For good Asian food in Hyderabad one has to mostly think of going to an expensive star hotel. Because what is served in most of the popular stand alone eateries is a mish-mash of Indianised Chinese with a few thai soups thrown in to make the menu look Asian. Barring a couple of Asian eateries what others serve don’t really excite the palate of those who love to eat Asian as it is supposed to be.
So, Tom Yum Yum decided to offer a menu with food that is not easily available. Their stir fry prawns are moist and succulent. The hide-n-seek gravy serves as a mild sauce that make every bite of the prawn a delight. But I didn’t begin my meal with a plate of stir fry prawn. I nursed a chicken Tom Kha soup — spiked with homemade chilli oil to make it just like the way it is served in the original Thai recipe — with the hope that I don’t ever part with it. Chunks of chicken and vegetable made it good enough to be a meal if one wants to have the entire soup bowl on their own.
I had more than soup in my mind. After the soup which is difficult to part with came a few starters before I gorged on my stir fry prawns. Then I enjoyed the shredded papaya salad with crunchy roasted peanuts. The reason Tom Yum Yum looks promising is because they haven't used the trick of sweetening every dish and serve it as Thai. The chef knows her work and uses every ingredient judiciously.
Also chinese here isn’t a lump of batter-fried anything where getting to the main ingredient means biting into huge amount of cornflour. Also don’t be surprised if your chilli chicken isn’t coming garnished with a handful of fried dry red chilies.
Dimsum lovers, time to stop calling every dumpling momo. This new Asian baby has a menu dedicated to dimsums. They also serve Baos and soon they promise to raise the bar with their sushi counter. The prawn dimsum which was to be popped whole in the mouth with the amazing spicy condiments when bit release a teeny-weeny amount of soup. Something not too common everywhere, unless a speciality chef is serving them. Personally the touch of bird eye chilli as a garnish added spark to every dish.
The eatery is the brainchild of an ex-FnB expert who worked for long with a very popular chain of Chinese and Bengali restaurant floated by the same brand.
Everything good comes with a cost. However, here the cost is pocket friendly, which also means in the amount spent at other Asian eateries, at Tom Yum Yum, a lot more can be tried. If this new Asian eatery in town stays true to their authentic taste, this can become the most favourite for those who love Asian food for the simplicity.
