Holy Basil, CBD - Day 6 of Tina's 12 Week Food Tour

The four months of post-HSC fun really are the best few weeks of my life so far. More license to independence, more approval for late night shift work and jobsearching, more means to hang out a lot, and more chance to catch up with those that the HSC year and mindset simply did not allow. Now that everyone's chillax, it's more of a reason to catch up with the old friends, and catch up we did. Having kept in contact with some year 4 friends via social networking only for the recent past few months, I was able to meet up with 8 other primary school friends and all hang out :)  I knew and remembered all of them, but it was a great chance for those who did not remember each other, and it was quite funny seeing people's reactions, being like "Oh hey, so that's who you are!" The ice broke easily, and we all had a great time at pool and shopping :)

I told these guys about my food tour, and they were all on board with the idea of eating somewhere quite fancy.  Fancy? Outing? Large group? City? Holy Basil was definitely a popular choice to go, and it did end up being our choice for the arvo.

The lovely oriental vibe from the spectacular interior decor was thoroughly ruined by the screeching calls of Taylor Swift on loop, and the lovely dim lighting did make my no-flash settings null, so my apologies for the blurry photos in this post.

The lovely bunch from primary school :)

Laos Charcoal BBQ Chicken - Charcoal grilled chicken in Chef's special marinade that will complement with papaya salad - $13.90

Nothing outstanding.  Should've bought papaya salad with it.

Ox Tongue - Marinated grilled ox tongue thinly sliced and served with Holy Basil's special dipping sauce - $10.90

Thin and chewy, love the marinade! Thumbs up!

Thai Beef Salad - Marinated beef strips wok-tossed in a salad of onion, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, mixed with herbs of coriander, shallots, chilli powder, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and mint leaves - $14.90

I did not know that cucumbers are a part of a genuine Thai beef salad.  A tad grainy, but otherwise very nice :)

Roast duck red curry - Often served during traditional family feasting, this specialty dish has an abundance of flavours from lychees, pineapple, cherry tomato, sweet basil, fresh chillies, green bananas and kaffir lime leaves cooked with cuts of roast duck - $17.90

Love the contrast of the sweet lychee and pineapple and the mildly spicy curry and aromatics. Not too creamy either, so it's a thumbs up as well. 

Pad See Ew - stir fried flat rice noodles with sweet soy sauce, egg and Chinese broccoli - chicken  - $12.90

Every piece of noodle is coated in the sauce, and it's not excessive in oil either.  Not too oily, not too dry, it's just right.

 Salt and pepper calamari - Deep fried squid which has been lightly coated in a special batter, tossed in a salt and pepper mixture, and served with sweet chilli sauce - $15.90

I always get some sort of deep fried calamari whenever I have the chance.  It's one of those staples that my family must have whenever we're going to a Yum Cha or Chinese seafood restaurant.

Soft shell crab - Deep fried soft-shell crab with has been lightly coated in a special batter, tossed in a salt and pepper mixture, and served with sweet chilli sauce. - $15.90

Man, this has got to be one of my favourite dishes of the arvo. Soft shell crab is such a stunner!  It's a great example of something that's great when deep-fried

Fried ice cream - $13.90

And, ladies and gentlemans, what we witnessed that afternoon was something truly amazing.  Thin and crispy filo-like pastry encasing a triangular piece of vanilla icecream, dusted with icing sugar over a bed of crispy deep-fried dessicated coconut and mixed nuts, served with a lovely drizzle of thick caramel sauce.  Oh man, this was definitely a great ending to the Thai food feast :) 

I've been wanting to come to Holy Basil since the early days of 2012, and post-HSC has helped me tick another place off my must-go list yet again :) I thank my awesome friends for sharing this awesome lunch and having a great day together, I'm so glad to be seeing most of them in uni :)

To find out all the place I've visited during my tour, check out the 12 Week Food Tour tab.