Holy Basil

When you're craving Laos/Thai food and you're not out South West... what do you do? Well you better head out south west... which is exactly what we did. Though unforunately on this occasion our regular haunt was closed and WifeOfSnackingBear was hankering for some Laos dishes... so we ended up at Holy Basil. Don't get me wrong... my intro makes it sound like I hate Holy Basil... I just hate the premium price tag attached with it.

So we start off with Ox Tongue. Always thinly sliced, well marinated and just oozing with tender flavours that make you forget that it's like french kissing a cow.

Then you pair it with their Laos Sausages. Sausages so jam packed with herbs you won't even need sauce to appreciate it's explosive flavour combinations. You don't get many pieces but savour each piece as it's so tender it literally breaks apart without chewing.

To top it off I like to add some spicy Papaya Salad. A deceiving dish that you think adds cooling but instead brings heat to the table. Soak the vegetables in that tongue scorching sauce for some pure heat with actual flavour. All that and some sticky rice to account for my daily intake of carbs.

Holy Basil offers the best transition into Laos cuisine as it surrounds you with a clean and friendly ambience and foods you might not normally order. From there hopefully it'll get you hooked onto the cuisine then it'll be a lot easier for me to take you to more dank places that offer similar dishes without the markup.

If Laos food ain't your thing, even after you attempted it.. at least stay for their fried ice-cream... it's darn good!