Tomyummy Noodles House

Update: This business has ceased its operations.

During my previous visit to Sushi Kyodai, I noticed a new eatery next door: Tomyummy Noodles House (东炎不败). The Chinese name is a parody of the fictional character Dongfang Bubai (东方不败), one of the major antagonists in the wuxia novel "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" (《笑傲江湖》) by Louis Cha (金庸).

The menu here is designed to hilariously resemble a kungfu manual with a befitting title "Sunflower Manual" (《葵花宝典》), the source of Dongfang Bubai's martial prowess. Fret not, the "manual" is just a simple food menu. There no requirement to commit self-castration before ordering...

The main attraction of Tomyummy Noodles House is tom yum (ต้มยำ), a popular Thai soup base with distinct sour and spicy flavors. The broth is made from meat stock and seasoned with chili peppers, lemongrass, fish sauce and various tropical spices.

The tom yum ingredients mostly comprise of processed meat and fish; I collectively term these as "mainstream" ingredients. Only those with freshly sliced or minced meat deserve my next level of commendation. Besides these "mainstream" ingredients, there are also several fresh ones such as vegetables, mushrooms and bean curd.

The noodles and ingredients can be customized to your liking. Being a lazy bum, I prefer to select one of the suggested combinations. Today's choice is Assorted Tomyum Soup Noodles (招牌什锦东炎汤面, RM6.00). This selection includes sotong balls (苏东丸), dumpling (水饺) and crabstick (蟹条). The ingredients are just typical ones which you can find in the frozen section of supermarkets.

As for the tom yum broth, I find it moderately spicy and quite appetizing. The soup is slightly sweet in rich meaty flavor. Along a different dimension, the soup gives the tongue some lingering sense of sourness through the dining session, much to my delight.

My noodle of choice is ramen (拉面) for additional RM1.00. Other noodle choices are instant noodle (公仔面), thick bihun (粗米粉) and thin bihun (幼米粉); these are available at no additional cost to the set meal.

For side orders, I am interested to try the Traditional Homemade Lobak (传统家乡卤肉, RM4.00). Lor bak (卤肉) uses minced pork seasoned with five-spice powder (五香粉), which is then rolled inside bean curd skin. Next, the roll is deep-fried in splattering hot oil, then cut into bite-size pieces.

The best lor bak uses a mixture of lean and fatty pork. The version at Tomyummy Noodles House uses lean meat primarily, but find the lor bak enjoyable nevertheless. It is not too oily too.

My drink is a hot cup of Longan Red Date Tea (龙眼红枣茶, RM2.30). Actually, this drink is prepared from powder, not boiled from fresh longan and dates. In fact, none of the drinks on the menu is made in-house. This is one aspect which I dislike about Tomyummy Noodles House.

According to the proprietor, Tomyummy Noodles House will be opening a new outlet at All Seasons Place soon. Considering the shop size there, I believe the menu will be similar. However, higher rent there may mark up the food price.