Cool Basil

Best sushi we’ve had in WDM.
Also have the best outdoor space in WDM. their patio is on the east side of the building, so in the summer it’s in the shade and glorious.
I’ve been here 4 times now, and every entrée I get is just average. It makes sense too, cause their menu is like 19 pages long… You can’t be great at it all.
What they do do well is sushi. I know the beloved sushi snobs may not agree, but they have traditional and «Americanized» rolls.
Portions of everything are decent for the money value.
** Recommended**
The Tam Ka Kai is wonderful (coconut curry soup). Get it spicy, like a 4, so that you get the blend of sweet coconut, juicy mushrooms and spice. So good!
Drink menu is rather small and very run of the mill. They have ¾ beers on tap, but they are like bud light, coors light, and a seasonal ale. Something like that.

This place was Ok, we tried to go to Blu, but was told they don’t have Soy or Rice wraps for their sushi. They said for us to come to their sister restaurant. I ordered a couple rolls, nothing to be too excited about. My wife had a Thai noodle dish. It was all ok until later that night my wife got horribly sick, we asked the waitress to make sure the dish was vegan friendly. We think the sauce had some dairy in it, but not sure.
Others may like this place, but we will most likely not return.

Cool Basil is a worthwhile Thai food experience. Although you will feel comfortable in casual clothes, you’ll quickly appreciate the upscale wood décor and elegant dining environment. There are multiple options for seating including a bar, booths and tables.
The first time you try a new Thai restaurant, I would recommend you judge the quality by sampling the standard Thai dishes like the curries or pad thai, and then compare them to other Thai restaurants. Despite this advice, when visiting Cool Basil, I would recommend you extend yourself beyond the typical «safe» choices and explore other parts of their menu. This is not to say their curries and pad thai are not good, they are superb and would make an excellent choice, but you’d be missing out on what else they have to offer.
I recently enjoyed one of the dishes from their stir fry menu, the lemon grass stir fry. It comes with your choice of protein including chicken, beef or tofu. You can upgrade to a more premium protein choice for a couple of dollars more. The dish was light, yet fulfilling. The carrots were thinly sliced, and I found this to be an appropriate preparation, because thick cut partially cooked carrots can often overpower an otherwise good stir fry. The sauce was flavorful, the flavor of the lemon grass definitely came through, and yet was not overpowering. The consistency of the sauce was similar to a thick, clear broth, and was not heavy with oil. There was just enough sauce to provide some extra flavor when mixed with the side of white rice. You can tailor the spiciness to your level. The mild here is tolerable, anything stronger might be considered too spicy for many Midwesterners.
I would also recommend the Hawaiian fried rice. There are several restaurants that prepare a similar dish, but the Hawaiian fried rice at Cool Basil is in a league of its own. It is a must try. Sprinkle some of the freshly squeezed lime over it, and dig in. The portion is plenty large enough to split between two people.
If you are looking for the perfect dessert, try the Thai custard with sweet sticky rice. This restaurant is in the heart of the Midwest, and people here like their custard and bread pudding. Thai custard is like a mix of custard and bread pudding with an Asian flare. Typically, Asian desserts aren’t known for being overwhelmingly sweet, but this one is sure to please even the sweetest of American taste buds.
Although there is a complete sushi and Chinese menu, I typically don’t recommend trying the sushi at a Thai restaurant. In fact, the Japanese and Chinese cuisine might be overrepresented on the menu. Cool Basil makes great Thai food and they should stick with it. If I want great sushi, I’ll go to a Japanese Restaurant, if I want Thai — I’ll go to Cool Basil.

The food was really amazing as usual. Tonight the service was just okay. I went to dinner with a friend and we got waters almost instantly after sitting down. Our wine on the other hand took about 20 minutes. After getting our wine we order two appetizers and waited. For about another 30 minutes before the waitress informed us that our sushi would be out shortly. We still had not received our appetizers, (I’m assuming she either forgot or the kitchen was extremely backed up.) We ended up getting our appetizers and food around the same time frame but everything was delicious. I’m a server/​bartender myself, so I understand these things happen. Always love Cool Basil, just maybe not a dinner spot if you want fast service!

