Address: | 14572 Big Basin Way, Saratoga, CA 95070, USA |
Phone: | +1 408-867-1906 |
Site: | thebasin.com |
Rating: | 4.3 |
Working: | 5–10PM 5–10PM 5–10PM 5–10PM 5–11PM 5–11PM 5–10PM |
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David Liang
Food: 3 Decor: 4 Service: 3 I came here with my brother and my friend for dinner. After scanning the menu, we decided on the following items: 1. Paella Pequeña, 14 (La bomba arroz, shrimp-vegetable stock, saffron, sweet smoked paprika, chorizo, shrimp) Pretty good paella, one of the best Ive had. 2. Truffle Fries, 7 (Made to order with black peregord truffle salt) Okay. You can definitely taste the truffles, but the portions were huge and the texture was similar to McDonald fries, albeit slightly less greasy. Then again, Ive been avoiding pizza/burgers/fries, so I probably wouldnt have liked the fries no matter how good they were. 3. Dungeness Crab Pasta, 26 (Flambeé pernod liquor, rosé cream sauce, garlic, shallots, arbole chile) Okay, but only for the first 6-7 bites. After that, you get really sick of it since its pretty much just a bunch of pasta with some crab in it. 4. The One and Only MacFarland Trout (Todays, Monday, Featured Sustainable Fish), 27 (crispy-skinned, boneless large rainbow filet, thyme-parsley-garlic lemon preserve, sauteé of green beans, shallot, exotic shrooms) Delicious. Trout was cooked well, nice and crispy, but I thought the green beans were mediocre. 5. Handmade Daily Ravioli, 23 (Italian sheeps milk ricotta and butternut squash, parmigiano-reggiano, touch of cream and shallot, toasted hazelnuts, orange zest, sage) Pretty good. You can definitely taste all of the individual components. However, they give you 6 pieces of ravioli, and I did get a bit sick of it after eating 3. Total was $130 after tax/tip. Tip: get a couple different dishes and share them since youll probably get sick of your own dish if you eat it all.
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Mike Grattan
First, lets get the obvious out of the way; OpenTable says this is a $$ restaurant. When a glass of wine starts at $11 for the cheapest no-name wine that probably cost $9 for the whole bottle, you know this is not a two-dollar-sign restaurant. A glass of Figge Pinot Noir was $15, and a bottle was $60. This is a decent Pinot Noir, and at restaurants in my area (Monterey), its usually a $40 - $45 bottle of wine ($32 retail). On the whole, Id say the menu prices should put this at a $$$ rating. Yelp and Trip Advisor have it properly rated as a $$$ restaurant. Service was slow. Our server was nice and friendly, but seemed like he had to spend a lot of time at other tables and ours was almost an afterthought. Ambience was noisy, and the overall atmosphere shouted out needs updates and remodeling. The tables and chairs are worn out, and the restaurant in general appears to be overdue for a good remodel. Food was average; the pasta for my wife was lacking in flavor, and the serving size was on the small side. It was advertised as being peppery, but was lacking in seasoning. It definitely could have used more pancetta as well. The Argentine BBQ Style steak was good, but not great; the meat was on the tough side, even though I asked for it to be cooked medium rare. The fries included with this dish were definitely of the frozen variety; probably Ore-Ida. I know a lot of restaurants use frozen fries, but that really shouldnt be on the menu when a skirt steak dish costs $30. They probably should have done something else for the side, such as grilled root vegetables. Overall, I would give this restaurant experience 2.5 stars.
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Annie Shin
I came here for twice dinner and really enjoyed it! Its a nice, small, classy restaurant located in Downtown Saratoga. Everything here (atmosphere, service, food, drinks) was so great!!! Top two highlights of my experiences here: - House Cured Wild Salmon: I REALLY, REALLY liked this appetizer. The fresh salmon, honey glazed onions, cheese, capers, bread........ amazing combo. I want to go back, sit at the bar by myself, and eat 23940283904234 plates of this. MMMMMMMMMMMMMM. - Romanico (red wine): recommended by the manager, and I loved it... It went really well with the appetizer. I want to eat at the outdoor section next time!
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Mihir Meghani
Vegetarian & vegan friendly. Service overall good though one of the hosts had a rough edge to her. It is a high end restaurant, probably for the location as well in high priced Saratoga. Good atmosphere. Food was good overall. Watch out for extra charges that they did not inform us about for splitting a pasta & for extra sauce on the rather dry but garlicky tasty arabiata. The flatbread was good. The roasted cauliflower was really good. This was more than enough food, with their complimentary bread & olive oil. There is street parking & free public parking lots.
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Hans Helmudt
Im not a long winded yelper so I keep it short but dont mistake that for a lack of enthusiasm. O have been coming to the Basin for 15 years and it has always surpassed my expectations. The food is sustainable and organic, the fish is of the highest quality, the meats are all part of the never ever program and the atmosphere is relaxing and fun. I fine here as often as I can. Do yourself a favor and check it out.
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S. Brittany Myers
Wine was great and thats all I have to say thats positive... Duck was cooked well but tasted as if it was slathered in jelly from the grocery store and then baked. Pasta was slightly overdone and contained about 10,000 cloves of garlic. App was overpriced ($26.00) and entirely not worth it. (A bastardized version of foie gras) Oh, and we waited 30 mins between app and entree. Will not be back.
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Steven Sill
Went here for the first time with my wife. The food, the cocktails, and service were all excellent. I highly recommend sitting on the patio for a refreshing ambience. Tables are not too close together, so you never have to sorry about the person at the next table banging into you when they get up. Definitely will come back here.
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Howard Goldbaum
My GF and I had a casual dinner at the bar. We shared a seafood gumbo, a trout, and two drinkst. The seafood gumbo was OUT OF THIS WORLD. The trout was also excellent. The drinks were mixed right, and served promptly. This is not the cheapest restaurant around, but it is a fun place to go.
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A Private User
I love The Basin. Quality, quality, quality. Nothing but the best ingredients. They make the best cesar salad I have ever tasted. I also crave the ice cream desert with espresso (which I can not spell)- avagmello- and chocolate shavings. I want one right now.
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Ashish Kelkar
Excellent local fares and American food, the roasted cauliflower, croquetas are excellent appetizers. The fish and pasta dishes are great for the main course. They will almost always have specials based on seasonal availability of fish, lamb and other meats.
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Paul Wilcox
This is my favorite of the downtown Saratoga restaurants. Its got a more intimate, neighborhood feel to it. Pretty good cocktail menu. Weve usually had outstanding service, especially from the host whos very accommodating without being intrusive.
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Jon Chan
Great spot in downtown Saratoga. The best dish by far is the wild mushroom rigatoni -- ive always tried looking for a restaurant that can do the wild mushroom rigatoni better, but the intense umami flavor they infuse in the dish is amazing.
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Brianna Tomlinson
We sat at the bar, and the staff was amazing and helpful. We had the chicken with potatoes, duck, and trout. They recommended a great wine and the mixed drinks were interesting and had a great flavor. Id definitely eat here again.
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Tom Li
We had foie gras with apple, duck breast and pork chops. Very good overall esp the foie gras. I prefer the pork chops over the duck breast but I think I like the porkchops we had recently at gastropub in San Jose better
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David Frederick
Food was yummy, James gave us great suggestions on the menu. My kids loved the truffle fries, and what(?!) enjoyed the Caesar salad and squash special. Loved the homemade rigatoni mushroom and dark chocolate sorbet...