Blue Basil

After a google search, I found a new hidden gem in Cairnhill place , The Blue Basil Cafe.Bar.Grill. I actually kind of lost my way and thus I decided to seek help from The Somerset Residences. Luckily, the front office lady was helpful enough to print out the map for me and I managed to find the Restaurant. The blue basil is housed in a bungalow, nobody would expect a restaurant to be located at the deserted place. The decor is simple and the interior is quite cosy. From the name, you would have somehow guessed that their food must be related to basil leaves. One of the chef & owner are Indians and that explains why the food served are infused with indian flavours. Even most of the magazines provided here are Indian magazines. They have a set lunch/dinner menu from Mon-Thur and ala-carte available as well. Weekend brunch are also available. The food served is of Western influences. From the Lava Stone grill: There is a choice of 1 side, 1 starch and sauce. Grilled Exotic Vegetables ($15.90++) Grilled Zucchini & Peppers Vegetarians can feast on Zucchini and Peppers They served huge pieces of green and red peppers, well grilled with a little smoky flavour. I like the tomatoes, which were a little charred and retained the juicness.The Zucchini ( green & yellow) were awesome! They were also well-grilled. Anyway, my only comment: Excellent! The Side I had the vegetable of the day- Ratatouille. Diced eggplants, zucchini, onions and capsicums slow cooked in tomato based sauce. The vegetables were crunchy and they were generous with the serving. The Starch: Blue Basil Pilaf Rice Actually I wanted to have the Pasta salad but unfortunately it is not available. Thus, the waiter recommended the popular basil pilaf rice. They used basmatic rice and the rice grains were fluffy and fragrant with onions and chopped basil leaves. The Sauce Highly recommended the Basil Pesto sauce! Well, I had this vegetarian dish thus it would definately goes well with blue basil sauce. The sauce is creamy and fragrant, with bits of minced garlic and a little saltish flavour. I fell in love with the sauce and even asked for extra sauce! The waiter gladly served a freshly prepared sauce for me, how thoughtful! Blue Basil Lemon Sorbet ($5.90) I really regretted not ordering 2 scoops of this sorbet. The sorbet is infused with lemon/lime and goodness of basil leaves. Although I can’t taste any basil flavour in it, it’s awesome and refreshing. It is excellent during a hot and warm day and after a heavy meal. The service here is attentive and friendly. I would definately come back again, for the sorbet and the SAUCE!

read about this place & finally managed to have my x'mas dinner over here....

luckily i went for the late dinner at 10pm where there wasnt much a crowd then. the festive meal was alright...just right for a balanced meal.

what i liked best was the ambience...maybe its quiet at this hour....but with the jazzy music, i tot it was a right place to have a comfortable meal and lazed awhile.

likely we would be back again.......happy to discover this place.

We visited Blue Basil for late lunch on Saturday afternoon.

The shop house location near Orchard Road sounded good on paper but the set up inside is not exceptional. The bar/restaurants located inside the shop houses at the Orchard Road end of Emerald Hill Road seem to have more decorative charm albeit busier and noisier. Maybe during dinner Blue Basil has different ambience and feels cozier vs lunch time.

The best thing about Blue Basil was the service. It was very good, attentive and extremely polite. Food wise we were a little dissapointed, probably because we expected more.

We ordered soups for starters, the soup of the day (chicken) was average in taste and texture while the cream of wild mushroom soup was ok.

The mains we ordered did not live up to expectations. The grilled chicken drumlets were fine but definitely had much better before at other restaurants. The Lamb Shoulder Rack which is one of the recommended dishes on the menu comprised of two lamp cutlets, plus veggies and fries (you have a choice). The lamb cutlets were not very tender and the sauce was average. For a price of $29.90 I expected more from this dish.

Blue Basil definitely has room to improve.

I always like to try places which are 'hidden' from public eyes. It just gave the restaurant another sense of mysteries.

When I was looking for a place to celebrate my friend's birthday. Blue basil came out while clicking at Hungry Go Where. Looking at the reviews, i decided to bring 10 of my friends to Blue Basil.

