Tom Yum Goong

Kaffir lime leaves, basil, coconut, scallions, lemon grass, peanut sauce and curries combine with vegetables, seafood, meat and poultry for the enchanting flavors of Thailand.

By: Tom and Kate O’Neill
   The entrancing flavors of Thai cuisine are the star attraction in this stylish and welcoming setting in Princeton. The restaurant is located in the small shopping court anchored by the Whole Earth Center on busy Nassau Street. Once you are through the door, gold-figured crimson walls, subdued lighting, gauzy curtains, Peruvian lilies in vases on polished tables, and Thai statuary create a pleasant ambience. The welcome is warm and the crowd convivial.

Tom Yum Goong

354 Nassau St.

Princeton

(609) 921-2003

www.tygthai.com

Food: Good to very good

Service: Friendly and efficient

Prices: Appetizers $6.95-$10.95; salads $6.95-$14.95; entrées $11.95-$22.95; desserts $5.95-$6.95.

Cuisine: Thai

Atmosphere: Small, stylish Thai-accented room

Vegetarian and Vegan Options: All menu items can be made vegetarian. A special vegetarian menu offers additional choices.

Hours: Tues.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri. 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sat.-Sun. 12:30 p.m.-11 p.m. Closed Mon.

Essentials: Accepts most credit cards; off-street, shared
parking; BYO; wheelchair accessible through front door.

Directions

   Soup began our meal on a high note. The large bowl of tom yum seafood soup (at $15.95, it is a more extravagant version of the shrimp soup for which the restaurant is named) was a generous serving for three. The graceful bowl was filled with plenty of shrimp, squid and mussels in their iridescent shells. Lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, coconut milk, lime juice and cilantro added elegant, intriguing grace notes, with earthy Asian mushrooms lending the broth an intriguing, savory foundation. The spices’ subtle warmth built in intensity from spoonful to spoonful.
   Thai cuisine balances the bitter, the sweet, the sour and the salty, all orchestrated by different kinds and levels of spicy heat, sometimes from curry, sometimes from peppers. A red curry, for instance, draws its distinctive flavors from basic ingredients such as red chili paste (spicy), coconut milk (sweet), fish sauce (salty) and lime leaves (sour). The flavors blend but also preserve their individual characters. Traditionally, Thai meals do not proceed from appetizers to entrée to dessert. Instead, dishes are served together, with everyone sharing as they transfer morsels from the serving platter to an individual bowl of rice. We departed from the classic order of things by starting with appetizers and then proceeding to entrées, but all was shared among three diners.
   Vegetable Thai dumplings ($6.95) were a summer special, and included natural flavors of peas, water chestnuts and mushrooms, encased in the crispy wonton skins. In contrast, the vanishingly thin wrappers around the fresh rolls ($6.95) were translucent to reveal the filling: minced shrimp, julienne carrots and shredded lettuce. The Thai basil that perfumed this dish was both garnish and offered a pleasing balance of basil and mint. Both rolls are on the appetizer section of the menu and come with a thin "turnip sauce" full of ground peanuts.
   Some entrées are accompanied by the Thai salad, which can be ordered à la carte ($6.95). It includes baby green vegetables, shredded carrots, tofu and ground peanuts. The rather bland medley is considerably enhanced by Tom Yum Goong’s delicious coconut milk-based dressing.
   Entrées are served attractively on oval platters to encourage sharing. Soft-shell crabs ($23.95), a special, consisted of two, sautéed to golden brown with perfect, moist texture. Unfortunately, the crab was served in a pool of the "chef’s special sauce," an over-sweet orange sauce that masked its nutty flavor. Yellow curry with shrimp ($12.95) was served on a bed of noodles. The sauce was deliciously creamy so that each bite was simultaneously spicy and soothing. The peppers, carrots and pineapple slices were fine complements to the shrimp.
   Penang duck ($18.95) was a boned half, fried crispy and served with a mild, creamy Penang curry sauce rich with ground peanuts. Green beans and smooth, straw mushrooms accompanied and enhanced the dish. The outer ends of the duck were a trifle dry, but the rest was juicy and tender beneath the crispy exterior.
   Other options on the menu include a range of noodle dishes like pad-ka-prow (with chili and basil leaves), pad ginger (with stir-fried ginger, mushrooms and black bean sauce) and pad asparagus, with mushrooms and tomatoes, all with the diner’s choice of meat or seafood ($12.95-$15.95). In addition, the menu offers a spicy salad with lemon grass, bell peppers, tomatoes, scallions, chili paste and lime juice ($14.95) to accompany the diner’s choice of beef, chicken or pork
   Few cuisines offer so many flavors in so many permutations. In Thai cooking kaffir lime leaves, lime juice, basil, coconut, pineapple, cashews, scallions, lemon grass, peanut sauce, tamarind, oyster sauce, jasmine rice, galangal, red, yellow and green curry combine and recombine with vegetables, seafood, meat and poultry. The range of ingredients is wide and the combinations of flavors almost limitless.
   And that goes for the sweets as well. We ended the meal with two desserts. Sweet mango, bracingly fresh with a delightful, pine resin taste, was served with sticky, super-sweet rice cooked in coconut milk ($6.95). The Klauy Tod Krob banana and sticky rice wrapped in a spring roll wonton wrapper ($5.95) was a pleasing confection, its smooth warm banana contrasting nicely with the gooey rice and crispy wrapper.
   Service was friendly and efficient. We were greeted and seated quickly. The servers explained options and provided wine glasses and a cooler for our wine. Opened in December by Some Bolsue, who previously operated a Thai restaurant in New York, the restaurant has clearly worked out any kinks in service common in a start-up. The chef, a nephew of Mr. Bolsue, previously worked in a hotel restaurant in Thailand.