Tom Yum Koong: Thai Cusine served in an Elegant Enviroment

Tom Yum Koong: Thai cuisine served in an elegant environment

“I enjoy managing a restaurant and being out front talking with our customers,” says Ann Sukonthorn, co-owner of Tom Yum Koong, an elegant Thai restaurant in downtown Hasbrouck Heights. “You learn a lot and I enjoy talking to our customers. Many of our customers come in with their families and it is nice getting to know everyone. It gives it a personal touch.”

Ann and her husband, Jeff, the restaurant’s chef and co-owner just celebrated their second anniversary in Hasbrouck Heights. “My husband and I are originally from Bangkok, Thailand and we moved here for our schooling. I was in advertising and my husband was in accounting but he always loved to cook. When we decided to open a business, we took our love of our native cuisine and share it with the community.  My husband has now been a chef for 15 years.”

“We opened our first restaurant in Cliffside Park, NJ and it was successful for the past six years. It was hard running two restaurants and we wanted to concentrate on our new location. Our customers have enjoyed their dining experience with us that they travel down from Cliffside Park to Hasbrouck Heights to dine with us,” Ann said. “When I used to run back and forth between the two restaurants, I did not get to know our customers too well and now that I am working here, it has been nice to get to know our customers by name and get to know their families.”

What stands out about Tom Yum Koong is its elegant design and beautiful atmosphere when dining there. “We designed the restaurant ourselves,” Ann explained. “We wanted to have a peaceful, warm and cozy environment that would make the patrons feel that they were in Thailand. This is why we picked this location. We liked the space and its location on the Boulevard. We have plenty of parking around the restaurant to accommodate our customers.”

“Our customers come in ordering their favorite dishes or have an idea of what they want from previous visits,” Ann explained. “What I like is when they take our recommendations and try something new. We have many popular Thai dishes that we prepare the way we had them at home. Some of the most popular dishes customers like to order are our Satay appetizers, our Pad Thai, our Curry dishes and our Steamed Bass.”

The menu offers an exotic array of dishes from soups to salads to fishes to curries. Their soups include Tom Yum Koong, a Thai savory traditional shrimp soup spiced with Thai herbs, mushrooms, lemongrass and lime leaves and Po Tak, a shrimp, squid, scallop and mussel soup with Thai herbs, tomatoes, onion and basil. Their noodle dishes include traditional Pad Thai, Pad Kee Mao, stir fried rice noodles with mixed vegetables, bell peppers, onions, basil and chili sauce and Pad See Ew, stir fried noodles with Chinese broccoli with sweet black soy sauce and egg.

Some of the Chef Specials include Ped Makham, a sliced boneless duck with Tamarind Sauce, Ped Kra Tiem, sliced boneless crispy duck topped with garlic and soy sauce and Grilled Jumbo Shrimp, topped with a red curry sauce and served with sautéed vegetables. Some of the exotic desserts include a Fried Banana, banana wrapped in crisp pastry and drizzled with honey, Mango and Sweet Sticky Rice, fresh mango served with a sweet sticky rice and Banana Rum, grilled banana topped with brown rum sauce and vanilla ice cream.

“Our business has become popular by word of mouth,” Ann said. “Customers like our food and spread the word. We are finding that many of our customers are coming from the surrounding towns when they hear about our restaurant from their friends. We are celebrating our second year of business and that has been built on good, fresh quality food with the freshest ingredients and a knowledgeable, pleasant staff who like to work with the customers. We hope to see you soon.”

Tom Yum Koong

305 Boulevard

Hasbrouck Heights, NJ  07604

(201) 288-3840