Since Holy Basil opened some 5 years or so ago, I have frequently dined here and have been impressed every time with my experience.

What attracts diners, I think, to this place is the alfresco feel with its large windows creating an open feel and its ambience with its traditional Thai mixed with a modernised feel.

Dined here with my mum a couple of weeks ago and from the get go, service was prompt. It was on that unbelievably hot Friday (18/1/13) so the waiters ended up closing up the wide windows which was a great idea!

I take my mum here quite often as she loves the fried ice cream. I’ll get to how awesome that is in a second.

We ordered the Fried whole snapper with three sauces. The three sauces were basil, chilli and sweet and sour. It had a very generous topping of vegetables, which were perfectly cooked.  For your chewing comfort and grabbing ease, the chunks of fish were deep fried in bite size chunks. Well almost bite size anyway. Nothing worse than trying to battle with whole fish for its tender good parts (I’m talking about flesh here). It was a little bit pricey at around $40 but the size was quite generous and in my opinion, worth it.

Now we get to the main event, dessert! The fried icecream. When Holy Basil had just opened and I tried this dish for the first time, I was speaking to the owner and he enlightened me on how exactly this is made. The vanilla icecream is home made, piped into a shell of filo pastry, which is momentarily deep fried, just enough to cook the pastry. It is then served with a toffee sauce on a bed of coconut flakes, nuts and sultanas.

Holy Basil is also licensed and the drinks menu is impressive. I’ve tried a couple of cocktails and dare I say it, but they’ve been both visually and refreshingly stimulating each time. For less than $15, you get a monster of a cocktail served in a tall glass, beautifully decorated. For the non alcohol drinkers, there’s a variety of mocktails and fruitshakes to choose from.

As I had mentioned earlier in this post, I am a frequent diner here and I can honestly say that this dessert has remained consistent and has never let me down. Yeah nevermind the mains, just as long as the dessert rocks! Half kidding 🙂 People have often commented that their prices are expensive in comparison to other Thai restaurants in the local area. I agree to a degree. Here you are also paying to dine in an alfresco setting and indulge in great food and drink so I think it’s worth it. There has to be a very good reason why there are always people queuing up each day for lunch and dinner. So if you’ve been only talking about dining here, I highly recommend you to do so. Great for couples and groups. For groups try to get in early to secure a table as they don’t take reservations. Lunch commences at 12pm and dinner at 5.30pm.

Holy Basil have also opened two more restaurants since, Green Peppercorn at Fairfield as well as Holy Basil in Sydney.
This review is only for the Canley Heights restaurant.

Holy Basil

233A Canley Vale Rd

Canley Heights NSW 2166

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