Anyways, luckily for us, a new Holy Basil opened up in Shark Hotel right opposite our home!
May I just begin by saying the location was a fantastic idea on behalf of the Holy Basil management team because the bistro area of Shark Hotel was complete and utter shit. They used to advertise a $9.95 'buffet'. (The fake kind where you get to do 1 round of plate stacking, sit down and then forever be banned from going for seconds) To give you an idea of how the food was, my friend quoted "The best thing there was the toast..."
So we ventured up the long flight of stairs and arrived at the famed Holy Basil!
My first impression was a very classic Asian style restaurant but once you enter inside, the interior design is very modern and stylish. The main feature is a glass slide with a waterfall inside, the general ambience reminded me of a Star City Casino restaurant.
The first time we visited, this waterfeature had a crack in the glass and was leaking onto the seats in front of it, so compared to that time I'd say this visit was much of an improvement!
Just a quick note, Holy Basil is famed for having very spicy Laos dishes (well at least the one in Canley Vale is). On the menu, every dish is customisable to your own chilli levels. The first time we visited, we opted with the heaviest level of Chilli but were quite disappointed with the results. However I will delve more into this later.
Anyways on to the dishes!
NOK TOD (Marinated Quails) 6 pieces - $10.90
Deep Fried crispy marinated Quails.
We went with 6 people so this entree was perfect and great value too! The quail is seasoned perfectly and the sauce that came with it is quite spicy for chilli lovers. I generally rate chilli levels by imagining splashing it into my eyes and the degree of burning pain I would feel would decide the level of spicyness and I can honestly say this dipping sauce is one thing I would NOT like splashed into my eyes. The skin is light and crispy but not too oily and when you bite into the quail, the meat is tender and juicy. Would highly recommend as a starter because for $10.90, that works out to be $1.80 each!
YUM NUA (Thai Beef Salad) - $14.90
Marinated beef strips wok-tossed in a salad of Spanish onions, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber; mixed with herbs of coriander, shallots, chilli powder, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and mint leaves.I really enjoyed this dish as the beef was chewy, but not the overcooked annoying kind, it gave the meat substance in your mouth so it's a different experience to tender raw beef. The salad was zesty, tangy and overall quite refreshing. This salad would hold it's own if ordered by itself as theres quite a big portion of veggies and meat. The first time we went to Holy Basil we opted for the heaviest level of chilli but were quite disappointed with the curries, but this time I asked the waitress what was the most spiciest thing on the menu and she said the salads (at the heavilest level of chilli) would cause the most burning pain when rubbed directly on the pupil (something along those lines). She was correct. We ordered this salad at the weakest level and it was already pretty hot, I can only imagine what the spiciest level would be like. Definitely recommend this dish for lovers of chilli. I've also been told by the waitress that the Papaya Salad Laos Style is the spiciest thing on the menu, so I'll definitely try that next time!
Watermelon Blend - $5.50
I'm a huge fan of watermelon so this drink was pure heaven. The flavour was very natural and you can tell they only used the sweetest parts of the watermelon in season for this blend. Placebo mint leaf placed on top for that placebo refreshing thirst quenching summer feel. I noticed they had a durian drink on the menu too which I'm curious to try next time. Although one of the girls wanted to order the durian drink that night but was worried her breath would stink. I tried to reassure her by saying it's probably not that bad and to emphasise my point, I said to the waitress "Come on, help me out here, is the Durian REALLY that smelly?" to which the waitress replied simply "Yes it is! ^_______^"
Stir fried flat rice noodles with sweet soy sauce, egg and Chinese broccoli.
At first I was a bit sceptical as this was a bit sweeter than most of the Pad See Ew's but you soon get used to it and it goes really well with the overall ingredients of the dish. I couldn't fault the noodles or sauce at all but the beef was a bit of a letdown as this was the annoying kind of chewy which meant it was slightly overcooked and very tough to chew. Maybe next time I'll try the Lamb version.