This place is awesome! Went there today for lunch and it was packed wall to wall, patio and all. We ordered pineapple delight, salmon mango, Lo mein, and veggie delight. I LOVE that they have a brown rice option. The prices aren’t bad but if you want to add BBQ pork or seafood as your protein, be prepared to pay for it. Portions are a nice size. They have sushi! Have yet to try it though. I don’t have many complaints. Food is good, some things are better than others. When they’re busy I do notice that the food can come out kind of salty. Their reservation process is a little frustrating, especially when it comes to bigger parties. They have a weird thing about ordering only certain foods and having a huge reservation fee for the party room. Otherwise, not bad.

This is popular lunch spot amongst my colleagues, so I decided to give it a try for myself. I ordered the shrimp Pad Thai and was not disappointed. I requested medium spice level and the spiciness of the dish matched my request. Not to mention the staff provided excellent customer services during my interaction with them. I will definitely be back.
Lastly, I would recommend anyone interested in trying Cool Basil to make sure you go to the Clive location. The food at the Altoona location is far less enjoyable.

We came here on a Saturday around 3 PM and place was packed. The restaurant is very clean and updated. We were seated by the booths by the bar. Décor and interior was clean and modern.
Service was overall great. Water and menus were provided right away. Server gave us ample time to look at menu and provided recommendations.
What we ordered:
Red curry with chicken — very delicious and comparable to the other Thai places in DSM. I would def order this again. ⁴⁄₅.
Angel wings — stuffed chicken wings with crispy breading outside. Husband really enjoyed these because of the breading used. Would order again.
Angry catfish — not our favorite dish and prob would not order again. Ample vegs and a few catfish nuggets.
Shrimp and veg stir fry — soy sauce based stir fry for our little guy. Lots of veggies and decent taste.
There is a decent selection of apps, sushi, Chinese and Thai food. Would like to come back and try other dishes on the menu to see how they compare to other places in DSM.

Came here on a Tuesday night and they had sushi happy hour from 5 to 7pm. Choices range from calamari salad, seaweed salad, spicy tuna/​salmon roll, shrimp roll, capt crunch, Des Moines roll, and a couple more.
We ordered 4 rolls and a calamari salad. Spicy tuna was good, the spicy salmon was a bit fishy, the capt crunch was pretty tasty and the shrimp roll was decent though the shrimp was a bit cold. Calamari salad was very good.
We also ordered dessert, which was the fried bananas with ice cream. We chose the green tea ice cream which was very good. The fried bananas were in egg roll skins so it was not what we expected. We just scooped out the bananas :)
Service was excellent, food came out fast and it was a good dining experience. I always enjoy eating here.

I was skeptical about this place but after a stop on Friday night I was impressed on how big the place was inside. The parking lot seemed mostly full but inside plenty of seats to be had. We seated right away, tried an non alcoholic drink with guava, it was delish. I need to find that stuff at a store to drink often. I found the menu to be very large to satisfy most cravings. My meal was quick, hot, and very good. I will recommend this place to others. Keep up the good work.

Been here multiple times. Excellent Pad Thai and sushi. Love the Captain Crunch. Be careful of the heat. Fried rice was too hot for my 11 year old — we had mild.

I ordered the fried rice with crispy chicken and my husband ordered the sweet basil. The fried rice with crispy chicken was better, the food is always pretty good but never out of this world great, but we’ll come back. I wish there was a weekend lunch special menu like there is on weekdays, that is very affordable.

I’ve ate here quite a few times and am a fan. My favorite Thai place in town.
That being said, not all dishes are great. I have to give their fried rice and pad Thai 5 stars. It is delicious here. Their appetizers were also all pretty good. The sampler had a ton of food. This last time myself and two others tried their curry. I would say their curry is OK. The portion is large, but it was more runny than most places which I am not a fan of. This was tried for all three curry dishes.
The atmosphere is nice also. Its nicer than most Asian restaurants without compromising the price too much. They also serve sushi, but I can’t say how good it is as I have never tried it.

