I've mentioned Yusup, a Muslim restaurant on the northern outskirts of Bangkok, many, many times. The restaurant's rich curries, amazing biryani, and wonderfully sour soups have made it just about my favourite all-around restaurant in Bangkok. I'd love to see more people eat there, but the restaurant is located quite far outside central Bangkok and is something of an ordeal to find. Well, gone now are the days of excuses: armed with Google Maps, you should have no problem in locating Yusup.
I stopped by Yusup for lunch today with a companion and ordered several things, including the dish pictured above, kuruma with roti. I prefer their goat kuruma, but they were out of it so we had to settle for chicken:
Regardless of the protein, the curry is almost impossibly rich and thick, chock fulla dried spices and fresh herbs, and packing a sour bite akin to a vindaloo. My companion ordered kaeng karii kai, Muslim-style chicken curry, over rice:
The curry is lightly spiced, probably not much more than tinned curry powder, and includes thick chunks of potato, tomato and onion. It's served with ajaat, a side of sliced cucumbers, chilies and shallots in a sweet/sour vinegar dressing.
Together we picked at mataba nuea:
A roti stuffed with beef, a few basic veggies and egg, also served with ajaat.
And for dessert? You guessed it--more roti:
this time drizzled with sweetened condensed milk and liberally sprinkled with sugar.
Yusup Phochana (Google Maps link) Kaset-Navamin Highway 05 136 2864, 09 923 8099 Open every day, 11am-2pm
How to get there: The restaurant is located in northern Bangkok along the Kaset-Navamin highway (also known as sen tat mai). If you’re coming from Mor Chit BTS along Th Phaholyothin, turn right at the Kaset Intersection onto the Kaset-Navamin highway. Go past the first stop light and the restaurant is on the left side just after a very large sign with the Swiss flag (as well as several Thai-language signs advertising the restaurant). If you get lost, go ahead and try one of the mobile numbers above, but I’m pretty sure these people don’t speak English.