Razor clams - only had maybe a half bite but dang was that bite good
Fish / Tom Yum / Green Curry - all great stuff!
Crab - really tasty, especially when you get that meat, brain, and sauce mixed with rice but messiness and lack of tools given the environment make this a less enjoyable eating experience vs above; napkins only help so much
Mussels - good mussels + good sauces = good combo!
Sake ice cream - nice dessert
Pad thai - I enjoyed this version and the pork was great
Steamed squid - tender and good snack with the sauce
Fried rice - solid and tasty
Chicken backs - a nice snack
Enjoyed pretty much everything, though some things are clearly more of a must-order vs others. Plus the prices were great considering their purveyors. I haven’t had much Thai in general but really enjoyed the food here.
Side note that prime time dinner hour can be a challenge from a service and setting POV but I feel our patience was rewarded. They are also serving beer as well as wine and sake by the glass now. The evening’s pours are written down on the wall out of view on the left side of Porky’s second pic. Definitely making the list of places I’d repeat!
Another thanks to @Clayfu and John for generously sharing their wine!
Edit: Not sure about the wine since I know nothing about wine but they are pouring some quality sake. This evening’s was a Masumi Daiginjo which I think worked well with dinner. The picture they posted on their announcement I think also included a nice Dewazakura and maybe an Akitabare? Both good brands and good sake. They also mentioned having an artisanal Korean Makkeoli being produced in Brooklyn called Hana which is pretty cool to see (haven’t been to a Korean place in a while but didn’t see it on menu last year). I have a bottle in my fridge that I have yet to try but have been meaning to taste. Not sure if they’re serving that one quite yet but maybe soon?
Ha. My friend Elliot cultivates the wine list for them. Unfortunately not my style of wine as it tends to lean aggressively natural. I like a nice natty wine here and there but I’m not particularly knowledge of the whole realm in plays in.so can’t speak to it. But knowing Elliott they will be thoughtful representations of what they are
I really liked the seafood night aspect and how it really encourages you to use your hands. You gotta use your hands to get to those mussels, gotta use your hands to eat the crab (fortunately they precrack a lot of it), best way to get every large morsel of the fried fish is with your hands.
It definitely gets messy tho since we had a lot of wine glasses and wine at the table.
I think the fish was my favorite and the squid, the three dipping sauces were spectacular. But I probably went a little overboard on the spice as I’ve been paying for it ;x.
Good seeing @Bagel , @PorkyBelly@hppzz@noddles - we should try coordinating a dinner instead of just running into each other all the time.
I wish I got steamed rice with this dish, but with all the food ordered and already had fried rice, I thought it’d be carb overkill lol.
Coincidentally, I brought John Cerasulo, the wine director at Anajak - anajak is also serving a ridiculously good Curry Crab. Not sure which one I liked more. I thought Holy Basil did a better job with preparing the crab itself, cracking the shell and the body was about as perfect as you can cook the body. I’ve always found you miss out on a lot of the meat in there as you try to get through every wall of bone, but the way they booked it, it all just melted away. but I enjoyed the rich garlickness of the Anajak one more. Both were ultra messy ha.
Good value overall - $50 for the whole fish, $50 for the crab. All the little seafood plates for $8. Would definitely come again in the nearish future.
I really like the newish fish and rice dish at Holy Basil. They continue to do a good job overall.
I’m not into natural wine, but it is more flavorful than classic wine and suits the food at Holy Basil IMO. I’ve given up on the concept of pairing classic wines with anything but the lightest Asian foods. I think sake (even more delicate than classic wine, with less acidity) and Holy Basil is a poor combination. Some people may say Japan became sake specialists because they didn’t have grapes, and that is kinda true, but I think it is also kinda true that sake matches Japanese cuisine, which at the high end is light and elegant.
forgot to post pics from my last meal. everything was delicious again. my new favorite is the fried fish rice, the key is the smoked chili fish sauce that you add to that rice, really good and comforting. it’s just as good as the whole fish but without the work.
fried fish and rice - yum rice pla tod, hand shredded fried local rock fish, cilantro, chili flakes, smoked chili fish sauce, cilantro, shallots over jasmine rice. chef childhood dish.
These specials are their Yum weekend dinners.
A lot of it depends on what they get from the fishmonger that week.
It’s really the best Thai food experience in town—the plastic stools, the make shift crate tables and wine and sake . I love Anajak, but my preference would be to grab 4-6 friends and order everything from Yum and supplement with ala carte from Holy Basil.