Great people/​Great food! Highly recommend… go and have a great meal, and a great time!

This place is a hit and miss type of eatry, sometimes its good others bring a barf bag.
There deserts I have found in my three times there are always good, but there sushi bar
is rather gross and you can tell its day old food at times not to mention I have asked the staff who made the mistake of telling it was infact from yesterdays service-​great left overs–
If you have a hot pallet order there HOT for like curry or any main entrée or you will be mad NOT SPICEY. So be sure you say you want HOT or be prepared to laugh I don’t like there curry its made with the wrong spice and its sweet as hell not real chef made curry its frozen then either heated in a boiling pan or nuked!
there service depends on if they bussy the bussyer they are the more lacking there service.
there price isent so bad but there rave reivews are ajoke I have had real Thai food and this place is sooo not it

I’ve been been here 3 times, and it keeps going downhill. Today might be my last time here. Their curry dishes is too rich for me, and medium spicy is not even spicy at all. So if you want spicy sauce, make sure you ask for higher spicy level. I’m not a fan of their entrees, but their appetizers is pretty delicious.
As a new vegetarian, this place has many options for me. I’m just too picky on the sauce, therefore I can only give them a 3.

Green curry: I gave it two chances. Ordered three stars spicy, too mild and bland flavor. Ordered four stars spicy, right amount of heat but no more flavor. Green curry is naturally spicy and this place waters theirs down. Disappointing. On the other hand, other dishes are nice. Still looking for good green curry.

Great bartender, great sushi, great Chinese!!! Friday in lent makes Sushi a real treat not so much a sacrifice. It’s our first time here even though I drive by 3 times a week. We just got back from Sandals Ochi so i was not craving seafood. Wife suggested Cool Basil and now it’s made the rotation. I’ll stop back next week! You will not be disappointed!

We’ve yet to order anything at Cool Basil that we didn’t like. Inviting atmosphere, helpful staff, authentic Asian cuisine.

Probably the best Thai food in town that I know of! I’ve been to their smaller location in Altoona and always enjoyed their food and service there, this place is just bigger and better! (Was just informed they are not associated with the Altoona location)
I know they just recently opened at this larger location in a prime Clive spot. Their parking lot is big and spacious. The atmosphere here is wonderful, low lighting and soft music. Their menu is very big, primarily because they offer a full sushi menu as well. Also for the record, I think Cool Basil offers the best sushi for a non-​sushi restaurant!
On this inaugural visit to this location we started with the prawn cake for appetizer, it was very good! I also ordered the VIP sushi roll like I normally do, it’s one of my favorites because it gives you a good portion of raw fish inside and on top of the roll, lots of flavor.
For the entrée I had the green avocado curry (I think), it was very very good! Lots of flavor and Their rice quality is always good! My friend had the drunken nnoodles (I think) and it was good as well! Perfectly prepared and had a great experience with the food.
Staff members were one of the best I’ve seen, friendly and helpful. Would definitely return again!

I did it. Asian food in dsm, and this is how it went down…
Price: Look to spend about $ 10 per entry.
Parking: Large Lot
Service: ok, no complaints.
Food:
Ok. Tasted quite bland.
I ordered the 2^nd to highest spice level and it was NOT spicy.
Notes: I’ve been here when the wait was an hour and when the place was half empty. It’s a hit or miss.

Amazing. The service and food are fabulous. One thing: if you don’t like lemon in your water, ask for a new one. Personally, I think it’s delightful.
Celiac friendly menu items that are fantastic:
Corn Crab Ginger Soup (my favorite)
Pad Thai (arguably the best in the city)
Crab Fried Rice (AMAZE)
…and much more, just ask! They’ll substitute any wheat noodle for rice noodle, they understand GF needs and will be more than willing to assist. The atmosphere is fantastic, seems like it’s either hot or cold, though. The bar is beautiful, the wait staff is very pleasant and quick. The food is fast and presentation is always on point here. We love CB and come here often.

