Red Basil Thai Kitchen Is At The Columbus Circle Holiday Market, Too!

As Anna wrote earlier this week, the Columbus Circle Holiday Market is going on now, and there are several great options for lunch. She sampled the empanadas from both Sizzle and La Sonrisa, as well as cider things at Breezy Hill Orchard. Plus, there’s Wafels & Dinges, German Delights Bratwurst and the Turkish pastries from MMM … Enfes that Brownie was a big fan of from the Bryant Park holiday fair. Shamefully omitted from the previous writeup was Red Basil Thai Kitchen, which hails from Astoria and has a stand between the Brats and the Turks.

There are lots of appetizer options available here. I tried the veggie dumplings ($5.95) listed in the “vegetarian snacks” area of the menu, thinking they would be akin to the appetizer portions one would get in a Thai restaurant. Instead of the usual 4-5 pieces per order, I received double that amount with a sweet soy dipping sauce, plus it came with salad topped with a delicious peanut dressing. The dumplings were more dough than I would prefer, but that made them more filling, making this dish feel like a meal in itself.

Unlike the appetizers, there are just two lunch options. The first is a red curry with jasmine rice that comes with your choice of protein — shrimp ($8.00), chicken or veggies (each $7.00). I ordered the other option: grilled chicken over yellow rice served with peanut sauce on top and the same salad as the dumplings ($8.00). The chicken had a really nice flame grilled taste to it and reminded me of satay, but larger pieces. The yellow rice was pretty standard until I hit a patch covered in peanut sauce from the chicken — that was good stuff.

To wash it all down, I highly recommend the hot ginger tea ($2.00). Made of real ginger pieces, the tea is warm, spicy, sweet and wonderfully reminiscent of the holidays. The perfect Asian alternative to cider from Breezy Hill Orchard!

Columbus Circle Holiday Market, Columbus Circle

2 Comments

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    How authentic were the dishes as I’ve never encountered yellow rice at a Thai restaurant before.

  • I went there yesterday. I had the red curry with shrimp. The red curry seemed muted in flavor and I’m not convinced the shrimp was fully cooked. It was a very average meal. I really miss Pies ‘n Thighs.

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