Holy Basil is located in a small food hall in Downtown Los Angeles and serves Thai food. There is a small menu on the counter, and once you order, you can grab a seat at any open table. The tables have a cute red table cloth and a flower in a bottle on top and the stools at the table make you feel like you’re eating on the street! This was my first time at Holy Basil, and we ordered three dishes to share.
Rigatoni Yellow Curry
Rigatoni Yellow Curry – Rigatoni Pasta, house-made yellow curry sauce, pickled mustard green, peppercorn oil and fried shallots
Mmm…this yellow curry was really good! I loved the flavor of the curry and surprisingly, the texture of the pasta as well. I typically would not choose to order a pasta dish, but I ended up liking this dish. This could also get spicy if you end up eating a peppercorn, but do make sure you get enough of the curry with each bite! This dish can also be made vegan, so you can invite your vegan friend to grab lunch with you!
Pad Kee Mao
Pad Kee Mao – Spicy smoked noodle, chili, garlic, Thai basil, scallions, sweet pepper, XO, egg, tofu
Another dish that can be made vegan, I thought the tofu was the highlight of this dish. The noodles also tasted good, but it was pretty similar to other places where I’ve ordered Pad Kee Mao before so it didn’t stand out as much.
Pad See Ew
Pad See Ew – Smoked noodle, fermented soy beans, XO, garlic, Chinese broccoli, egg, pork loin
This was my favorite dish out of the three (although the Rigatoni Yellow Curry was definitely a close second). I liked the taste that the soy beans added to the dish, and the Chinese broccoli and pork loin were very tasty. Compared to the Pad Kee Mao, the Pad See Ew had a stronger flavor. However, I did have an unlucky encounter with this dish unfortunately. As I was chewing on the noodles, I bit on something hard. After spitting it out immediately, I took a close look at it. It looked (and felt) like a small piece of plastic. We showed it to a staff member, and he also had no idea where it was from or what it is. Thinking back now, it’s actually pretty disgusting not knowing what I bit into. Luckily, I did not bite too hard into it, although it is highly possible that pieces of the plastic were mixed in with the rest of the dish too. The staff member apologized and offered to make the dish for us again, but we did not take him up on his offer. What if we bite into another piece of mysterious plastic?
Will I return? It’s hard to say. Although the food was good, the location is not the most convenient and the thought of finding a piece of plastic in my food is quite unappetizing. In the meantime, what do you think that piece of plastic is from? Submit your guesses below!