Good selection, good service, and good price. They were very welcoming of making changes to items for the Vegan member of our party. Kudos to them! Also, the drinks were very good.

After hearing such rave reviews, I am pretty bummed that I didn’t get the same quality of food that everyone else got. I ordered streamed shrimp dumplings to start and when I bite into the first one, it was frozen in the middle. I sent them back and they did offer to take them off my bill.
Next was my entrée, I ordered the pork larb, and came with a sad wedge of lettuce with and was.okay. I just wasn’t impressive with the taste and I have had better at other places.
One thing I was happy with was our service, the waiter came by several times and offered to get me new shrimp dumplings or for me to be refunded, he was probably the highlight of the visit.
It will probably be a while before my next visit but I will try to get up the courage to try this place again.

I have had better but they are good. Nice upscale Thai restaurant on 86^th street. I liked their spring rolls as well as the yellow curry was good.
The one thing I didn’t like was they provide a lot to make the portion look bigger but then less of meat or vegetables. So I think they should only improve on that, as in curry to vegetables ratio should be complimented.
Overall impromptu service.

First ever visit to Cool Basil on a recent Sunday afternoon. ORDERED: Thai iced coffee $ 3, Shrimp Pad Thai $ 10.95, Salmon Rolls (appetizer) $ 8.95, Spicy Tuna sushi roll $ 7, TST specialty sushi roll $ 15 (total $ 51.83).
TASTED: It was 96 degrees out so we downed lots of water and the Thai iced coffee was a first for me. If you’re expecting the watery versions from Starbucks or Caribou warn your tongue first. The Thai version is super flavorful with espresso strength taste with the sweet spice of cream and cardamom. Superb!
The Cool Basil Salmon Rolls (spiced fresh Salmon rolled in spinach and fried in a crisp wrapper on a bed of veggie tempura with plum sauce. Dish arrived with six crisply little rolls (I thought of Trader Joe’s lemongrass rolls), the flavor was just spicy enough, the plum sauce was delicious. Not saturated with frying oil. The PAD THAI — which you get to pick your (subjective) spice level was one of the better versions I’ve ever had. A lot of diced peanuts on the side. My partner and I shared this dish full of stir-​fried rice noodles, eggs (lacking), bean sprouts, green onion and shrimp. This dish was TEN times better for lunch the next day after the flavors had jelled.
With a 17 page menu (seventeen pages!) I had a feeling there would be some dishes not done as well as others. Sadly and maybe justifiably since «Thai» is in the restaurant name and sushi is of Japanese origin. The sushi was disappointing. If you read my reviews, spicy tuna roll is my «control» at each sushi restaurant. This sushi roll the rice was WAY over cooked. Just a texture of spicy chewy softness — baby food. Flavor was good, texture was bad.
The TST roll (spicy tuna, imitation crab, cream cheese, mango, scallion, tempura style with spicy mayo and unagi sauce) had a nice flavor but was entirely TOO BIG AROUND. We resorted to cutting the pieces in half with a fork (blasphemy) because we were having a gag reflex of «fuck I’m about to choke to death». Great flavor, great textures but just too big. The specialty roll selections lacked imagination and creativity.
SERVICE: ¹⁰⁄₁₀ — I only name servers when they are outstanding. Mimi was a professional.
POST: Huge menu that I look forward to exploring, especially the curry options. As someone who’s on a mission to try every sushi offering in the Des Moines metro, but by no means an expert on the subject, I will not be ordering sushi here again.
CHANCE OF RETURN: ⁹⁄₁₀
** Not affiliated with the Cool Basil in Altoona as per this location’s website. WTF Altoona location, can’t you come up with your own name? **

I don’t know if I’m ordering wrong or what, but I have not had a good experience at this restaurant. It’s not for lack of trying; I’ve gone three times. The service was slow and dismissive.
I had sashimi, soup, and a noodle dish. I didn’t like any of those meals. I tried the crab rangoons. They were not cooked all the way (doughy in the middle). I felt it was overpriced. I’m sorry; I can’t recommend this restaurant.

