Tom yam is always good to have on a cold rainy day or simply when the mood calls for it. Finding good tom yam however, is not so simple.
There’s no need to worry if you’re looking for Malay-style tom yam as there’s one right in our own backyard that provides a top quality serving of the spicy-sour soup. Yusuf Tom Yam has been around for as long as we can remember, but we did not try it until just a few months back.
Yusuf Tom Yam is a simple, no frills stall by the side of the road in Lucky Garden in Bangsar. There are many other stalls along that stretch of road including the well known fish head curry which is the last stall at the end of the row.
We’ll start off with the very thing the stall is named after – the tom yam. Our favourite order here is the Tom Yam Sayur (Vegetable Tom Yam), priced at RM5. The tom yam here is thick, strong in flavour and definitely has a kick to it. It is sufficiently sour and has a good amount of spiciness in the soup. Definitely one of the best tom yam soups we’ve tried around!
The Tom Yam Sayur has generous amounts of onions, carrots and some cauliflower in it. We prefer the vegetable version as the meat and seafood used in the other tom yams are nothing spectacular. We’re simply happy to have a bowl of soup to drink as it’s good enough on its own!
Besides tom yam, they have various other items in the menu ranging from fried rice and noodles to cooked dishes to be eaten with plain rice. On our various visits, we tried a number of their fried rice dishes. This was the Nasi Goreng Cili Padi (Bird’s Eye Chilli Fried Rice), priced at RM4. Don’t let the photo fool you, this plate of fried rice has a very generous amount of bird’s eye chilli inside. We enjoyed this fried rice very much and it surpassed our expectation of spiciness which is always a good thing!
We also tried the Nasi Goreng Belacan (Shrimp Paste Fried Rice). Priced at RM4, this fried rice was definitely one of our favourites. We enjoyed the strong shrimp paste taste which added a pleasant dimension to the fried rice. Do not expect it to be spicy, but expect the taste to be top notch!
Lastly, we tried the Nasi Goreng Pattaya (Pattaya Fried Rice) which was priced at RM5.50. My better half enjoyed this very much, but I’m personally not a big fan of Pattaya Fried Rice in general. One thing is for certain, the egg encompassing the fried rice was light, fluffy and very well done.
To sum up, Yusuf Tom Yam offers a good variety of food to go with some excellent tom yam! We’ve also ordered several dishes to go with plain rice which did not disappoint. Next time you’re looking for some Malay-style tom yam, just head over to Yusuf Tom Yam in Lucky Garden, Bangsar!
Stall Information
Gerai No. 13
Lorong Ara Kiri 3
Lucky Garden
Bangsar
59100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 013 – 222 2166 / 016 – 251 8912
