Pachem Thai Food · Authentic Taste of Thailand in JB Johor Jaya

It's been more than two years since we last visited Pachem Thai in Johor Jaya but it has always been at the top of my mind for good authentic Thai food in Johor Bahru.



Pachem Thai Food has moved to Jalan Dedap 15 in Johor Jaya for over a year. They used to operate from their home for many years before moving here.

It's a simple shop lot eatery. Simply furnished but clean and comfortable. This was our first visit since they moved here (from their residence).



Pachem Thai Food gets very busy during lunch.



This was our second meal of the day, so we picked some relatively light dishes. These dishes will do fine to satisfy my sudden craving for Thai flavours.



A Thai meal for me always starts with a tom yam soup. My preference these days is for the clear or "white" version.



The slightly cloudy "white" tom yam had strong assertive sourish, spicy hot, savoury and underlying sweet flavours. Lime and kaffir lime leaves provided the sourness and aromatics. The layers of hot spicy sting came from fresh chili peppers, ginger, lemongrass, dry chili etc. Sweetness came from fresh prawns, mussels, and squid as well as onion and tomatoes. Spring onion, cilantro, kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass piled on the aromatics. Spongy mushrooms soaked in the flavoursome soup. So much quintessentially Thai flavours in just one clay pot of soup (for RM20 at 2016 prices).



One of my must order dishes at Pachem Thai Food is this cowslip flower buds stir fried with minced pork, garlic and chili peppers.



In contrast with the in your face pungent flavours of the tom yam soup, fried cowslip flower buds are much more delicate. The flower buds felt like soft asparagus tips (the flowers do not have any crunch). The subtly sweet flower buds took on some of the mild savoury sweetness of the fried minced pork. Pachem Thai Food is the only place that I know of in Johor and Singapore that serves this interesting Thai dish. 

The dish is off menu as cowslip flower bud supply is irregular. When ordering, tell the staff that you would like 夜来香 "yeh lai siang".



Another of our must order dishes at Pachem Thai Food is this Fried Egg with Cha-um (vegetable).



It's an omelette with mashed cha-um vegetable inside the fried egg. The pulpy cha-um has a very subtle taste so the omelette tasted mainly eggy. The outside of the omelette was delicately crisp while the cha-um gave the dish a soft and moist feel inside. The fried egg cha-um did not feel greasy.



When I see petai (stinky beans) on a menu, I will order it 😄

This was petai with strips of coconut bud stir fried with sambal. The natural taste of the crunchy stinky beans and crunchy sweetish coconut bud were combined with the robust savoury salty spiciness of the sambal chili. I enjoyed this dish because of the mix of textures and flavours. Coconut bud has a crunch like bamboo shoot, but a bit stiffer.



Mid way through our meal, the waitress came with this chicken feet salad (yum tin gai).

Me: "Oh...., we didn't order this.... ."
Waitress: "Oh..., boss say it's a treat for you... ."
Me: "Oh....., thanks... ."



So, we made space on our crowded table for the chicken feet salad.

The salad was nice - the tender crunchy chicken feet skin doesn't have much flavour on its own but it combined well with the robust savoury sourish spicy sweet flavour of the salad dressing. The spring onion and onion added more crunch and flavours to the dish.



Me: "Oh..., we din order this... "
Waitress: "Boss say it's for you.... ."
Me: "Oh... "



So, we made space on the table for the Fried Fish with Thai Herbs. What was harder was to make space for it in our stomachs 😂



The sea bass fish was fried to a crisp outside, splashed with a sweet savoury dressing and then smothered with a salad of chopped lime, onion, chili pepper, spring onion, raw garlic, toasted peanuts etc.



Two of us, we did our utmost to do justice to all the tasty dishes. When we went to settle the bill, the cashier told us that "someone" had already settled our bill. When we requested to thank the boss for her/his hospitality, everyone said the boss was not in 😂 So, we would like to say khop khun mak krap to the boss here 😊

Note: Till today, we have never met Pachem Thai Food's boss as we always go there anonymous like any paying customer.



