Lovers of Thai fare will embrace the recent addition to the brief list of Thai restaurants in Singapore, Yum Yum Thai. This restaurant opened its doors in September 2007 and became part of the newly-established dining enclave at Sunset Way. Despite being just two weeks old at the time of this review, Yum Yum Thai confidently beckons foodies to sample its fusion of traditional and modern Thai fare.

• The Vibe
  Though Yum Yum Thai employs the tried-and-tested décor concept of most Thai restaurants – simple teakwood furnishing – its alfresco setting takes on a different tone altogether. While it does not boast an exclusive outdoor ambience like Dempsey Road's or Rochester Park's, Yum Yum Thai's outdoor dining area greets you with a fairly scenic view of greenery – a feature worth mentioning considering that Yum Yum Thai is, after all, nestled within a concrete jungle of HDB flats.

• The Food
  Chairman Mr Nelson Yeo philosophizes, “Wherever you are, you won't go wrong with Thai food”, but let us add on something else: you cannot go wrong with dining on Thai food at Yum Yum Thai. The reason is that Yum Yum Thai's menu of Thai classic favourites such as Pad Thai, Tom Yum, and Thai curries are intertwined with modern innovations by Chef Sombunnok Thanabordee, a culinary expert with more than 40 years of culinary experience to his name. For most of Yum Yum Thai's dishes, Chef Sombunnok has preserved the fundamentals that are signature to Thai cuisines – spicy, sour, sweet, salty and sometimes bitter – and has also infused his own original touches. This picture is mirrored even in the most conventional of dishes.

  The Yum Ma Muang ($8.50), a beautifully presented salad made from thin strips of green mango, “dry coleslaw” and sprinkled with nuts, is a palate prep up and refresher with its contrasting piquant tastes: the bitterness of the green mango versus the citrus sourness of lime or lemon juice, and the crunchiness of peanut sprinkles ends up in a soggy pile of spicy-and-sour mush in your mouth.

  Tom Yum Goon – Tom Yum soup with prawns – ($8/$12), a classic Thai dish and Yum Yum Thai's signature dish, is a must-try. Yum Yum Thai's version is slightly watery and oilier, but nevertheless, the classically rich tastes of spices, sugar and limejuice are preserved. To make up for what little it lacks, huge prawns are generously added into the Tom Yum.

  If you want to move away from the conventional, sample the Pla Kao Pad Prik ($25) – Thai-style garoupa with spicy Thai chilli sauce – and Nea Kai Pad Prik Thai Dam ($10) – hot plate chicken saut é ed with onion, ginger and black pepper. These are among the few innovative dishes at Yum Yum Thai, but are equally tasty. The fresh and substantial garoupa, for example, is liberally covered and infused with delicious Thai sweet and spicy chilli, so that each bite is flavoured with tangy fish essence, spiciness of chillies, sugar and the lingering citrus tang of lime juice. As with the Thai-style garoupa, the succulent chicken is also richly infiltrated with the richly spicy black pepper sauce – a feature that is instilled in all of Yum Yum Thai's dishes, it seems.

  Perhaps the best way to get a taste of Thai's culinary best is to order a plate of rice with several accompaniments to be shared amongst family and friends. In Yum Yum Thai's case, the Khoo Pha Sapparot ($8) – fragrant pineapple rice stir fried with yellow ginger powder and egg, and topped up with pork floss, raisins and shrimps – proved to be a perfect complement to the above dishes.

• The Service
  Though there are probably less than 3 wait staffs working at a time, the smiles on their faces never falter. In addition, they are extremely knowledgeable in the make-up of the menu and are able to give good recommendations.

The SD Food Advisor's take on Yum Yum Thai

The classic Thai dishes like Tom Yum Goong and mango salad at Yum Yum Thai are fairly good, but the attention-grabbers are definitely the more innovative dishes like the Thai-style garoupa and hot plate chicken. The list of modern dishes, though, is quite brief, and I believe that I speak for most foodies if I say this: we are definitely looking forward to more of Chef Sombunnok's innovative culinary creations.