Frugal options at Tuptim include delicate curry puffs
Mary Bilyeu | Contributor
A friend and I recently ate a fabulous dinner at Tuptim Thai restaurant. Neither of us had been there in ages, so it seemed a perfect place to go on a Friday evening.
Tuptim means "ruby" in Thai, and the restaurant's owners extend a very warm invitation on the menu with hopes that "you will find our atmosphere as lovely and our food as enticing as that precious gem."
The atmosphere is friendly and very inviting; the exterior is a bright and vibrant red. The staff is also quite gracious, helping to create an ambience conducive to conversation.
But the food is the greatest enticement — I have never eaten anything at Tuptim that I haven't loved.
Our Frugal Floozie Friday feature is the appetizer pictured above: Curry Puffs. Delicate pillows of puff pastry stuffed with a curried potato and pea filling, these are tender and delicious! They're served with a tangy cucumber vinaigrette that isn't absolutely necessary - the puffs are wonderful without it — but which also adds a unique flavor and distinction if used for dipping. They were a perfect fit for the mission, at precisely $5.
We also ordered a Grilled Beef Salad, with tomatoes and cucumbers and a lovely vinaigrette. At $8, it exceeded our Frugal Floozie Friday $5 per person budget if ordered by an individual; and it is admittedly a perfect size for one person's meal. But since we split the salad as part of a several course meal, this also counted as a less-than-$5 per person option.
The beef was tender, the vegetables were fresh and crisp, and the dressing was slightly tart, slightly sweet, and an ideal way to bring all of the flavors and textures together.
Our entree went over the budget even when shared; but it was so wonderful that I had to mention it anyway. The Basil Fried Rice with chicken cost $12, was fragrant with a variety of seductive aromas, and was probably the highlight of the entire meal... quite a statement, given how delicious everything was!
There were several other potential Frugal Floozie Friday options at Tuptim, from spring rolls to fish cakes to dumplings, a vegetable soup with tofu and ginger and vermicelli, as well as a tapioca pudding prepared with coconut milk.
Enjoy some great frugal — but still delicious! — dishes at Tuptim!
Tuptim
4896 Washtenaw Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
734-528-5588
Mary Bilyeu has won or placed in more than 60 cooking contests and writes about her adventures in the kitchen. She was thrilled to have her post about Scottish Oatmeal Shortbread named as one of the daily "Best of the Blogs" by the prestigious Food News Journal.
Go visit Mary's blog — Food Floozie — on which she enthuses and effuses over all things food-related. Her newest feature is Frugal Floozie Friday, seeking fun and food for $5 or less ... really! Feel free to email her with questions or comments or suggestions: yentamary@gmail.com.
The phrase "You Should Only Be Happy" (written in Hebrew on the stone pictured in this post) comes from Deuteronomy 16:15 and is a wish for all her readers as they cook along with her ... may you always be happy here.
Comments
15crown00
Tue, Oct 4, 2011 : 3:38 p.m.
frugal Thai food belongs in Thailand.
seldon
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 4:44 a.m.
@DBH: McDonalds got better inspection reports too, but their Thai food is horrible.
seldon
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 1:07 p.m.
The thing is, even at the restaurants which have critical violations, the actual risk of contracting a food-borne illness is extremely low. So the practical difference between eating at a place with a few criticals and one with none is likely to be negligible. I make my decisions based on quality of the food and (to some extent) price; if a place's record on health inspections is really bad then it might give me pause, but otherwise I don't pay attention to it.
DBH
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 2:28 p.m.
Thanks for the comment, @seldon. If you received the impression that I think the Reports are "...the only important factor when choosing a restaurant," you have the wrong impression. Nonetheless, in my opinion, they are quite important, since a restaurant having one or more critical violations (as well as, ultimately, noncritical violations) is more likely to serve me food which will result in a food-borne illness than a restaurant without such violations. If I have to choose between my health and my taste buds, I will choose my health every time. Now, of course, these are probabilities (not easily quantifiable) so nothing is certain and I recognize that. I feel that restaurants that do well on the Health Department Inspection Reports, particularly those that have a consistently good record in terms of having no critical violations, should be recognized as having done so and rewarded by patronage. They should be downgraded as well if the quality/taste of their food is below par (as well as the quality of the waitstaff, the ambience and physical makeup of the restaurant, the prices of their offerings), but these are factors patrons can easily recognize and evaluate during their time at the establishment. Food handling practices occur primarily behind the scenes, so patrons are not going to be able to assess those practices as easily as they can assess those other factors. You may or may not value the taste and price of the food over the risk of food-borne illness; I don't. For me, they are all important but I put safety as number one, taste as number two, and price as number three. If your priorities should be different, I would have no quarrel with that, of course. The comments I submit are only my opinions.
seldon
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 1:19 p.m.
My basic point is that, while the health inspection reports are good to know about (and it's great that they publish them, because it puts pressure on businesses to stay clean), they aren't the only important factor when choosing a restaurant. Thai Thai's food is way better than Tuptim's, and they're cheaper.
DBH
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 9:52 a.m.
I haven't been to McDonald's in decades, but I am confident your heads up about the Thai food will be of significant help to other diners contemplating a Thai meal at McDonald's. By the way, the Health Department Inspection Reports for McDonald's throughout the county (there are numerous outlets, as you may know) are not all that great. Several of them had critical violations. Tuptim Thai Cuisine did not have any critical violations in their last three inspections (contrary to Thai-Thai).
thefoodandwinehedonist
Fri, Sep 30, 2011 : 3:26 p.m.
I'm going to have to give this place another look. On my blog I lamented the serious LACK of good, cheap, Thai food in A2. My previous experience with Tuptim was that it's ok, but not at the prices they were asking. Thanks for giving me an excuse to go there! Hedonist <a href="http://www.foodandwinehedonist.com" rel='nofollow'>www.foodandwinehedonist.com</a>
Mary Bilyeu
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 12:40 a.m.
Order at least a medium heat, as the mild food I ordered was VERY mild. There are a good number of <$5 options at Tuptim - not a full menu, but still excellent treats! The curry puffs are a bit small, but very good. I do hope you'll enjoy it next time; be sure to let me know how you like it ....
DBH
Fri, Sep 30, 2011 : 7:59 p.m.
I haven't been to either restaurant yet but I likely would start with Tuptim Thai Cuisine as they have had better Health Department Inspection Reports than Thai-Thai for each of the last three inspections (see <a href="http://www.swordsolutions.com/inspections/pgeSearchRest.asp?Hit=DirectSearch&LastCty=28" rel='nofollow'>http://www.swordsolutions.com/inspections/pgeSearchRest.asp?Hit=DirectSearch&LastCty=28</a> ).
seldon
Fri, Sep 30, 2011 : 5:27 p.m.
While you're trying places, I'd also try Thai Thai, which is down the road from Tuptim in a strip mall. I personally like it better.