👉 We enjoyed the food at Pachem Thai. The restaurant is humble (furnishings are basic) and prices are reasonable. The dishes tasted just like the Thai food I had in Bangkok, when I first ate Thai, way back in 1981. I shall be back to try more dishes.



Restaurant name: Pachem Thai Food
Address: 2, Jalan Dedap 15, Johor Jaya, Johor Bahru, Johor
GPS: 1°32'31.9"N 103°48'00.8"E 🌐 1.542194, 103.800232
Waze: Pachem Thai Food Food
Tel: 012-757 1343
Hours: 12:00 noon - 3:00pm | 5:00pm - 9:00pm (Weds off)

Non Halal

Date visited: 15 Oct 2018 | Reviewed 1 Aug 2022




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I quickly made my way to Jalan Keembong 18 (update: new address at 2, Jalan Dedap 15) when Jesslyn told me about the home based Pachem Thai food stall in Taman Johor Jaya. I love such quaint and delicious hyperlocal find dining experiences. Thanks Jesslyn 😃

Johor Jaya 住家形泰式小餐厅。美味的泰国菜。也有特殊的泰式菜肴，如炒夜来香花。它不容易在新山其他地方找到。值得一试。



It was a rainy day when we visited Pachem Thai under the mango tree. We could already smell the aroma of Thai spices and condiments as we walked towards the stall in the drizzle.

The stall owners are Siamese Malaysians. Pachem Thai stall have been operating for 10 years already and had very much been under the radar. It's only in the past year that business thrived thanks to the buzz on social media.



Eat Thai food must of course have Tomyam soup (RM17).

We liked Pachem's tomyam soup as the seafood ingredients were fresh and the spicy broth was well balanced between savoury, spicy and sweet. The spicy aftertaste had quite a sting but it faded quickly. I like Pachem's tomyam better than some of those that I tasted in the touristy parts of Bangkok.



I love sotong (squid), so we ordered this Thai Steamed Sotong (RM20).



The simply steamed squid was fresh but just slightly overdone. It was smothered in a blanket of well balanced sourish, sweet, spicy sauce with lots of raw garlic and freshly ground chili. The sauce and steamed sotong were a perfect match.



Fried Egg with Cha um (Thai vegetable) RM8.



Cha um or cha om is a variety of acacia with pulpy fleshly green leaves. This is a nice home cooked style Thai omelette. Slightly greasy but still nice.



Jesslyn reminded me to order their off menu 夜来香 flower dish which is fried with tender sweet bits of pork.



We were eating 夜来香 flower buds (bunga tongkeng or cowslip creeper flower) for the first time. The pulpy buds were very mildly sweet and have a unique soft texture (like a softer type of asparagus). Must order this dish at Pachem Thai.



Very well executed Thai style fried rice (RM6) with nice wok hei.



Wrapped up our lunch with one of my favourite Thai desserts - Sticky Mango Rice (RM8). At Pachem Thai, they use brown glutinous rice brought in from Hatyai. First time I had sticky mango rice this way and it was good as brown glutinous rice has slightly more flavour than the white version.

Our total bill with drinks came to RM77.



👍 The food at Pachem Thai is delicious and reminds me of those which I have tasted in Thailand. We will be back for Pachem's other dishes such as their Thai style braised pork knuckle and chicken feet salad.

Pachem Thai is a makeshift stall extended from the family home's front porch. The folding plastic furniture is flimsy and wobbly. Parking is street side in a private residential area, so parking places are scarce, especially during peak hours. Be prepared to walk a little. Have fun 😃



Restaurant name: Pachem Thai
Address: 27, Jalan Keembong 18, Taman Johor Jaya  2, Jalan Dedap 15, Johor Jaya, Johor Bahru 
GPS: 1.533229, 103.808646 / 1°31'59.6"N 103°48'31.1"E
1°32'31.2"N 103°48'01.4"E  |  1.542015, 103.800382
Tel: 012 7571 343  +601169993188

Hours: 12:00 noon to 6:00pm (Sunday closed) 12:00 noon - 3:00pm | 5:00pm - 9:00pm (Weds off)

Non Halal

Date visited: 13 Jul 2016

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