House (the movie theater haven for fans of indie movies), a go-kart track and dozens of bars—there are plenty of reasons to head to RCA, none of which include food. Lanyum Tumzap will not redefine RCA’s culinary landscape—the food is pretty average—but given the dearth of options in the neighborhood, this place is a great alternative to Tops Mall’s other safe bet, Fuji. We can imagine how Tumzap’s décor could quickly become rundown, but right now, it still feels fresh and bright. A blatant Greyhound rip-off, it combines fake brick paneling painted white and childish doodling. Is the floor bare cement? Of course. But the furniture feels more Index than Habitat and the execution is pretty shoddy. Staff look prim in their fake Fred Perry shirts, and they’re extremely pleasant. Service is fast, too, which is good to know when you’re trying to gobble down some chow before catching the latest gay Korean flick at House. Alas, the kitchen can never seem to get things quite right: it’s either good ingredients and bad seasoning or vice versa. The koong pad sauce makham (shrimps in tamarind sauce) are bathed in a sickly sweet sauce with almost no hint of tamarind—a pity as the prawns are big and have a crispy shell and tender flesh. The somtam poo ma is the opposite, well seasoned but the crab was fishy (great, fresh and crispy vegetable basket, though). Kor moo yang (grilled strips of pork) is another pleasing treat with a great sauce and a hearty flavor, despite the huge chunks of fat and the petite portion. The tom yam koong isn’t even that lucky: the small overcooked shrimp are lost in what is closer to a vegetable soup (plenty of spring onion, tomatoes, mushrooms) loaded with sugar and salt. Dishes are all pretty basic, so you can order just about anything with similar mixed-bag results. At these prices, in this mall, that’s not as bad as it sounds—especially when the cute servers bring you a free Thai dessert while they close up shop.
