Basil Box is the newest addition to the food court at Square One Mall in Mississauga. They are an Asian fast-casual restaurant serving the exotic flavors of Thailand and Vietnam with a build-a-box concept. What I liked most about Basil Box was that they offer a healthier alternative to the array of fast-food options in the food court. Customers are able to customize their meal to their liking, and they also offer vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. I was invited to drop by Basil Box on their opening day to try their food for lunch, and I happily obliged as I was in the area for a meeting. 

I met Peter Chiu, the owner of Basil Box, that day as he was on hand getting consumer feedback. I also learned that Basil Box will be expanding, as they will be opening up a flagship full-service restaurant sometime by the end of the year. The upcoming flagship will be located in the Ryerson Learning Centre, which I am excited about as it's centrally located downtown.

Now onto Basil Box's build-a-box concept, which gives customers the ability to customize their box to their liking. They are able to choose their main base, 2 veggies, a protein (which determines the price), a sauce, and then topped it off with a topping. The instructions and available options are clearly displayed on the wall, so it was quite a helpful guide.

For my box, I chose short grain brown rice, lemongrass corn, roasted green beans, chili lime shrimp, sweet chili lime, and crushed peanuts. The portion that we got on opening day was comparably less than what people are getting today when they order from Basil Box. The reason for the change now was because Peter took the constructive criticisms from bloggers, and other customers on opening week into consideration, and increased the portion. I think it's great that he's dedicated to the product, and open to suggestions from customers.

I was pleasantly pleased that the food was really good, especially compared to the standards of what one would expect from a food court. The shrimp was nicely marinated, and I liked the slight kick from the
sweet chili lime sauce. The mango ginger ale soda - our ultra-refreshing Mango Ginger Ale Soda is carefully crafted with pure cane sugar. It’s GMO free, and best of all, it’s delicious, was a very refreshing sweet drink. Unfortunately, I am rarely up in Square One, so I can't really eat this again anytime soon. However, I am excited for their downtown launch sometime this winter, as I will definitely be a regular. Basil Box is definitely one of the more healthier options available in the food court, and is tasty too.

Address: 100 City Centre Drive, Mississauga, ON L5B 2C9 (Square One - Food Central)

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Disclaimer: The food provided in this post was complimentary. However, all of the opinions expressed in this review are of my own.