Overall, didnt regret my choice of bring my friends over. We love the ambiance, service and of course, the reasonable price set by the restaurant. I will definitely go back again

Yes, You'll think no one actually bothers to click on those shifty looking advertisements on a website, but think again. Like x s, I first spotted Blue Basil while surfing FB. haha! and then I decided to pop over to look at the reviews in this website to see if the buffet was worth a try. and yes, I was enamoured by the way it looked, the cosy casual ambience, just nice for a evening night out.

Location?
We decided to go on a Monday to try it out, ended up getting a little lost around Cairnhill road. Turns out it was really near the main road on a short line of a total of 4 shophouses. So, don't be deceived and try turning into those private estates like we did! The place looked really cozy and nice when we entered, and well, it was really quiet on a monday, just another family beside us throughout the dinner.

Rating:
While I was prepared beforehand to see a small spread, our first take on the buffet spread was still admittedly rather disappointing. As I remembered though, that the review was that though the spread could look rather depressing, it was really delicious, so yea, we decided to give it a go in the end.

Their salad was plain and simple. It was quite fresh, so yea, thumbs up for that. (3.5/5 stars.)

They had a few mains, chicken, dory fish, baked beans and sausages, ratatouille and mini baked potatoes. Dory and chicken turned out pretty well, kudos on the sauce for the dory fish. Baked baby potatoes ain't as awesome as I thought it would. Was kinda looking forward to it after that lovely description from the review. We both agreed that it could have been way better and enjoyable had there been more variety. However, judging by the weekday crowd, especially a Monday? It would also seem understandable that they cut down on the choices. On the overall? I would rate the mains a (3.5 / 5 stars.)

For desert, they had a choice of vanilla, chocolate and summerberry. Can't be a good judge on that cause we both chose the chocolate. Chocolate always wins hands down. Period. We would give it a (3.5/5 stars.)

We both ordered their house wine, it was going at $7 nett for the promotion due to end in May. Boyfriend chose the red, while I chose the white. Personally, I was never a fan of red wine but my company for the evening said it was rather nice for its aftertaste. As for the white wine? It was okay. And so if you consider the price for the wine? Go right ahead. =)

i saw this place advertising on FACEBOOK. curiously, just clicked it and read a few reviews, and its own website, and saw the promotion for their "international" dinner buffet for 24.90 before tax. decided to give it a try to satisfy cravings for buffets.

its a bit of walk from paragon to the isolated place along cairnhill road, about 5 minutes. place was a 2-story kind of colonial shophouse, interesting front.

interior lightings were warm and there was NOBODY else (at 6.45pm, and it was empty even till we left the place at 8.30pm). Felt like our own private restaurant!

At first glance, the buffet set up wasn't that appetizing. almost ordered ala-carte instead of going for the planned buffet dinner.

but heck, i decided with my original plan of having the buffet, and along with my friends too. and we didn't regretted. the taste of the food was great, even though the buffet style looked not very presentable.

they had 6 vegetable dishes and grills of 3 meats.

salad, crabmeat on a nicely sliced bread and coleslaw was the cold dishes. the crabmeat on bread was lovely. coleslaw was kind of normal, nothing special.

there was spicy stir-fried vegetables, didn't fit any of our taste, didn't had much. and rice steamed with corn (not bad, sweet due to corn)

there was this nicely roasted potatoes (the small 50cent size of potatoes) which was great. nicely roasted and herbs.

grills wise. chicken grills were great as well. nicely done, juicy and tender bits of chicken. and the chef changed the sauce as well! at first, it was this very light wine sauce, then the second servings came out and the chicken was in cream sauce! both were nicely done.

the cod fish (i think) was great as well. though a tad too salty for some people, including me, fish was soft, and the sauce mixed well with the fish.

sausages and beans were pretty good. the sausages used were those you would find at german pubs.. Not bad la..

SERVICE WAS EXCELLENT. *maybe because no one else BUT the waiter was very attentive and personalised. answered our questions very patiently, and very professionally.

they offered 1 serving of either choc or vanilla ice cream at the end.

oh, we bought 2 bottles of housewine to go along with the white grilled meats. pretty decent price at $39 a bottle.

total bill was $300 for 7 pax. $30 after tax for buffet, plus somemore for the 2 bottles of house wine.

I tried Blue Basil on the weekend and left with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I appreciated the polite and efficient service, as well as the ambience, but on the other, I did not feel that the food was worth writing home about.

