Basil

All service providers, restaurants included, are evaluated by their customers on 1) quality, 2) price and 3) service, which together constitute «value.» Basil gets 5 stars for service (overall dining experience), 4 ½ stars for quality as their fusion menu is consistently interesting and unique, and 3 ½ stars on price (the establishment is not inexpensive on a relative basis). All of this adds up to a ranking of 4 ½ stars.
Noteworthy: 1) The interior décor is updated periodically, and somebody has very good taste. I’ve been there approximately 12 times including a few instances for dinner with my spouse and several lunch engagements with business clientele, and observed the décor changes often; 2) service is exemplary — everything from the check-​ins for which the owner is well-​known to the servers who clearly have been effectively screened and well-​trained; 3) from the exterior, the restaurant doesn’t look like much as it’s located in a basic mini-​mall storefront. I suspect the owners, given the popularity of their establishment, have been asked many times about relocating to a larger space. If they expanded the size of their operation, would the Basil proprietors be able to sustain the consistently high level of service for which we’re now accustomed? The intimate (small) restaurant size contributes, I think, to a very personalized dining experience. I hope the Basil owners resist the urge to expand. The size and scale of their operation is perfect, and by keeping it small they’ve been able to deliver great service and high-​quality dining in an overall experience that is quite lovely.

This place has been one of the more impressive Asian restaurants I have been to in central Wisconsin. Innovative, flavorful, great wine, scotch list etc. Great service.
However, we were there recently and it seems like they are messing up their dishes. The Panang curry tastes exactly like the masaman curry. A bunch of coconut milk, a couple of kafir lime leaves — no flavor at all. Similar complains around the table.
I would really love to see them do well but they need to start paying attention to detail and not think that their diners are not sophisticated enough to discern good Thai food.
We will definitely give them another try.

Seriously wonderful. The service is spectacular, the food melts in your mouth — really great flavor combinations. The atmosphere is welcoming and decorated so nicely! I would certainly call it a gem for the Wausau area.

This is our favorite restaurant! the food, service and atmosphere are wonderful. Whenever our daughters come visit, they say, «We are going out to eat at Basil, right!?» You will not be disappointed!

Great service, easy menu but mediocre food and expensive for Asian dishes. The menu features many Thai dishes and locally I’ve had better Thai dishes with cheaper prices. I think the dishes are tailored towards «Caucasian» customers but I could be wrong. If you had real authentic Thai food, you won’t like it here. I ordered the volcano fish and it was good but nothing to brag to others. I probably won’t go back. I do enjoy the quick and friendly service and that’s why I am giving it 3 stars.

Really good food. The panang curry was flavorful and tasty. Good service and very reasonable prices.

Thai + Irish Fusion?! Brilliant.
When I asked the local hotel associates for a dinner recommendation in Weston, WI, I expected to hear a bunch of chain restaurants. To my surprise, however, I was provided with a B&W map detailing many unique restaurants in the nearby area! Who knew? The one that perked my interest was when the attendant suggested Basil and mentioned that the wife (Thai) and husband (Irish) blended their cuisines. It’s a match so crazy, my colleague and I HAD to try it!
We were so happy that we did! The Unilocal reviews varied (like most restaurants), but there were many four and five star reviews tipping their hat to the Thai-​Irish fusion. After looking over the pictures and reviews, talking to the waitress, and determining our own hankering for dinner, we both settled on the Volcano fish. One of us got tilapia + crab cake version and the other the «Thai catfish» version + coconut shrimp (see picture in gallery).
We couldn’t have been happier with our choice! The perfectly cooked fish had a nice spicy blend set on a bed of freshly shredded cabbage and carrot chiffonade with another layer of sautéed vegetables on top (see close up picture in gallery). I truly took my time with my dish, savoring each bite, and eventually at the whole thing.
The shrimp and/​or crab cake wasn’t really that great an «extra», but we both admired the sauce with «Basil» written in sriracha. :-) Despite complaints of high costs, my colleague and I each enjoyed our entrée + extra (shrimp or crab cake) + a bottle of wine for under $ 100. Maybe high for Weston, but not for suburban Chicago.
I will be spending a fair amount of time in the area for the next six moths to a year, so I’m ecstatic to have Basil’s around when I need a GREAT meal. #seeyousoon

This place is not only great, it’s CONSISTENTLY great which I think is a quality that is hard to find in a restaurant. I like to try new places. I’m not usually one to go back to the same place over and over, but I always make an exception in Basil. It’s definitely the place to go if you really want guaranteed good food and service.
The menu stays pretty consistent with the usual great items, plenty enough options to try something different each time, but the specials they have are so amazing, it’s hard to pick something off the menu instead. They really change things up and have great offerings in that regard. I’ve ordered take-​out for lunch and it’s equally amazing as the sit down dining. Just great quality fresh ingredients. I do wish their tilapia was not farm raised, but that is hard to find anywhere in WI.
If I had to pick one bad thing about Basil it would be that they need to find a larger space. This place has become too popular to be so small. The tables are right on top of each other, literally maybe 6″ in between, not even enough to walk in between. That’s just too bad when you want to have a conversation with your dining partner and not let everyone else hear. And if you don’t have reservations on the weekend, forget about it (which is a good indication of a great place).

I’ve eaten at Basil about 3 times and find the dishes I’ve had to be excellent for the most part. If Unilocal used 10 stars I would give it nine. Their dishes are always attractively served. And the service friendly and efficient.
Usually I order one of their spicy dishes but not tonight.
As our appetizer tonight we had a new item on the menu: Money bags. These are little wontons shaped like money bags. They have a filling of crab and shrimp. Divine!
My entrée was Basil Salmon. It was very good to excellent. It was accented with slices of green onions and had a teriyaki like sauce drizzled on. The only distraction so to speak was the blandness of the Jasmine rice.
I tried some of my partner’s Indonesian Fish. She chose the fish: rainbow trout. I consider the dish to be excellent with its combination of tastes and textures.
For desert we shared both Crème Brulee and a Turtle Bomb. The crème brûlée was exquisite and turtle bomb very good-​excellent.
There are ounly two tables available for outside seating. They face the parking lot so not a very good ambiance. The décor inside is somewhat eclectic given the fact that the owner (or a friend) loves to travel to Ireland. There are some beautiful pictures from Ireland on the walls.
One Unilocaler, Zachary J. mentions catfish. I’ve had it in NOLA where it was very good but the few times I’ve tried it in the Midwest it was awful. One server said that the difference is that it is farm raised.