Driving the 500 miles between San Francisco and Los Angeles I planned to take my vegan boyfriend to my favorite veggie friendly spot in central California: Thomas Hill Organic in Paso Robles. Unfortunately a private event derailed our plans. Scrolling through Yelp we saw the v-word pop up for Basil Thai and headed that way.
It’s a traditional plastic gilded interior on the Paso Robles square. The staff is friendly and thankfully knowledgeable: Our waitress let us know that EVERYTHING is made with fish sauce. Releasing exacerbated sighs, the kind that only come after hours of highway driving, the waitress leaded in and whispered that there were two things we could order.
The first dish out were little bites of Meaing Kum ($7). Fresh leaves of spinach leaves are stuffed with roasted coconut, ginger, onion, lime and roasted peanuts. The traditional Miang Kham sauce is made with fish sauce, so the waitress replaced it with a sweet chili sauce. Unsure of what to do, we placed bits of everything into the leaves and shoved it into our mouths. Mixed together, these elements normally used as garnish make a sweet-tart-crunchy starter. I loved it!
Made with sweet soy sauce, the Pad See Eaw Noodles ($15) is the only vegan noodle option. The price is excessive considering the portion, but the wide rice noodles with tofu, carrots and broccoli were fresh and filling. The charred crunchy bits of the chewy noodles noodles were the best part of the dish. We quickly devoured the carrots and broccoli then hopped back on the 101.
I’m incredibly grateful that Basil Thai accommodated us on the long drive home.
Basil Thai
828 11th St
Paso Robles, CA 93446
(805) 238-9945
basilinpaso.com
