The first Surisit Thai Kopitiam is in Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI), opened in 2011. Read my review on that here.
The kopitiam-style of serving simple authentic Thai food, with porky twists, is a great hit with its clientele. In fact, it’s so well-received that owner Rivon Gill decided to open its 2nd outlet in Petaling Jaya not too long ago. Located along the same row as the famous O&S Coffeeshop, Surisit PJ is a good place to head to for some Thai food indulgence. The eatery is comfortable and outfitted with simple furniture – deco ranks lower as compared to the food, definitely!
Catfish Mango Salad
The repertoire of dishes served in this outlet is pretty similar to the menu of their TTDI restaurant. The Fried Prawn Cakes (RM14.90-6pcs, Thod Man Kung), Catfish Mango Salad (RM18.90, Yam Pla Duk Foo Ma Mung) and their Thai-style Otak-otak are all familiar and totally satisfying. The crunchy deep-fried catfish was superb with the fresh young mango strips and cashew nuts sprinkled with fried dried shrimps and tangy dressing.
I love the chunky seafood steamed in a creamy custard inside a young coconut – Surisit’s version of Otak-otak is unique and such a pretty presentation. The bonus part is scraping the sweet young coconut flesh together with the rich seafood in the deliciously spicy custard.
Two of the must-have’s for me in any Thai meal are Tom Yum and Prawns with Glass Noodles. We opted for the clear version of tomyum: Spicy Galangal flavoured Seafood Soup with Coconut Cream (RM32.90, Tom Kah Thalay). Let not its mild appearance mislead you. The clear-looking soup had fresh seafood in it and every mouthful packed some nice heat on the tongue!
The nicely-arranged prawns on top of the glass noodles were enhanced with garlic and coriander leaves. The glass noodles were too soft and soggy – I prefer them with a good bite and taste-wise, it was rather bland.
One of the main attractions of Surisit’s menu is their porky dishes. Their signature item is the Crispy Fried Pork with Shrimp Paste (RM19.90, Moo Thod Kapi). Crispy deep-fried pork belly pieces are crowned with a big bunch of fragrant curry leaves which taste so good when chewed together.
If you are having white rice in your meal, you’d do good to order the Minced Pork with Thai Basil (RM16.90, Phat Krapao Moo Sap) and Prawns Fried with Long Beans and Thai Shrimp Paste (RM17.90, Thaw Fahgam Phat Khapi Kung). Both dishes may look very plain and ordinary but they are big in the tastes department and are excellent with white rice.
Another comforting dish is the Stir-fried Beef with Chillies and Thai Basil Leaves (RM18.90, Neua Phat Bai Grapao). The beef maintained a nice level of tasty chewiness, thanks to the flavouring from the basil and chillies.
The Thai-style Deep-fried Squids With Salted Egg (RM19.90, Plamuk Phad Khikhem) is a decent adaptation of the popular local dish. Salted eggyolks must be the single most-used natural flavorer in local dishes since it burst into the scene some years ago.
The Steamed Fish with Lime (RM42.90, Pla Nueng Prik Manau) was just average, bordering on bland. Somehow the flavours and spices were lacking.
Desserts were pretty much run-of-the-mill Red Rubies with Coconut Milk (RM7.90, Tap Tim Grop) and Mango Pulut served with Coconut Milk (RM10.90, Khaw Niau Ma Muang).
Surisit Thai Kopitiam
No.3 Jalan 20/14,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel: 03-7865 7507.
Opens: Mon to Fri: 11am – 3pm, 6pm – 10.30pm
Saturday and Sunday: 11am – 10.30pm
While bearing the same name and menu, I feel that the TTDI branch is several notches better than this one, a pity.
surisit at tmn tun has great thai food but lousy Filipino staff….why did the owner hired Filipinos to be waiter at thai restaurant?????????these Filipinos are very rude and talk about the lady boss calling her pariah behind her back….they were scolding rude tagalog swear words at Chinese cutomer…probably they are ant-Chinese and were rejected from hong kong….I hope the boss whther he is a Chinese thai or not change the staff unless he just opened the restaurant for playing a fool…