KY eats – I’m Spicy Thai Restaurant, PJ Seksyen 17

To be honest, when I first heard about I’m Spicy, the image that came up in my mind wasn’t exactly a very classy one. For a place that turned out to look as good and decorated as well as this restaurant, it probably deserves a better name.

What intrigued me at I’m Spicy though, isn’t the name, location, or interior decoration of this place; I was drawn to the restaurant because it serves pork, something that is uncommon when it comes to Thai food in this country, and it is this that marks the biggest difference between I’m Spicy and My Elephant, another modern Thai restaurant at Seksyen 17.

I’m Spicy Thai Restaurant, Seksyen 17

I’m Spicy is located on the same row as Kanna Curry House, on the border between SS 2 and Seksyen 17, two of the more famous dining havens among Klang Valley dwellers. As this isn’t a very hot commercial area, parking is usually a relatively uneventful affair.

The restaurant is fully air conditioned, clean, and very tastefully done. It is however, not very big, and probably not a great idea if you are bringing a party of 30 for a visit without prior call in.

The following photos are taken from 2 different visits to I’m Spicy, once just myself and Haze, another with Suan, Horng, Yuki, Kerol, and Haze too.

house drink, pamelo salad, garlic squid

The house drink is a blend of pandan, lemongrass, lime, and mint leaves (RM 15 per jug). It was absolutely refreshing, but probably a little too small a jug (more like a small decanter). Good if you are sharing it between two fellas, but for a party of six, it was only a few mouthful per person.

deep fried pork ribs, stir fry kailan, pomelo salad, grilled pork skewers

I’m Spicy has a tad over half a dozen appetizer and salad dishes. We’ve tried a couple of them. Pamelo salad (RM 25) comes with pomelo tossed in tamarind sauce, green apple, carrots, and deep fried squids. The result is a blend of fresh and slightly sour taste of pomelo mixing up with the savoriness from the squid. Certainly new to me, it was good.

Deep fried chicken skin (RM 12) well, was exactly as advertised. Not as great as your KFC chicken skin, but would certainly still go well with a glass of beer.

jasmine rice, deep fried chicken skin, thai stewed pork leg

The following dishes, while classified under main dish in the menu, aren’t exactly big in serving size, but they are rather delicious.

The deep fried pork ribs (RM 25) is a house speciality here. Ribs marinated in a blend of herbs and spices that is unmistakably Thai, and yet unfamiliar at the same time, I wish the serving was larger.

Grilled pork skewers (RM 18) comes with special Thai dipping sauce – Nahm Jim Jeaw, with the meat marinated in galangal, lemongrass, and garlic, then chargrilled.  I really want to know how to make this for my own BBQ, it was better than any satay I’ve ever had.

Thai stewed pork leg (RM 25) was something that I insisted on ordering. It comes with an egg that’s about a 3/4 way cooked, some salted vegetable, and fatty pork leg that’s succulent and falls off from the bones to the touch. It reminds me of the stew pork from Fatty Duck at restaurant Okay, but presented in a nicer way and carries and extra hint of Thai flavoring. Unfortunately, it was also twice as pricey.

The vegetable dish we tried was the rather standard kailan with salted fish (RM 15). It served it’s purpose as the only green plate in a sea of brown and red.

thick soup and clear soup seafood tomyam, red curry with pork

I’ve tried both thick and clear soup tomyam from  I’m Spicy ( RM 15/20 for chicken, RM 18/30 for seafood). The photo on the left was the large portion with thick tomyam, on the right, small and clear. Both versions were top notch, and we wished it the serving was larger.

The red curry comes with either chicken or pork, and we had the latter (RM 18/24), it too was very good. We had initially thought we were going to get the green curry, but the mistake turned out to be a blessing.

red ruby waterchestnuts crushed ice, mango with sticky rice

As with any respectable Thai restaurant, I’m Spicy also serves two of my favorite Thai desserts – red ruby (RM 7) and mango with sticky rice (RM 9). The red ruby certainly didn’t disappoint, and mango with sticky rice is best shared with 3-4 person. The desserts are delicious.

Haze, Suan, Horng, Yuki, Kerol, KY

My impression of I’m Spicy is very positive … if you don’t take pricing into account. Another qualm I have with I’m Spicy is the serving size. Other than tomyam and curry which comes in two different sizes, everything else comes in only one size – relatively small.

Ultimately, I’m Spicy is a little too pricey for a restaurant that is located at the less glamourous part of PJ, but if you don’t mind paying Changkat prices, you probably won’t regret paying this restaurant a visit.

more photos at KYspeaks facebook page

Address:
I’m Spicy Thai Restaurant
1, Ground Floor, Jalan 17/45,
46400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.11875, 101.62982
Tel: 03-7954 2281
Web: www.imspicy.com.my
Hours: Everyday for lunch and dinner, except Tuesday