Jim beef? Did I miss a description? What is that stuff? Also, thanks for the additional intel.

seebee wrote:Jim beef? Did I miss a description? What is that stuff? Also, thanks for the additional intel.

OK, well my daughter was seeking Thai style beef jerky. Somehow she zero'd in on a dish in the salad section that did not say jerky in anyway, but hit her attention. Now, remember, the Zim-foodfirst translations, transliterations are far from standard on the Thai menu. The dish she found was in the middle of the salad section, of the Thai translated words, besides the word for beef "nyuh" was the word "jim". Jim was just an easy word to remember. The other thing, our waitress advised us when ordering that although the dish was in the salad section of the menu, was not a salad. Believe me, once you look at the Thai menu, you'll find it.

The big dinner was last week, and Yum did not dissapoint.
The Menu:

Appetizers:
Chive Dumpling
Pork Sate
Chicken sate
BBq Squid

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Round 1
Banana Blossom Salad
Exploded Catfish Salad
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Round 2
1000 year old egg Salad
Isaan
Thai fried Chicken
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Round 3
Roasted Duck Curry
Pad Kee Mao with Chicken and Tofu
Sticky Rice
Regular rice

The dinner guests were somewhat floored. Two were very familiar with Yum, but had never used the Thai menu. Consider them converts. Another two lived close enough to claim that Yum will now be their go to spot. I was not a huge fan of the banana blossom salad that night. I thought it was overdressed and a little too soggy, and the flavor was more sour than balanced, but quite a few others loved it. Wife 1.0 thought the same as I did, but also said that it was much, much better when she got a portion of it with the coconut milk that was spooned on top. Another dish that made them swoon was the duck curry. That stuff is just great. Tonight's version had eggplant, string beans and pineapple. Some pics of the stuff they made special for us:

Chive dumpling:

Underside:

These were great. Exactly as you'd expect. Chewy, dense dough, crisp sear on the outside, sweet chives on the inside. Everyone gobbled these up real quickly, and commented on how good they were. Not on the menu. I asked if they would make these for us. Luckily they agreed.

Thai Fried Chicken:

Fan. Tas. Tic. I think my favorite version has been at Sticky Rice so far, but Yum's was just as good. Perhaps even done a little better on the white meat side. A little jucier. Well marinated, fish sauce funk, a little sweetness from something. Super crunchy, yet juicy inside. Everyone had a plate full of bones in front of them after the chicken arrived. Another one that's not on the menu. Special ordered.

And a few of the libations:

The Douchesse is just great. It's very even with just a hint of sour. Probably considered more "vanilla" by more experienced sour beer enthusiasts, but I really like that stuff. Dinner mates were floored by how good it was.

Yum Thai can really bring it. The staff was great in an efficient sort of way. They let me bring in coolers, and flowers and the cake beforehand, and helped me pick out / plan the menu (and also handled the special requests for the chive dumplings, and fried chicken with a very high quality effort.) The table was nice, we were not rushed in any way, and the food was pretty much fantastic all around, not to mention CHEAP! Great dinner. Just great. Dinners like this one are one of the reasons I prefer ethnic dives. Stellar food, BYOB, and Cheap.

seebee wrote:The dinner guests were somewhat floored.

My group had a similar reaction last week, cribbing mainly from your menu. Even after having loved the place for years, I wouldn't have necessarily counted on Yum having all of the ingredients and turnover to make all of the regional dishes shine on short notice, but I've been challenging them more again lately and they've risen to the occasion each time.

Best bites last week were the exploded catfish salad, sour forest curry with ground chicken, muu ping, and especially the no-broth bamee, with red pork and garnishes. I enjoyed the pork so much I went back this week to have the full-broth version, which was ramen-craving-worthy even with stock noodles.

Anybody worried about not getting the full funk or heat at a suburban Thai place need look no further than the preserved bamboo salad, preserved egg salad, raw shrimp preps, or liver larb (tap waan). Yum.