Tuptim Thai Cusine in Ypsilanti

John Moors | Contributor

Nearly every city has a road that contains the majority of their restaurants. Sort of a central eating location, if you will. For Ypsilanti, that road is Washtenaw Avenue. This stretch used to be home to mostly fast food and local breakfast joints, but it has recently made the transition to a large amount of restaurants featuring ethnic cuisine. The fast food remains, of course, but the rest have become mostly Chinese restaurants (and grocery), and Mediterranean cuisine. All of these places are serving some pretty solid food, but the I truly believe that the best food is being served by a small Thai joint housed in a building that obviously used to be a Long John Silver’s. I can guarantee you that this is the best food ever to be served in a Long John Silver’s location.

Tuptim Thai Cuisine has been at this location since 2002, and is serving some of the best Thai food I’ve ever had. Upon entering, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. The interior is very elegant, in the “designing on a budget” sort of way. It contains about 20 or so tables, which are frequently full, but you will always have plenty of space to enjoy your meal. Usually the waitresses are doing front of the house duties along with taking care of the customer needs, but they notice newcomers almost immediately. For the most part the small staff is friendly and helpful.

The menu is easy to understand, clear and descriptive. There are plenty of choices, with a clear direction and interesting flavor profiles. They offer five types of curries, many different appetizers, soups, salads, and entrees, which include vegetarian and meat dishes, can be ordered with rice or noodles, and your choice of steak, chicken, pork, tofu, or shrimp. Finally, you can order any dish mild, medium, hot, or extra hot. Trust me on this one, if you don’t like spicy stick to the mild. The hot is for real spice lovers, but still allows you to enjoy the taste of the food. The extra hot will literally burn your mouth. When most people think of Thai, spice immediately comes to mind. Tuptim does offer you that spicy option, but still allows the flavors to shine. The mild dishes contain great flavor which can be enjoyed by people who don’t like a little burn.

The food tastes incredibly fresh and always contains unique flavors. You can tell a lot of care has been put into the preparation and the recipes. Many of the dipping sauces are oil based, but the food is not greasy or oil slicked. Every dish is beautiful garnished, and contains enough food to fill you up for the night. Not quite Epic Portions, but I promise you won’t ever leave the place hungry.

Tuptim's steamed dumplings with ginger chili oil vinaigrette

John Moors | Contributor

For starters, the Steamed Dumplings, which are tiny pockets of pork filling, reminiscent of a pot sticker, are very decent. They are served with ginger chili oil vinaigrette. This is my go to appetizer, but any appetizer will offer a great start to your meal.

Tuptim's chicken with cashew nuts

John Moors | Contributor

My go to dish is the Chicken with Cashew Nuts, which is prepared with garlic, onions, fresh peppers, and scallions. I have ordered other entrees, but this one is so good that I usually can’t get myself to order anything else. The sauce is an interesting combination of sweet and spicy. Most Asian style dishes rely on a Hoison sauce base, but this just tastes different to me, in a very good way. If you look close you can see the red chilies that make this the hot version of the dish.

Appetizers range from $5-9, and entrees range from $11-16 depending on the meat you choose. It remains very affordable for the quality of food you receive. If you are a fan of Thai food or have never had Thai and want to try it out, I strongly urge that you visit Tuptim Thai Cuisine. It has been once of my favorite food locations in Ypsilanti since its opening.