The restaurant / bar is located in a traditional shophouse on Cairnhill Road, basically some 5 mins walk up from Paragon. Thus, it is great to find an independent restaurant right in the heart of Orchard Road. The atmosphere inside is cosy, relaxing and it certainly feels miles away from Orchard.

The service is exceedingly prompt and polite, as most other reviewers have commented upon. Almost too prompt though - our soup came immediately after we ordered, before we even ordered wine! The waiter attending was also very polite and professional.

The food, however, I felt was left wanting. We had two soups to start, the tomato and mushroom soups. These were good, had a good taste and texture to them, although the mushroom soup seemed a tad oily. Also, maybe its just my preference, but I like soups to be piping hot, so could have been a tad hotter as well.

For maincourses we chose from the grill. I had the grilled prawns accompanied by mixed veggies and french fries with the Blue Basil sauce, while my partner had the mixed veggies grill. The problem I found was that these dishes lacked character. The french fries and mixed veggies on my side were a bit cold and soggy. Whilst the grilled prawns were done well, it just reminded me of a recent BBQ I attended where our host was able to replicate the dish by slabbing a couple of prawns onto the Barby quite easily. Also, I probably made the mistake of choosing the wrong sauce, as I think a spicier / Asian sauce would have gone better. Thus, the problem overall was simply nothing special.

Would I recommend this restaurant? Certainly if you're around Paragon / Takashimaya and want to try something more independent and less crowded. But I'm not sure I would make the effort to drive all the way just to eat here.

On the stretch of road right in the middle of town, at Singapore’s very own Fifth Avenue. Our shopping paradise. Before the new contender Ion takes over, the crown belongs to Paragon. Standing at the cross junction, we found ourselves lost, clearly it seems the journey to finding the spice wasn’t as easy as we thought. Heading up towards Mount E, we scaled on, in search of our final destination, Blue Basil.

Addiction for salmon. We ordered the Norwegian Salmon ($19.90) almost spilt seconds after seeing it on the menu. With the choice of sauce being their signature blue basil pesto, bonquet of vegetables and roasted baby potatoes as companions. The Norwegian salmon was fresh, the sweetness of the fish twittered on our tongue. The blue basil pesto did not completely brought out the freshness of the salmon, something was amiss, I couldn’t make out what.

Addiction for pasta. My cravings for the Italian staple saw us ordering the Linguini Ragout Pollo ($15.90). While there wasn’t any exotic ingredients, a good home-made chicken Bolognese was always a welcome. The taste of fresh tomatoes, not those cans type was a relief. The pasta section at Blue basil isn’t very comprehensive, but this one, have done enough.

Addiction for ice cream & baileys. A close fight between the raspberry cream bruleé and the Baileys gelato served on crushed ice & baileys liqueur ($9.90), with the latter winning of course. The baileys and ice-cream expert gave her verdict that this was good stuff, so it was. The baileys gelato, were pure, and the baileys used were generous, unlike some places which served diluted versions. And eating crushed ice with gelato brought the novelty to another level. Your happy booster.

Total bill was $48.90 for the food with a 7% GST, and no service charge. Blue basil met my expectations, with its use of the spice in almost all their dishes. Prices are affordable for the range of variety it provided, and being right in the middle of town, they offered you with a very good option, albeit you must take a 10minutes walk from Paragon. Actually i like their location because although it’s in town, but not many people know about the place, and it eludes the your-own-place-feel. Well, it’s certainly not a bad place for an romantic dinner, but for taking photo-wise, it isn’t very friendly. I’ll probably make a perennial visit for lunch instead. See you there!

You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!

has a lovely Blue Basil. It's "bookmarked" as one of the restaurants I have in mind when it comes to special occasions, like birthday or girls night out. On Wednesday night, I was given the task to organise a small birthday get together. As it was a last minute decision I decided to go ahead with Blue Basil, located just 10 minutes stroll away from Orchard Paragon. My friends were asking where am I bringing them this time and I told her we're gonna pluck herbs up the hill, so we went up the "hill", crossed 2 traffic lights and tadah...we arrived at BLUE BASIL.

Our tables were all set and awaiting our arrival. A small perk for reservation, don't need to stand and wait for them to set the tables.

