Yippee For Yupa's

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This popular local Thai restaurant provides both great food and ambience

Yupa’s is one of Chiswick’s best established Thai restaurants, tucked away at the unfashionable (although rapidly improving) end of the High Road, west of Acton Lane. It has built a strong reputation among locals, after starting out some years ago doing the catering in the Old Packhorse, by offering excellent value for money. More recently it has been modernised while retaining its very reasonable prices, together with a commitment to using fresh ingredients in a classy but not too formal setting. This makes it well worth a try out by a wider audience than its established local following.

It was pretty busy with a youngish clientele and a nice buzzy atmosphere on the midweek and cold night we went. The menu’s big but not so long that it makes you wonder about the freshness of the food, so there’s plenty to choose from with salads, curries, chef specials and wok-fried dishes. The wok-frieds and the curries offer a selection of sauces and ingredients, such as chicken, pork, beef, prawns or vegetables with or without tofu. And to go with it all there’s a range of Thai rice, noodles and vegetables.

There’s also a heavenly dessert menu, but more of that later.

There are 15 appetisers and soups to start, three of them suitable for vegetarians like me (spring rolls and mushroom options for two soups). Meat and fish eaters get to choose from an interesting sounding list that includes golden fried chicken parcels with sweet chilli sauce, chargrilled king prawns with hot chilli sauce, steamed scallops, Thai sausages and fishcakes.

Prawn crackers with sweet chilli sauce weren’t the white tasteless numbers that are more usually found in oriental restaurants, but were dark and very prawny. If you like prawn crackers, you’ll love these my carnivore companion confirmed.

On to the main events. I started with the spring rolls, eight little rolls with a delicate plum sauce, he with Thom Yum (hit and sour soup) with chicken. They were both lovely, but the soup drew the greatest exclamations of delight opposite me: ‘This is the best hot and sour soup I have ever had. The flavours are deep and warming and the fresh herbs and chilli wonderful. One of my best soups ever, particularly on a cold night….’ he wittered on for some time. The rolls were delicate and tasty, an ideal taster before the rest of the meal.

There are seven different wok-fried dishes to choose from and they’re all spicy with fresh chilli, herbs and spices in delectable sounding combinations. If your taste is to the milder side of spicy, ask your waiter and they’ll sort it out for you. I chose cashew nuts with soy sauce to which I added vegetables with tofu. I love tofu in all its forms so this menu made me very happy. The tofu is handled with a great deal of care (it’s easy to get tofu wrong) and this tofu is unusual in that it’s slightly crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. I’ve never come across tofu cooked like that before. The manager told me the tofu is specially imported from Thailand so there’s little hope of being able to imitate it even if you can match the top skills of the chef.

The meat eater had Kaeng Pah (hot jungle curry): chopped herbs with peppercorn and vegetables with chicken. It was also declared delicious but was a bit too similar to the hot and sour soup – so a creamy red or green curry may have been a more suitable choice. But that said, the plate was cleared.

To go with these mains we had vegetarian Pad Thai with lots of crunchy peanuts, egg and beansprouts together with wok-fried aubergine with chilli and garlic. Portions are generous and it was a struggle to finish it, so I took some of the aubergine home for lunch the next day.

For dessert we had a selection from the unusual sweets menu. Traditional Thai pancakes turned out to be pancake batter soaked with Pandan leaves served with a filling of caramelised coconut and a side of rich organic vanilla ice cream. Pandan is a tropical plant whose leaves are used to add flavour to desserts and drinks. It is also makes them a rather nice shade of green. I can’t explain the flavour as I’ve never had anything like it before so I’ll have to settle for scrummy.

Mango and sticky rice was another new pairing. The mango was a good tasty one but the crispy sticky rice served with hot coconut sauce was the star. Even if you’ve never liked rice pudding, it’s worth giving this a go – get some one else to order it and suggest you share it. If you do like rice pudding as much as I do, you’ll love it.

We enjoyed the whole Yupa's experience, not just the food: the understated Thai decor, the soft music, candle light, attentive but not intrusive service and lively atmosphere. Prices mean it can be enjoyed without breaking the bank. Starters are around £5.00, mains range from £6.50 to £10.50 and the wonderful desserts max at £4.50. Our very filling meal totalled around £50 for two, including two glasses of wine and a beer.

Yupa’s has recently expanded and opened a noodle bar next door (using the same kitchen), which is proving very popular at lunchtimes for take-away or you can eat in at one of the bar stools in the window. There’s also a shop here, with a small selection of Thai ingredients with recipe cards.

Yupa’s is managed by Angel Chainikom and it’s his pride and joy. His aim is to spread the news about its good food and all-round good feel at affordable prices. It bothers him that after all the time it’s been there many Chiswick people further away from that end of the High Road still haven’t heard of it.

You have now.

Yupa’s has an early bird promotion until the end of November. Get in for a meal before seven and you’ll get a free glass of wine or a bottle of beer.

 

October 28, 2011