Sunday, September 20, 2009

Triumphant Tomyam at Khun Thai, PJ

The search for great tomyam in the Klang Valley brought us to the heartland of PJ and Khun Thai, which requires little introduction. We struggled a little with orientation but Masak-masak's directions on mobile web got us there relatively unscathed.

It was nearly 2PM when we arrived but the place was still brisk and booming.

Very refreshing ambarella at a whopping RM3.20 per glass! Are ambarellas going out of supply? I am considering farming as a career after I am done with current one. I was thinking of harvesting some kind of fruit to make wine with, but I am very open to suggestions as to what to farm.

The Som Tum was a ravishing abundance of fruit and roasted peanuts. This was a rendition most befitting this beautiful Thai gift to the world. Definitely better than my last encounter at Sirarom.

And one of the undisputed reasons for being, for which we came here for... clear the table, here comes Tomyam! We ordered the Clear Tomyam because we are rebels like that!

Copious seafood for just the two of us! A sour, sordid, splendid affair!!

The very helpful and cheerful staff also recommended the Nameless Fried Chicken. It featured Nam Yue (fermented red bean curd) and was deep-fried to the point that even the bones were crunchy! We enjoyed this very much but could have done with the deep-fried shallots garnishing.

The chicken was plenty fine on its own but Khun Thai served it with this chilli sauce, which added bonus sweetness and spice.

We rounded off with Petai with prawns. The beans were profuse but the prawns were probably a day or two past their use-by date. An unsuspected let-down.

Despite the petai incident, we left happy with plenty good faith for Khun Thai, especially that tomyam and the friendly Hokkien-speaking crew. Will be back!

Selamat Hari Raya and Happy Holidays folks!

15 comments:

Kenny Mah said...

Hehe, REAL rebels without a cause choose clear tom yam? Or is that simply REAL food bloggers, anyway? :)

Selamat Hari Raya!

superwilson said...

The chicken looks fantastic.

You got the address?

Paranoid Android said...

Yum Yum Tom Yam! Authentic looking. Must Ta Pau some Singha/Chang beer there for the proper ambiance. OK. another excuse to booze... :D

Christine said...

wow, reading about petai on both Sean's blog and your blog is making me crave petai on a Sunday morning. LOL...

very damaging to my diet lar wtf... heheheh

Sean said...

but i do require an introduction to this place (as well as ambarella)! it seems familiar though. looks like one of those outlets around jln gasing or jln universiti.
btw, our tastebuds seem to be at polar opposites. i generally shun sour food and have low tolerance for spiciness.

NyonyaChef said...

Som Tum with the raw mini crab is the ultimate salad. Exotica !

Pam said...

Look yummy.

minchow said...

LFB, HAHA! Clear tomyam isn't for the faint hearted! But that said, can't discount the merit of red tomyam either. Hope you're making the most out of yr hols!

Superwilson, I don't but the link to Masak-Masak has the whole works! You heading down there soon?

Paranoid Android, yup, great tomyam washed down with Singha is a pretty trippy experience... even Bangkok can wait!!

Christine, I wonder if there's a healthier way to consume petai, other than with tons of spice and seafood... the beans alone should be pretty kosher healthy food right?

Sean, HAHA! It looks like we're not about to have a meal together anytime soon! I know, we can just split the bottle! :-P

Nyonya Chef, they didn't use the raw crab here though. I'm not crazy about the crab, so I barely missed it!

Tarts and Pies, thanks for dropping by. It was an excellent meal!

backStreetGluttons said...

We believe this place ( another blackhOle ) is beside the great Kavitas banana leaf rice and infact have caught a glimpse of it.
The next time we shud drop by here since have got your solid approval !
and we truly love nameless objects with the splendid wOw !

UnkaLeong said...

Hmmm...we always end up in Kavitha's most times. May venture there soon..

Ciki said...

MMM... petai! and double mmmmm.. somtam! so u hd no trouble finding the plc eh.. good 4u;)

Rebecca Saw said...

yes yes yes.. this plc is hailed as one of the best joint for gd ole tomyam..and me luv the Kavitha's BLR, but only venture there if u are willing to put up with extreme poor service ;p

~Christine~Leng said...

clear tomyam? looks really clear :)
too bad the prawns were not fresh.

boo_licious said...

Go try their kickass steamed lemon fish, so incredibly spicy but sooo good! Glad u discovered this Thai gem.

minchow said...

BSG, there was something about Kavitha's that screamed GOOD! Maybe the steely eye contact that the staff made with us, daring us to go in...

UnkaLeong, wow, this Kavitha's was practically unknown to me till now. I have too too much to learn. OK, BLR in PJ heartland next!!

Ciki, eh, our journey there wasn't entirely devoid of problems... I kept thinking I would be able to find it along Jln Gasing and we had went past Lotus a few times before I resorted to getting exact directions from Masak-masak's blog on the mobile phone!

Christine Leng, yes I decided to cut them some slack though for the prawns... you win some, you lose some! Will still go back though!

Boo_licious, this next table of office workers ordered that fish and somehow in their haste to devour it, tipped the hot plate over!! Luckily the staff rushed over to assist, no harm was done (to fish and poor guy who got soaked by steaming liquid!!)