Holy Basil

So i've come back here twice in the past couple of weeks, giving them yet another chance /slash my friend's picked this joint for a catch up. So being a hit & miss restaurant, i tried not to judge.

Past visit reviews here & here.

Durian Shakes

But it didn't help, when our fruit shakes came out watery, and funny tasting. I didn't take a photo of my avocado & durian shake, but it was an off color, & watery tasting, and also a bit wierd tasting (Bich said it tasted like the avocado was off). Not a great start to the meal...

Chicken Pad Thai

Jeremy & Bich both shared this & the Duck curry, and having both tried these dishes before, they both agreed it was nicer the first time they had it 2 mths ago. The noodles in the pad thai weren't full coated in the sauce, so flavour was lacking.

Pad Kee Mao

Stir fried flat rice noodle with chilli, basil, chinese brocolli, capsicum, onions, bamboo, mushroom & carrot. Because i'd been here a few times already, i wanted to try something else on the menu. There was a good mixture of vegies in this dish which i liked, but again the flavour was a bit too bland for me. It was a fairly large portion, so i was really stuffed (too stuffed for desert hehe)

Duck Red Curry

The curry was a beautiful vibrant red, and while there were no complaints of the actual curry, there was minimal duck pieces in this dish. A disappointment to my meat eating friends. I would've liked it though, as there was quite a lot of vegies in there that i saw.

We asked for desert (despite our full stomachs) because after coming here 3 times, we've never tried dessert! Unfortunately they didn't have any deserts available... it was a friday night, roughly 7.30pm when we finished eating, and we really couldn't believe they had no desserts on offer??

* * *

So this being the 5th time i've come to HOLY BASIL/ i really do just keep hoping that they will improve, learn from mistakes, handle things abit more better (and improve in the kitchen).

This time it was me Anita & Trang. Trang had never been here, so it was her first time hehe.

watermelon shake, & coconut drink

The watermelon drink was really refreshing, as it was a hot day it got really watery quickly. So be the end of the meal, it was mainly just water with a slight hint of watermelon flavour.

Green curry with vegies

I was shocked at the colour of the curry, and it looked like clumpy bits of coconut milk on the top. it wasn't a very creamy curry (which is what i prefer) but i did like the variety of vegies included which were eggplant (yum) carrots, bamboo, broccoli & mushrooms.

Chicken Lad Naa

This dish was vibrantly colourful, & piled up nice & high. The stir fried flat rice noodle was topped with chicken, vegies, and then gravy ladled over the top.

soft shell crab

Anita chose something different this time, had this soft shell crab served with chilli jam, and had this with rice. "i've had better soft shell crab" she said. Mainly out in the city. At a price of $14.90, i think it was overpriced..

Trang's Lad Naa, after eating from the top down, she was left with just a lot of stir fried rice noodles, which lacked any nice flavour.

We eagerly asked if there was any dessert & hoorah!!, there was :)

Sticky rice with coconut & mango

The sticky rice was sitting over a pool of passionfruit juice & pulp, which is the first time i've seen anything like it. The coconut milk was served in a seperate shot glass, and half a mango sliced up on the other side of the plate. I was really happy with desert, & its presentation. I'd say this was the best presented dish i've had here.

Having been here so many times now, i'd say the food here is really just average. It's the location, decor and busy crowd that attracts customers to Holy Basil, but seeing a fair amount of their dishes, i wouldn't come here just for the food (maybe only, for the dessert hehe).