Article by Peter Roos
Where I was raised, if we went out to eat or got takeout, we often opted for oriental cuisine. The food was always fresh and reasonably priced, with plenty of vegetables and delicious sauces. Won ton soup and egg rolls with duck sauce were a bonus. When we moved to Florida over 50 years ago we discovered it was more difficult to find a Chinese restaurant worth going to. Once we moved to the beach, we made a discovery that changed our lives.
Just a few blocks from home, however, we found a Thai restaurant, which offered some dishes that closely resembled what we were used to, and a whole lot more. Nori Thai at 7612 Blind Pass Road in St. Pete Beach quickly became more than just a favorite dining spot. It became a second office and meeting place where we would invite folks to meet us for lunch during the week or dinner anytime. Eventually, eight years ago, the Thai owner Suwanna, retired and sold the restaurant to her most loyal waitress, Joy.
Joy redecorated and over the next 5 years built up business at Nori Thai to the point that she looked around for another Thai restaurant to expand into. Three years ago she took over at St. Pete Beach’s other Thai restaurant, Basil Leaf Thai Sushi and Noodles at 6395 Gulf Blvd., across from the Post Card Inn. Located across from the hotels on Gulf Boulevard, Basil Leaf keeps different hours, opening for lunch at noon seven days a week and staying open all afternoon until about 10pm, while Nori Thai serves lunch only on weekdays and closes from 2:30-4:30pm. Both restaurants offer an amazing variety of Thai and Japanese cuisine and the menus have something for everyone.
While many recipes and Thai dishes are the same at the two restaurants, Basil Leaf offers a number of sushi specialties that are not on the Nori Thai menu. Both restaurants offer roughly the same list of 12 soups, 10 salads, 16 starters, five popular curries (Panang is my favorite), 10 traditional Thai dishes that are offered in lunch or dinner portions, and at least six types of fried rice. Basil Leaf also offers seven choices of keto-friendly, low-carb, rice-less sushi rolls wrapped in thin sliced cucumber and three rice paper wraps, two of which are vegetarian, all served with delicious peanut sauce. Both restaurants ask if you like it spicy. You can say no thanks, or request mild, medium, hot or Thai hot.
Since restaurants reopened after the pandemic closure, both places have been doing great business in takeout and delivery. For takeout, call Basil Leaf at 727-360-4000. Stop by either restaurant and grab a to-go menu. For delivery, Joy recommends Uber Eats. If you order, please tell them you read about them in Paradise NEWS.
Also, the couple has recently taken over the Super 7 convenience store just north of Nori Thai, across Blind Pass Road from Mastry’s Brewery. It is now friendlier and cleaner than ever.