Restaurant Review: Sweet Basil Cafe

Great food does not always come wrapped in the glitz of a mega-town-center. In fact, you could be zipping  around Herndon and zoom right by this excellent little restaurant—it is tucked in a strip of stores just down from a 7-11 on McNair Road and Centreville Road  in the Clocktower Center of stores.

Sweet Basil Café has "SBC" on the overhead sign, but don't let that dissuade you. If you are looking for something extraordinary in seafood, or a zesty Cajun dish, or even a soothing homemade soup, you need to dine at this quaint café.

It is quiet and small, and decorated with subtle black and white timeless photographs in crisp black frames, white table cloths, with hardwood floor.  There is usually only one waitress, so they can get a little behind or your dishes might not get cleared promptly. But don't let those small slip ups cause you to miss the main event—a tortilla-chip encrusted rockfish that just exudes with flavor, crowned with fresh pico de gallo and a Cajun sauce drizzled over the top—it was fabulous. Equally amazing was the miso-marinated Chilean sea bass, served atop cilantro rice and wilted fresh spinach across the top. My taste buds were in shock. 

Start with their "ying & yang" soup creation—half the bowl is smooth black bean soup, and half is a creamy pepper jack cheese soup, drizzled with a green pepper sauce. It is smooth and satisfying for a lunch portion, or a shared appetizer. Or, if you want a zesty experience, their gumbo is the real deal, very thick, spicy and hearty. 

Portions are large for dinner, so share an entrée if you do not want a large amount of food. Their wine list is adequate, and the owner/chef suggested a dry California white wine to accompany our main courses.

At the end of our meal, we were thinking about asking for a dessert menu when the waitress announced "the chef is already creating something for you—complimentary." 

"Is that normal, to give a free dessert?" 

"Yes, when you order at least two dinners, the chef usually gives you a free dessert."  Well now, that is unique in restaurantdom. 

"So, if I just came in for a salad, no free dessert?" 

"That's correct, it would probably not be offered."

The chef is an amazing woman from Korea, named Kim, and when she is not working, likes to sit in a corner booth and read. It is long hours as a chef. She used to work as an assistant chef for the former owner, a German-Russian man, as she described him. 

"The landlord was not convinced that I could carry on his recipes, so he came in and I had to cook for him before he would allow me to take over this restaurant. After preparing these same dishes on the menu, he was impressed and let me purchase the restaurant—but only if I continued with these same signature recipes. I have since added some of my own." 

Over the years the restaurant has shrunk in size, according to her. "The bad economy was hard on a lot of businesses." Yet, after nine years, the cafe is still in business, which speaks for its loyal clientele.

The chef disappeared into the kitchen. Shortly thereafter we were served a square plate and in the four corners were fresh fruit, and in the center was a York-peppermint-sized dark chocolate circle, cut in half. "Be sure to eat the fruit first, otherwise you will not get the whole experience," instructed our waitress. "It is called Chocolate Diablo." We were glad we were obedient. The sweetness of the ripe fruits set the stage for the taste of the very, very rich chocolate morsel—just let that one melt in your mouth. It was a sensational ending to a fantastic meal.

Sweet Basil is not cheap. Dinner meals are $19 to $22, and soups for appetizers are all $5.50. A glass of wine was $6.95, so our total bill was over $60. But, the portions are large and the selection of seafood was first class, so, it was justified if you know how expensive quality seafood costs these days. For food value, and sheer taste, this is a restaurant that I plan to visit more when I want a quiet "date" night with my husband or close friends.