Holy Basil, Sydney

We caught up with R & L last week. Though we live on the same street, we’re separated by a kilometre of CBD. Thankfully, aforementioned kilometre is abundant with dining choices.

For a cheap and casual mid-week meal, we picked a spot roughly equidistant of us. Apparently, the Shark Hotel had recently been renovated and has a new Laotian restaurant called Holy Basil.

Hesitant of my recommendation, I arrived first just in case the term “recent renovation” was exaggerated. You see, in the sporadic times I’d visited the Shark Hotel in the noughties, it wasn’t the most amiable place to visit; it smelled of stale beer and sweat and the clientèle were either there to hook up or punch up. The public bar used to have a dance floor that played 80s anthems and then later on, upstairs was opened up for R&B nights, which then gave way to trance nights. Now, renovation or otherwise, it’s not unpleasant. Clean, well-outfitted but ultimately characterless. Mid-week, the cacophony of its past is a distant memory.

Today, Holy Basil occupies the dance floor, its spacious seating centred around a large communal table.

For starters, we first have the Tod Mun Pla (Fish Cakes), freshly ground fish cake mixed with herbs and spices and served with chilli sauce. It’s yummy but unexceptional.

Tod Mun Pla (Fish Cakes) $8.90

Our second entree was the Nem Khao, deep fried rice balls tossed with cured pork (nem chua) coriander, shallots, chilli, kaffir lime leaves, onions and mint leaves served on lettuce leaves. Like san choy boa, you spoon it onto some lettuce. It’s an interesting dish I’d order again.

Nem Khao $12.90

Next we had my highlight, the Holy Basil Chilli Mussels, stir fried Mussels with chilli jam, basil and chilli. The plump mussels were tender and meaty – I don’t know how they got these so big!

Holy Basil Chilli Mussels $16.90

For a main, we had the Gang Ped Yang, Red Curry Roast Duck. It was wholly by-the-books.

Gang Ped Yang (Red Curry Roast Duck) $17.90

Instead of just rice, we had the Khao Pad Pu, (Thai Fried Rice with Crab Meat ), stir fried rice with onion, tomato, garlic, Chinese broccoli, shallots, lime and shrimp paste. While tasty, I’ll admit we only got it because 4 cups of plain rice was similarly priced.

Khao Pad Pu (Thai Fried Rice with Crab Meat) $14.90

For dessert, we had the Holy Basil Fried Ice Cream. It was pretty good fried ice cream; I don’t know how they got the pastry to be so crisp without melting the ice cream. It was vanilla but had it been, say, coconut ice cream, this dessert would have been phenomenal.

Holy Basil Fried Ice Cream $13.90

The word? Great place for a mid-week meal if you’re in the area. Very cheap too. I wouldn’t travel to dine here but, as a matter of convenience, it can’t be beat.

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