Birds Eye Vegetable Fingers

Before i stopped eating meat - i used to LOVE eating oven baked goodies like fish fingers, chicken nuggets, potato gems, potato chips, all those sorts of things. I remember back in high school, i would come home at 3 and put all these things under the grill and keep an eye on them, my two younger sisters would wait eagerly with their plate of tomato and BBQ sauce, waiting to dig in.

I miss fish fingers & chicken nuggets, so when i saw these at Coles supermarket - i had to buy them to try, hoping they would be like the real deal fish fingers i used to eat (alot) hehe.

One thursday night, i chucked a whole box of these under the grill, along with two handfuls of potato gems. Richard & I, armed with mayonnaise and ketchup, excitedly waiting for them to turn golden brown so we can eat (and watch UnderBelly heehee).

They look like fish fingers, with their bread crummy outsides, and inside, hot vegie mush consisting of peas carrots & potato. I much prefer these, as there was no fishy smell or taste. Oven baked (instead of frying) means there is less calories, and they didn't take too long at all. Only about 15 minutes under the grill (turning them over at half time).

These were great i just LOVE anything rolled in breadcrumbs and then grilled/fried. I wish junk food didn't have the high calorie price tag attached to them, i wish healthy food could taste as good as things like this.

White chocolate macadamia brownies

These brownies are the most moist that i've ever had - and i prefer them moist actually! SOOO simple to make, a quick & easy foolproof brownie mix that anyone can have a go at making.

300g dark choc, chopped

115g unsalted butter, chopped

150g castor sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup plain flour

180g white choc, chopped

100g unsalted macadamias, chopped

Preheat oven to 180'C. Line a 20cm square tin with non stick baking paper.

Place dark chocolate, butter & sugar in a stainless steel bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir until ingredients have melted.

Remove from heat and leave to cool for 5-10 minutes.

Stir in the beaten eggs. Mix in the flour, then stir in the white chocolate and macadamias until well combined.

Spoon into prepared tin, bake for 20-25 minutes.

Remove, cool before cutting into pieces.

I had it in the oven for 22 minutes- for a very fudgey & gooey brownies. Leave for an extra 5 minutes for a more firm but still moist brownie.

Holy Basil

233A Canley Vale Road

Canley Heights NSW 216

After enjoying a dinner here a month or so ago, here i am again, having lunch with an old friend. She has driven past the joint, and always seeing lines for dinner, but hadn't ever tried, so i suggested based on my past experience.

Avocado & Durian Shake

Lychee Shake

The shakes here are really nice, they don't stinge on the main fruits, and its not just a lot of ice either. These are REAL fruit shakes, and i almost always order one whenever i'm here.

Cute take away box - no plastic containers in sight!

After our orders have been taken, i ask for a take away box. & explain that i need it right now (and not after the meal) because i'm on a portion control diet, and need to half my meals haha. So this cute chinese movie style take out box is presented, the first i've ever seen out in my area!

Seafood Pad Thai

Kim likes the pad thai, and so does her two year old daughter Gemma. Who is happily eating on her own! No assistance from Mommy at all.

Stir fry basil rice noodles

My rice noodles were drenched in oil, my lips were extremely glossy while eating this dish. It was a little bit sickening having so much oil.. even on the basil it was too overwhelming. Halving my meal was a definite need, had wayy too much calories.

* * * * *

A few weeks after, Richard wanted to go back to holy basil for dinner, and we had to wait about half an hour outside (on a seat thank goodness) before getting a table.

The first time we ate at Holy Basil they didn't have a proper drinks menu. But now they have shiny new A4 fold up menu's for both food & drinks separately, which was nice to see :)

It took forever to flag down some menu's so Richard just walked up and got one himself. It was also hard to get someone to take down our order. The restaurant was really busy that night, but we had to wait a really long time for everything and we were so hungry.

I ordered a coconut drink this time. The coconut flesh in it, was really soft, and there was not much of it at all :(

Som Tam (Papaya Salad Thai Style) $9.90

For $9.90 this dish was good value. Richard was suffering from mouth burn as soon as he started eating, as there was so much chilli in this. I had only a few strands of the papaya & my mouth was burning like anything (yeah i'm really weak when it comes to chilli eating).

Khao Pad Sapparot (thai fried rice with fresh pineapple) $12.90

My thai fried rice, disappointingly, was not served in a pineapple halve (as pictured in the menu). It was quite plain, nothing real special about it. I had asked for an extra fried egg on top (which they forgot) but quickly came back with on a separate plate. But the YOLK had been broken at the bottom noooo..... yolk wastage :(

Extra fried egg $3

While we were eating, a couple who were sitting down for about 5-10 minutes, was asked by staff to stand up while they re-arrange some tables. I thought this was really rude .. they were left standing for about 5 minutes, and seated again not far from where they were sitting originally. & then shockingly, were asked to stand up again so staff could move some more tables around. I thought this was ridiculous.. Once a patron has sat down, why would you ask them to stand up again, unless they were leaving?? I would've left to be honest.. not to be difficult, but we came here to sit & eat, not to be asked to stand up and wait around while they co-ordinate the furniture.

When it came to the end of our meal, we didn't want to wait for someone to get our bill so we just walked up to pay. And were left waiting another 10 minutes (seriously, i hate waiting so much). They didn't charge us for the glass of wine that Richard had, and we weren't bothered to say anything so just pretended we didn't know.

I'm not sure if i want to come back here again? Maybe if i was eating meat again, i'd come back & try the duck curry (so far everyone i know who has tried it, really liked it) but chances are that will be never..

I would like to come back here one more time, to see if they have cleaned up their act (and maybe gotten a new kitchen manager?) But that won't be anytime soon. For now.. my next thai restaurant to try is the one on St Johns Road (does anyone know the name?) I drive past it alot, its got hairdressers & grocery stores next to it.

Would you have mentioned a missing item on the bill - if the restaurant wasn't that great? OR, would you mention it at all?