The trendier third of Eat, Drink, Stagger was having a bit of a rough time a while back. Sadly, Ryan lives quite far from me so I only really get to catch up with him in the city and its environs. However, Ryan had suggested that myself and Tris head out his way for a film at the sumptuous Sun Theatre in Yarraville, and naturally this meant dinner beforehand. His excellent recommendation on the night was Yim Yam, a Thai/Laotian restaurant. It’s the sort of place you’d never really find out about if it weren’t for a local telling you about it.

It was a public holiday, and the small but cute, kitsch eatery was packed to the rafters. A good sign. The service was always polite, but a little erratic due to the volume of business from diners and takeaway-getters alike.

The three of us were seated at a communal bench so things get very cosy! For entrée, I suggested we get two servings of the Thai pancakes. You can see what they look like all wrapped up here, but I want to show what’s inside. See the soft, fibrous brown stuff? That’s palm sugar! What wondrous stuff. It feels a little like candy/fairy floss, but denser though it melts on your tongue as soon as you eat it.

After some whining from Tris that I’d chosen the dish he wanted, I selected another. Both of us got two ‘salads’ respectively, the papaya and crab, and the toasted rice and coconut ones. The papaya one was extremely fresh, chilli-laden and addictive. Mine was milder and very crunchy. Tris’ one was unbelievable – it really did taste like they’d just dashed off to get the ingredients to make it just for you. A small note of contention however: rather than ‘crab’, it was meatless crab claws. Again, ridiculously fresh but the crab itself was too small to have any meat. In any case, it imbued the salad with a seawater note – it sounds odd, but it was wonderful.

Ryan ordered the tamarind chicken and a serve of rice. There was more than plenty of the chicken and we all got to taste – next time I go there, I’m getting this dish! Just the perfect amount of flavour, dryness and tenderness. I sadly did not take a good enough photo of this dish for it to appear here. We had some leftovers of all dishes and they were just amazing the day after – still hot, crunchy and flavoursome.

Not getting a good photo of Ryan’s selection is the perfect reason to go back as I’m so ordering that dish next time (yeah, sure Gem, it’s all about the photos…*rolls eyes at self*). So Ryan…when are we going next? There is another one in Moonee Ponds which is a little easier to get to for me, but I rather like the Yarraville one as an excuse to head out Ryan’s way.

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