she likes chicken ... I guess. She always orders chicken in one form or another.

First we were served bread and a plate of oil for dipping. Normally I'm uninterested in this: bread at Mediterranean and middle-Eastern restaurants is unremarkable (with one notable exception), and the oil is just oil with a few herbs thrown in. But this ... this was utterly fabulous. The bread here is an expertly crafted focaccia, cut in small cubes, and the oil mix ("it doesn't have a name; we just call it chef's special sauce") was beyond a doubt the high point of the entire meal. A pretty good meal, at that.

Health Dept. score:
87 (Apr. 2018)

As part of the lunch special, you have a choice of accompaniments. I chose the Greek salad and hummus; my friend chose the lentil soup and baba ganoush. She liked my salad better than her soup; I liked her soup better than my salad. We both liked the hummus and the baba ganoush, but by the time we got to that, neither of us could finish it. (See the bread paragraph, above.)

My friend's chicken kebab was juicy and well seasoned. It was served with a small roasted pepper and tomato, and about a cup of rice seasoned in the Turkish manner. My Doner kebab was also well made, nicely seasoned and served with the same accompaniments, and a piece of flatbread that looked like a burrito-sized tortilla; I was so full I didn't even try it.