Cafe Basil

great vermicelli

The lady at the cash counter is awesome! She gives me a free drink sometimes. Also, try their tofu veg curry with noodles. Yum!

Good food, vermicelli bowl is very good. Salmon plate or Curry plate: you can’t lose. Warning don’t say spicy unless you really can handle spicy.

I found my beef phở to be too peppery and my fiancé had the same complaint about his chicken phở. There seemed to be a lot of pepper in my peanut sauce as well.
In my opinion, the prices for my food are more expensive than what I am used to paying for banh mi, phở or spring rolls. Perhaps high rent in the downtown area is a factor — very likely.
This review is based on my personal experience and all statements made herein reflect my personal opinion only. Your experience may be completely different.
Shout out to the lady at the cash register who move the line expediently! She was very efficient.
Next time, I will probably just get in my car and drive to Simply Phở or Les Givrals on Milam, about 10 mins away from downtown proper.

Good phở and vermicelli. Quick service, but pricey for Vietnamese food.
On my last visit, I had the vermicelli. The food was tasty, but with a drink, my bill came to about $ 12.
There is another Vietnamese place that has better prices and is also located in the tunnel (McKinney Garage restaurants). I think I will try that place next time.

I am a regular there! Van (the owner) is so friendly and takes care of her customers and staff. Food is really delicious although prices have gone up a bit. Dont let the long line scare u. It will be worth it.

I work in the Allen Center, so this place is convenient for me to go to. The price is a little more expensive than perhaps a restaurant in Chinatown, but it’s on par with every other food option in the tunnels. I’ve gotten the noodle soups, chicken curry, vermicelli bowls, and spring rolls. All were pretty good (I would recommend the beef vermicelli over the other proteins available). The folks who work there are super friendly. Although the line is sometimes long, the food comes out pretty quickly. Overall, a good lunch option in the tunnels.

This is a great location in the tunnels (specifically if you work near Allen Center) for a quick, delicious meal. I always get the chicken curry and enjoy it every time. I had the spicy option the other day and it definitely put a little fire in my mouth. The staff is very nice and gets your meal out quickly.
There is a decent amount of seating and if it is full, just go into the main Allen Center Food Court seating area.
Two complaints, there really is not a great place to wait for your meal other than taking up a table (if you are taking it to go) & the chicken tandoori is not just «out» as the chalkboard says, but they stopped offering it. Just erase it & stop giving me hope I might get to try it!

Unnecessarily overpriced.

Decent Vietnamese place. Not the best food but I have definitely had worse. The Phở was a little bland. Had to add quite a bit of sriracha to give it some kick. Probably would not visit that frequently but maybe if I was really in the mood for some quick phở.

Café Basil is my favorite Vietnamese place in Houston. I work downtown and venture to One Allen Center at least 1 – 2 times/​week for Café Basil, and I am never disappointed.
Café Basil has the best Wonton Soup I’ve ever tried — it’s your typical soup with Wontons with a Vietnamese twist. In addition, Café Basil’s Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwiches), Vermicelli, Salads, Curry, Phở and Spring Rolls are delicious. Do not fear if there is a long line — the staff is extremely friendly and your order will not take long to prepare (typically less than 5 minutes). Café Basil uses the freshest ingredients and I highly recommend Café Basil to anyone who is looking for great Vietnamese food in Downtown Houston!

This place is located in the tunnels under the Allen Center. I stopped here to grab some food on the recommendation of a co-​worker. If you did not work in the Allen Center, I am not sure there would ever be a good reason to visit this location. When I got there the line was about 10 deep, and it did move pretty slowly. Once I placed my order I did not have to wait more than five minutes before it was ready.
The spring rolls were big. They were fresh tasting and I would get them again. The only drawback was the sauce that came with them was watery and tasted almost like vinaigrette. I was expecting a peanut sauce, but that is definitely not what I got. I also ordered the pork bahn mi sandwich. It seemed a little expensive at $ 7, but when it came it was a really big sandwich. It was almost a meal all by itself. I liked the picked carrots and the raw jalapenos. The pork was a little too salty for my liking.
I rarely go down in the tunnels to get lunch. If I do again, there is a good chance I would go back here. It is definitely a step above the usual fast food.

I really had hopes this place would be good, it smells really good walking by it and there is always a long line. Sadly this place falls way short, all the way to the bottom, and it is the worst Vietnamese place I’ve eaten at ever.
I ordered the spicy pork vermicelli bowl. It came out fast and looked as you would expect it to, chopped up egg roll on top, lettuce on the bottom, noodles, pork, and the usual sauces that a vermicelli bowl comes with. Well, the egg roll was nothing spectacular, the noodles were either dry or just not done, and the pork — that pork was the driest and probably leftover from yesterday.
Typically you can fix a bland meal with hot sauce, but there is no cure for dry leftovers.
COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE QUALITY OF FOOD.

