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Yupins
I am sure most of the readers will remember Victor Kiam
as the spokesperson for the Remington shaver. Kiam’s famous catchphrase, “I
liked the shaver so much, I bought the company”, made him famous and did
wonders for Remington sales.
I was reminded of this when speaking with Yupin Marsh and her husband who
enjoyed the food so much at Oley’s restaurant in the Jomtien complex that
they bought the restaurant! Now just called Yupins after its owner, it is in
the first soi in the Complex and very easy to find.
The restaurant is in a single shophouse, and the dining area is divided in
two. Air-conditioned inside and open air (but covered) outside. We chose the
inner area which sports striking décor complete with purple, high backed
chairs.
I was taken by the restaurant, before even looking at the menu or sampling
the food when the waiter brought sea salt and pepper grinders to the table.
Sea salt is just so much better than the refined product.
The wine list is mainly New World with all of the wines under B. 1,000. We
chose the Bushman’s Gully Chardonnay and it was excellent drinking.
The menu is comprehensive and not expensive and begins
with a set dishes offer of three courses for B. 350. Each course has five
choices including items such as grilled red snapper with saffron sauce
served with grilled vegetables and pesto.
The a la carte menu has small thumbnail photographs as well as explanations,
and is something that too many restaurants choose to ignore. Not every
potential customer can read English! Well done Yupin!
Amongst the starters is a curried pumpkin soup with fresh cream and chopped
coriander (B. 120) and a smoked salmon salad with balsamic vinaigrette (B.
140).
There are 16 main courses with favorites such as a T-bone steak with fried
potatoes (B. 290) and medallions of pork fillet with green apple sauce with
vegetables or french-fries (B. 250).
Having taken over an existing restaurant, Yupin very wisely has not slashed
the menu, but is gradually introducing weekly ‘specials’, some of which will
be added to the main menu later. Examples of these, on our week was an
avocado salad with raspberry jus and balsamic dressing (B. 150) and sizzling
prawns in garlic butter with lots of French bread (B. 180).
In addition there were three desserts with the crème brulee con amore
(amaretto) and flambéed with Sambuca (B. 180) looking very attractive.
With so many dishes sounding so interesting, Madame and I decided to share
and so ordered two of the special starters and these were the garlic prawns
and the avocado salad. The prawns really were sizzling and presented on a
hot plate with clay covers over the prawns. These were so good, we ordered a
second plate, and happily sat there mopping up the garlic butter and licking
our fingers. Don’t miss this dish!
The avocado salad was also very ‘moreish’ with the sweet
raspberry jus competing with the balsamic. A great combination of textures
and tastes.
Another special was a duck liver pate, done in traditional French style
which came with spoons for four and plenty of French bread. We cleaned that
bowl up as well!
With Madame being Thai we also tried two from the menu of Thai items with
the chicken massaman (B. 160) very flavorsome and a genuine Thai taste. The
second was a stir fried shrimp with asparagus (B. 160). The spiciness of the
Thai items is shown, so farang taste buds do not get a spicy surprise.
Our finale was sharing a bowl of the crème brulee flambéed with Sambucca,
being a wonderfully sweet ending to what had been a remarkable dinner.
The restaurant has a very convivial atmosphere and I suggest you grab
another couple and dine together and just sit back and enjoy the food and
the ambience. Highly recommended.
Yupins, 413/42 Jomtien Complex, Thappraya Road, (opposite the Two Faces Bar,
and next door to the Rainbow Properties office). For those who travel with
GPS, the coordinates are 12.901719, 100.869066 (not that you really need
them to find Thappraya Road). Open seven days 5 p.m. until 10.30.
www.yupins.com, telephone 038 303155.
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Musaman Gai (Southern Thai chicken curry)
This dish from southern Thailand uses coconut milk to
produce a thick creamy curry. Musaman takes around two hours to cook
correctly. There are many curry pastes on the market but Maesri is a
consistent tasting brand. Like “stews”, it is ready when the potatoes
are soft when prodded with a fork. The quantities in this recipe are for
four people and you can keep it gently simmering for quite some time
till all the guests arrive. Serve in a large bowl in the center of the
table and eat with steamed jasmine rice.
Ingredients |
serves 4 |
Chicken fillet cubed |
500 gm |
Musaman curry paste |
60 gm |
Coconut milk |
600 ml (tinned) |
Potato (quartered) |
250 gm |
Onion roughly chopped |
200 gm |
Roasted peanut |
100 gm |
Fish sauce |
50 ml |
Sugar |
4 dspns |
Tamarind water |
50 ml |
Oil |
50 ml |
Water |
200 ml |
Peanut paste |
1 dspn |
Cooking Method
Cut chicken into 3 cm cubes and stew very gently for one
hour. In a big pot fry the curry paste with the oil for two minutes over
medium flame. Add onion, stewed chicken, coconut milk, potatoes,
peanuts, water and peanut paste. Stir, bring to the boil then cook
slowly over a medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to stop
burning. Now add the fish sauce, tamarind water and sugar and simmer
gently over a low heat. Serve with rice.
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