If there is one thing you have to know about us, it’s that we LOVE food. On the top of my favorite cuisine list in Thai food because to me it’s really the ultimate comfort food. Speaking of comfort food, there is one dish in particular that I just cannot live without and that is the Thai basil chicken (pad kra pao gai – ผัดกระเพราไก่).

The basil chicken is very versatile in the sense that you can make it with any meat (pork, shrimp, squid, beef) or have it as a vegetarian option with tofu and lots of vegetables. It’s a dish that locals eat when they don’t know what else to eat or order.

It’s extremely simple to make but oh so delicious. See the recipe. Oh and if you’re not a fan of chicken, you can order/make this dish with pork, beef, seafood and even vegetarian option.

So I’m going to go on a mission to try out as many Thai basil chicken dishes I possibly can from different areas starting in Bangkok. Why you ask? Well because I love it and to possibly convince you of the awesomeness of this dish.

I’ll be rating them out of 15 points based on 3 criteria:

Taste – the blend of garlic, sweetness and flavor from the sauces that go in making this amazing dish.

Spice level – bit tricky here. You want it to be spicy enough but not too much that it overpowers the taste.

Value – the price to quantity ratio and the overall experience.

I’ll be updating this post once a month so keep coming back to see what’s new and delicious.

Pan Road, Bangkok (opposite Sri Maha Mariamman Temple on Silom Road)

Category: roadside local restaurant

Spice level: 3/5 | Flavor: 4/5 | Value: 5/5

Total: 12/15

Remarks: Total it cost me 110 Baht (~US$ 3) including a bottle of water. Portion was great. Despite it looking very spicy, it was not but there was a lot of flavor. Good mix of garlic, salt and flavor from the sauces. 11 out of 15 isn’t bad at all but not the best either. Major downside was that there was a lot of fat and skin in the minced meat. Remember, we’re on the quest for the best that possibly even surpasses the 15 score.

Samsen Road, Bangkok

Category: tourist-y restaurant

Spice level: 5/5 | Flavor: 4/5 | Value: 4/5

Total: 13/15

Remarks: Oooh, almost a perfect score. Surprisingly, for a tourist-y restaurant where there mostly foreigners, the dish was almost on point. Spice was perfect but the flavor lacked a little in the sauce (soy and oyster) department. It was a bit too garlic-y. Value was good too at 120 Baht (~$3.3) for the dish.

Wutthakat Road, Bangkok

Category: roadside local restaurant

Spice level: 3/5 | Flavor: 4/5 | Value: 5/5

Total: 12/15

Remarks: I would have given this a higher mark but a) the spice level was not as high as I would have expected. Local restaurants usually make it very spicy but maybe they thought I was a tourist, I wouldn’t be able to take it. Also it had a lot of oil…more than usual so the flavor went down to a 4. The value was great as it was only 55 Baht (~$1.5) with an egg on top as well and the portion was pretty good.

Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok (corner of soi 26)

Spice level: 4/5 | Flavor: 4/5 | Value: 5/5

Total: 13/15

Remarks: surprisingly this came close to a perfect score, especially int the value department (~50 Baht with the egg). You would think it would be difficult to find authentic, delicious meals downtown but this proves otherwise. The flavor could have been a bit better as it lacked something, which I couldn’t really put my finger (taste buds) on. Could have been a little bit spicier as well. Overall, it was very yummy though.

The journey continues!