Dodee Paidang, Haymarket

Dodee Paidang is a huge favourite of mine. There are a lot of good noodle soup places in Sydney from Vietnamese pho to Chinese wonton noodle soup to Malaysian laksa but Dodee’s tom yum broth is the one that I find myself craving more often than any of the others. Every mouthful is a delight to your senses. It’s also definitely a love hate relationship with the spiciness but as you’re sitting there, sweating it out, struggling to get each spoon of the spicy broth into your mouth as your lips are tingling and your mouth is burning, you realise that you just can’t stop though. It’s THAT type of good.

Dodee offers tom yum soup with your choice of noodles (my personal fave is the glass noodles for the chewy texture), your choice of toppings (you can go all fancy and get grilled seafood but I usually stick to just the regular pork) and your choice of spiciness. The spiciness ranges from level 0 (no chilli) to level 7 (extreme extreme extreme!). I like to think I’m a decent chilli eater yet I usually only go for level 1 and that’s enough to get me sweating through the meal. They have dried chilli on the table if you want to add more so I find it’s better to be conservative and choose a lower level (with the option of adding more chilli to it) than being all gung-ho and choosing a level that makes the soup unbearable to eat. The soup is full of flavour – unlike a lot of other restaurant tom yum soup, it is less sweet and more sour which I personally prefer. I also love the crispy wonton skins on top which add a crunchy texture to the soup and if you get the regular pork toppings, there’s a mix of pork items including pork balls and pork meatloaf. A small bowl costs $6.90 and a large bowl costs $13 though note that it’s not really large at all, not even a regular pho bowl size.

I’ve also tried a bunch of other entrees at Dodee though have never had their other mains as I can never resist ordering the tom yum soup. The grilled pork skewers (moo ping) is quite nice as are the grilled meat ball skewers. Recently, I tried the Hoi Jo, a roll of minced pork, prawn and chestnut wrapped in tofu skin and deep fried. Really yummy, but everything pales in comparison to the tom yum soup.

Dodee desserts are also decent – if anything, because getting a cold dessert (e.g. the mixed jelly with coconut or the lod chong aka cendol) is super refreshing after the hot soup. I’ve also the fried bread with pandan custard though personally prefer the Chat Thai version of that dish.

Details: Dodee Paidang, 9/37 Ultimo Rd, Haymarket NSW 2000