Tom yum from hell — Restaurant in Sydney

Like Spice Alley on Broadway near Central Park, Tom Yum from Hell lies in a narrow space that evokes the cheap eats and street food with rustic charm - and succeeds better for the look, though like Spice Alley, it doesn't have the price that makes the food yummier.

I had the cheapest tom yum ramen for $19.90, the one with pork belly. The deep-fried enoki mushrooms were the highlight and had a light, crisp texture. The tom yum is sour and spicy as expected; there are three levels of spicy - I chose Level 2, not being stupid enough to try Level 3 on the first go, and the girl at the counter gave me that look - and yes, as someone who can take a decent amount of spice, it took me to my limits. The pork belly was fine, the skin a little chewy and could have been crispier. The ramen itself was actual ramen, not the instant noodle type, so good. The tom yum served the meal well as the noodles picked up the taste, but drinking it by itself at the end was a mistake - ramenophiles cannot help but want to taste the broth, but this is tom yum spicy and it was just too strong to be enjoyable. Still, of course I finished it anyway.

The other places in the lane look potentially interesting too - a dumpling place and a banh mi type of shop at the front. Pity the prices are what you'd expect in the CBD and not streets in SE or E Asia, that and the portion size is acceptable enough but not value portions. Still, it was something different and I say it's still worth trying...

As a spicy food lover, the name of this restaurant alone was enough to get my attention!

Once I managed to locate their restaurant, hidden away in an alley off of George Street, I opted for the Tom Yum Crispy Pork Belly with Level 3 (maximum) spiciness; it makes no sense to me to come to a place called Tom Yum From Hell and not go all the way.

It was a bold choice but, ultimately, the right one.

The soup was packed full of flavour, intensely spicy and sour, but only somewhat balanced by the crispy pork belly, meatball chicken, poached egg, deep-fried enoki mushrooms and Japanese ramen noodles.

Save this venue for when you are craving for big bold flavours otherwise it may be a bit much.

The helpful staff also recommended me to try their signature spring rolls which were deep-fried to crispy perfection. A Thai milk tea is just always a good idea with spicy food, and I'm happy to report that theirs holds up against the best I've...

Tom yum soup was very tasty, powerful and delicious as it should be. The ingredients on their own tasted really fresh. I got the seafood and the prawns were absolutely succulent. The noodles, I’m not gonna lie I was very impressed with how al dente it was. Never had an egg noodle cooked this well in awhile.

My only gripe with this place is that the portion was really not worth the price. Furthermore, the atmosphere at the location. Felt like I was eating at a sewage area, everything around was dirty (maybe that was the vibe they were going for, like In Bangkok). For an expensive cost of 20.90-21.90 ( depending on what you get), because of the location and small portion sizes, the cost does not justify in my opinion.

Overall, really tasty, high quality ingredients, tremendously well cooked noodles, crispy enoki in Tom yum soup super yummy. However, For how much you pay, and the portion you get, worth a try but I’ll be reluctant...