Could it get better than 5 stars? Yes it can @ Cool Basil in Clive!
My first time there, and I must say it really surpassed my expectations!
What an inviting setting, perfect to relax while drinking a specialty drinks
Then, we ordered the sample platter together with a salad, and then the main entrée… Everything was DELICIOUS! And the customer service: lovely!
Highly recommend this place!

I was so disappointed when a coworker and I went to Cool Basil’s old location for lunch one day and it was no longer there. I was so shocked because I thought they were doing a really good business and how in the hell they closed for good? I thought it was crazy. Disappointed and hungry, we then tried the King and I. Since we got there close to 2 pm they didn’t want to serve us as they were closing in 5 minutes. Dammit! We ended up eating at the big China buffet next door because we were so hungry. I wanted to cry. China Buffet. Really. *tears*
The next time I was in Clive, while going to Jethro’s for lunch, I saw this big new restaurant. At first I thought it was an Italian place but when I got closer, I realized it was Cool Basil! OMG! They weren’t out of business! They just moved to expand! That made more sense and I was there the next night for dinner.
We had a 13 hour work day that day and we have lost a couple of coworkers who chose to drive home the same night. That left me and my boss. He wasn’t drinking because he was participating in Booneville Ultra Marathon on Saturday but even so, he decided to drink. It was just that kinda day. He ordered beer but I tried the Ginger Breeze cocktail that was really refreshing but it was pretty light in alcohol. He tried it and he thought I was drinking juice. I liked it, but agreed it was a little wimpy.
So to get out of the wimpy realm, I ordered the spicy wings for us. I also ordered tom yum and my all time favorite, pad kra pow or Basil stif fry with minced chicken. Boss ordered shrimp pad thai.
Spicy wings hit the spot! It was spicy and sweet and just tasted yummy. The sauce was a bit messy but it was delicious. My boss who liked spicy food but just bordering between medium and spicy really liked the wings as it was in the maximum heat level he could stand. To me, it was like eating candy. Nothing to it. It takes a lot more to make smoke coming out of my ears.
His shrimp pad thai came so early, even before the wings. I said something and they took it back and then all of a sudden the wings and the soup came. However, not even 2 minutes later the pad thai was back along with my entrée and soup. At that point, we didn’t care. We would just attack everything all at once. Funny thing was, when the pad thai came the first time, it had 3 shrimps on top of it. My boss kinda grumbled that they charged you extra $ 4 for shrimps but only gave you 3 lousy shrimps. The second time it showed up, it had 6 shrimps. LOL.
My stir fry was tasty but not spicy though I asked for really spicy. I remembered even in the old location, it was the same way and was my main point of contention that they’re so conservative on the spice level. The same thing with the tom yum but they gave me a couple of big shrimps in it.
We had a great meal and enjoyed it thoroughly. Some of the imperfections were so tiny no one cared. Even at the end, my boss thanked me for taking him to Cool Basil as it was great. He enjoyed his pad thai and a great way to end a long ass working day. I thought so too.
The new location is huge and the menu seemed to expand to include Chinese dishes too. I really didn’t remember if they had Chinese in their old location. I just remembered Thai and sushi. The inside looked cozy but we chose to eat outside in the patio. It was great!
So Cool Basil is still cool and I can’t wait to go back and try other things on their new menu.

Yep it’s in the name this place is COOL! And by Cool I mean awesome! Great new space for a gem of a thai place! I love the Yellow Curry, I get it with tofu, and this pack it in! I love this coconut milk dish, it’s like no other in town and topped with a little garnish on top, the portion is just right, but I always want more cause it’s so delicious and spicy!
The veggie spring rolls are no fool either!
If you are Vegan, this is a must spot in Des Moines not only for options but just for being a beautiful restaurant with great service and great food!
I’m excited to sit on the patio here when it get warm, cause dang it looks COOL!