After looking thru the menu, we decided on the following:

1. Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup - $6.90 x 3
2. Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup - $5.90 (my order)
3. Grilled Portobello Mushrooms with Cheese - $10.90
4. Grilled Chicken Drumlets - $9.90
3. Grilled Veggy Bruchetta $6.90
6. Cray Fish with Broccoli, Mashed Potatoes and Balsamic - $19.90
7. King Prawn with Broccoli, Mashed Potatoes and Blue Basil Pesto Sauce - $22.90 (my order)
8. King Prawn with Broccoli, Mashed Potatoes and Hot Garlic Sauce - $22.90
9. King Prawn with Corn on the cob, Roasted Baby Potatoes and Peppery Espagnole - $22.90
10. Blue Basil Lemon Sorbet (small) - $5.90
11. Raspberry Crème Brulee - $6.90
12. A bottle of white (which I didn't managed to see the bottle before they clear it) - $59.00

Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup- Light on cream and rich on shrooms. You get a to bite on the small pieces of mushrooms with every sip you take. Rated: 6.8 over 10.

Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup- I'm not a tomato lover, but I just have soft spot for tomato soup. Strange isn't it? The tomato soup here is tangy and light on your taste bud. A nice way to prepare your stomach for the mains. Rated: 7 over 10.

Grilled Portobello Mushroom with Cheese - When this dish was served, it was already tad cold, so it doesn't taste as good and it look really miserable, just two small pieces and not appetising looking. The taste is ok but easily forgettable. (IMO) Rated: 5 over 10.

Grilled Chicken Drumlets - Come in 5 drumlets. Nicely done and well seasoned. Meat is juicy and flavourful. It's well liked by the group. Rated: 6.9 over 10.

Veggy Bruchetta – This dish is different from your usual bruchetta, this one comes topped with exotic vegetables instead of your usual tomatoes. It comes in 5 pieces and I had 2 serving. I like the crunchy texture on the exotic vegetable. It feels healthy too! :) Rated: 6.5 over 10

Finally down to the main…just as long as we waited for it that the restaurant.

Grilled Crayfish with Balsamic Sauce – My friend wanted to order the baby promfret but it was sold out. She decided to choose the crayfsh. The flesh of the crayfish is softer than the prawns and I like it too. It might taste better with the blue basil pesto (IMO). Rated: 7.5 over 10.

Grilled King Prawns with Broccoli and Mashed Potatoes w Blue Basil Pesto Sauce – I know I will order this even before reaching the restaurant. The past reviews on the grilled prawns are just too hard to resist. The prawns here are grilled to perfection and the blue basil sauce compliments the prawns really well, I wish there were more of it. Mashed potatoes are nice and buttery; broccoli was a little too soft for my liking. Rated: 7.8 over 10.

Grilled King Prawns with Hot Garlic Sauce – My friend who LOVES garlic heart this sauce. The whole plate was clear when we left. :) (not rating this as I didn’t try it)

Grilled King Prawns with Peppery Espagnole Sauce and Roasted Baby Potatoes and Corn on the Cob – This was the least favourite among the 3. Just tad spicy and that’s about it. Rated: 6.5 over 10.

Raspberry Crème Brulee – Is for sweet tooth! It’s creamy and sweet. I love it, but my friend seems to find it too sweet. I like how the hard exterior breaks into the soft creamy custard. The raspberry puree is a delight too. Rated: 7.8 over 10.

Blue Basil Lemon Sorbet – A refreshing dessert with a sweet aftertaste. It’s another alternative for people who don’t like the crème brulee. Rated: 7 over 10.

***Overall a pleasant place to have dinner and hold small private parties. Pretty good selection of wine, recommendations and service are good too. I had the 25% off 2nd main and wine all thanks to HGW’s promo. Come and have a good time in this little gem.

*photos will be up soon*

My friend brought me to this place one evening.

We only ordered drinks and desserts, didn't manage to try out their main course. The apple crumble and tea taste average and nothing speacial.

The ambience is really good, for romantic dinning, or for a little catch up with friends. You can also choose to sit outside, but without air con and facing a heavy traffic road.

It is abit expensive for 2 drinks and 2 desserts, maybe the ambience worth that but definitely not the food i tried.