I just had the Beef Noodle Phở and it was pretty tasty. Pretty standard Phở, but definitely worth the convenient location. The cashier was quite pleasant and very helpful. While taking my to go order, she took into consideration the length of my journey back to work and suggested the noodles be packaged on the side rather than in the broth so they didn’t become over soft.
I’ll admit, due to my previous experience with their Banh Mi (below), I was very skeptical to return, but I’m very glad I did. I will definitely return for more Phở.
[Posted 8/​21/​13] This review is based solely on the Banh Mi I had a few days ago. This is the 2^nd worst Vietnamese sandwich I’ve ever had. I say 2^nd worst because the worst actually had cheese on it, which should NEVER be on/​in any traditional style Asian cuisine.
According to the chalk board menu in the restaurant, the Banh Mi was pretty standard. It gave me the impression it was going to contain my choice of meat with sauce, daikon carrots, jalapeño slices and cilantro (a sandwich so simple by design, but so delicious).
However, what I received was a sandwich containing, grilled pork (my choice) with a syrupy sweet sauce, cucumber triangles, lettuce (an amount to put Subway to shame) and a handful of daikon carrots mashed on top of everything else. The end result was just completely disappointing.
Although my Banh Mi experience was not the greatest, I will be returning to Café Basil to try the Phở which looks quite good. Fingers crossed.

I come here a lot for lunch — it is a bit pricey given what they are serving (8 bucks for a banh mi sandwich, 10 for a rice/​vermicelli noodle plate). What makes up for it is the speed of delivery. When you are out for lunch and don’t have a lot of time, this is a great option. Don’t be intimidated if there is a line out of the door, it moves rather quickly.

Can’t be compared with the more authentic Vietnamese places like Les Givrals or other viet restaurants in the outskirt of downtown or Chinatown, but its right next door to most downtown offices. I’ve only tried the vermicelli noodle with pork (I think about $ 8 or $ 9) and it tastes decent and the portion is generous. A bit overpriced but hey I’m paying for the convenience.
This Café is located in the W. Dallas basement tunnel, you can access it from Kinder Morgan building off Smith st. and Dallas st.

Second time here for lunch, still unimpressed. I remember it took me a while to pick something the first time, but not because there was a lot on the menu. In fact the menu was pretty limited, with not many changes over time. It was more because nothing jumped out, and it was the same this second time around too. I got the pork banh mi ($ 5.99). It tasted alright. The pork was not as thinly cut as some other places, but still flavorful. I do still prefer Les Givral’s though, with the better taste for half the price. I guess it’s that downtown tax…

I decided to try this establishment based on a coworkers recommendation. I expected to pay high prices because of the location. Everywhere in downtown is usually about 10 bucks for lunch.
I was in the mood for a rice dish so I ordered the caramelized sesame spicy chicken with rice. It was about 9 bucks.
The food came out rather quickly, I only waited about 7 minutes. I was disappointed as soon as I laid eyes on the plate. The 5 small pieces of chicken my dish came with were swimming in an oily sauce sprinkled with pepper flakes and raw sesame seeds. It looked horrible. I’m talking about the dry pepper flakes that come with your pizza in a little pouch.
It was hate at first bite. The oily sauce with the dry flakes of pepper and seeds were an awful combination. 9 dollars for that tiny amount of terribly served chicken was highway robbery, regardless of the location.
I tried my coworkers Phở, just to see how that stacked up. The broth was heavy with anise and sugar. Not the worst Phở I’ve tasted, but certainly NOT worth the price. The place was packed for lunch. People working downtown will apparently eat anything you place in front of them and pay ten dollars for it.
This place gets one star for terrible food and high prices. I’m sad right now just thinking about that awful, awful lunch.

This is My first visit to Café Basil an I have both positive and negative feelings on it.
The great things about Café Basil is they are very rapid and efficient about having your order ready. Also for being speedy food it is actually fair.
For this trip I tried their Phò Bò and Spring rolls. The broth on the phò had a very comfortable balance of spices and broth and was one of the better ones I’ve had. Thankfully the meat-​to-​noodle balance was perfect.
However there was a minor complaint I have about the noodles. Their noodles are closer to being glass/​vermicelli noodles versus the tried and beloved phò noodles.
Their spring rolls left my tummy sad though. It was a bit under cooked, as if it had been flash-​fried. And it was the equivalent of the poorly done frozen spring rolls from Nippon Daido.
All in all though it’s a comfortable lunch when you are in a rush and want Vietnamese. ⁴⁄₅ for doing as well as they can do under the pressures and circumstances for making Vietnamese for white people.

While i still think this place is a little over-​priced, I cannot blame them for it. The rent in the tunnels is expensive and I can’t expect to get Bellaire prices down here.
I had a chance to try their eggrolls fresh, and not as a part of the vermacelli bowl. I think their eggrolls are very good and decently sized. They seem expensive, but they are about twice the size as normal places.
Their banh mi is unlike any other I’ve had. Instead of adding a mayo, they season their meat in a juicy seasoning that tastes a bit like peanuts. They are not your classic banh mi, but they are good in their own right. The sandwiches could use a bit more meat, but that goes for most places. I give them a 3 ½ stars now, but will not round up due to pricing.