GANG MASAMAN (Beef Masaman Curry) - $16.90
This moderately hot curry has many characteristics of southern Thai cooking. The flavour from sweet potato and spices of star anise, cinamon and bay leaves are distinguishable, yet balanced by a sour taste from tamarind.
This moderately hot curry has many characteristics of southern Thai cooking. The flavour from sweet potato and spices of star anise, cinamon and bay leaves are distinguishable, yet balanced by a sour taste from tamarind.
So we've discussed good kind of chewy and annoying kind of chewy beef today and this beef falls out of both of those categories, it is the type that is extremely tender and just melts in your mouth which was surprising because the chunks of beef were quite large. It was a little awkward splitting the beef between 6 people as it was like 3 massive chunks. I'm not a huge fan of Masaman curry so I don't have too many memories of this dish, I personally find Masaman curry to be quite boring and plain. Pretty filling dish as it comes with sweet potatoes. Served with a star anus hidden underneath the curry.
So I was curious what Gang meant in Laos, so I tried to google it and I hope this helps.
Alrighty! Now onto my favourite dish at Holy Basil!
GANG PED YANG (Red Curry Roast Duck) - $17.90
Often served during traditional family feasting, this specialty dish has an abundant of flavours from lychees, pineapple, cherry tomato, sweet basil, fresh chillies, green bananas and kaffir lime leaves cooked with cuts of roast duck.This is by far my favourite dish at Holy Basil. The duck is boneless, packed with meat, the skin is crispy and full of flavour. There are also pieces of lychee and pineapple which adds a refreshing fruity sweetness to the curry. Normally I loathe fruit with meat dishes (like Hawaiin Pizzas, ham and pineapple is an interracial relationship that I will NEVER accept). But this curry pulls it off so well because the overall dish is quite sweet. One spectacular thing I remember was that the cherry tomatoes were SO GODDAMN ripe and they exploded inside my mouth. No really, you have to experience the explosions of the cherry tomato goodness yourself to believe it.
Renactment of inside my mouth:
The only downside to this dish is that the rice disappears too quickly once you pour the curry over it.
Holy Basil Fried Ice Cream (Famous and most sought after) - $13.90
Okay, when I said the duck curry was my favourite dish, I meant my favourite MAIN dish, because this dessert is definitely on par with the duck curry. This dessert deserves to hold the signature dish status of Holy Basil. The initial reaction at the table when this dessert first arrived was "Oh shit, we need to order another one..." The pastry outside is very thin and crispy and blends perfectly with the naturally sweet vanilla ice cream filling. There are pieces of sultanas for extra natural sweetness and the lightly sprinkled sugar on top is good enough to snort for a quick high. Also served with a placebo mint and placebo strawberry for decoration but realistically can't be shared amongst 6 people. This dish is a MUST for anyone embarking on the holy journey to this restaurant. Maybe order 2 if you have a group of more than 3 people.
Miscellaneous:
The steamed rice was very hard and dry but I guess it absorbs the curry well? But if I had it with a non-curry dish, I'd be pretty pissed.
The service was quite good as we went at a pretty busy time of the night but it never took long for us to get their attention. The food arrived in a reasonable amount of time and the staff were all friendly and helpful with all our questions.
Overall ambience was very relaxed and the dim lighting sets the mood for a genuine Laos experience.
Well actually...
Okay so at the end of the night, we realised we pretty much went to a Laos restaurant and only ordered traditionally Thai dishes. Next time I promise myself I'll try the Papaya Laos Salad! But for about $20 per head, we had leftovers which meant we were all well fed for quite a reasonable price. In conclusion, a highly satisfying experience was had by all and I would definitely recommend this place!
Holy Basil Shark Hotel
Address: Shark Hotel 127 Liverpool St, Sydney NSW 2000Phone: 9283 8284
Lunch 12pm - 3pm
Dinner 5pm - 12 Midnight
Website: http://www.holybasil.com.au/
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