Yum Yum Thai Bath Review: A Late-Night Dessert Stop for Thai Sweets

Sometimes, the craving is not for a full dinner but simply dessert. That was exactly the case on a Saturday evening in Bath. We were looking specifically for Asian desserts and had some time to spare, so we decided to make a little mission out of it and see what the city had to offer.

Our dessert trail began in the centre of town, where we were initially tempted by a baklawa and mint tea set for two elsewhere, a generous selection of baklawa served with fresh mint tea steeped with green tea, rose water and sugar. If you are familiar with the offering, you might have guessed that it’s Comptoir Libanaise.

Still, we had our hearts set on something a little more Asian.

We stopped by several Thai restaurants along the way, including ThaiKhun, Esan Thai, Giggling Squid and Thai Balcony, but none appeared to have obvious dessert options displayed outside.

Our search finally led us to Yum Yum Thai, an independent Thai restaurant with a dessert menu clearly displayed out front.

That alone was enough to win us over.

Dessert Only? No Problem

Knowing how busy Bath restaurants can get on a Saturday evening, especially places with limited seating, we asked the staff if it would be alright to come in just for dessert.

Thankfully, they were completely accommodating and welcomed us in without hesitation.

We had already looked through the menu outside, so we ordered quickly and settled in. The staff were friendly throughout and happy for us to keep things simple.

We skipped drinks, although our waitress kindly offered tap water for both of us. My partner instead asked for hot water, which is a fairly common request among many Asians, and this was happily accommodated. If you have been following Chinamaxxing, you would understand.

Our desserts arrived not long after.

What We Ordered

Thai Banana Fritters

Served with vanilla ice cream and topped with honey.

This was the clear winner of the evening.

The banana fritters were freshly prepared and still hot when they arrived, with a wonderfully crisp, crunchy coating on the outside and soft sweet banana within.

A drizzle of honey added extra sweetness, although honestly the fritters were already enjoyable on their own.

The plating was thoughtful too: a scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with frozen raspberries and finished with a sprig of mint. The cold ice cream balanced the warmth and sweetness of the fritters nicely, making this a satisfying dessert without becoming too heavy.

Simple, well executed and exactly what we were after.

Tim Kati

Salted coconut sticky rice, coconut ice cream topped with jackfruit, sweetcorn and palm seed.

This sounded far more interesting on paper than it was in reality.

The idea of sticky rice pudding paired with coconut ice cream initially appealed to us, but in practice the combination was a little awkward. The cold ice cream quickly firmed up the sticky rice underneath, making the texture much chewier and denser than expected.

We were also specifically looking forward to the jackfruit topping, only to realise there was none.

To their credit, when we queried this, the waitress took the dessert back to check. She later returned and explained that they had run out of jackfruit.

While we appreciated the honesty, it was still disappointing given that it was listed as part of the dessert.

The palm seeds were also chewier than expected and not quite how we remembered them from similar Southeast Asian desserts.

For these reasons, this was unfortunately not a dish we would recommend.

Atmosphere & Service

Despite only coming in for dessert on a busy Saturday evening, we never felt rushed or unwelcome.

The restaurant was clean, comfortable and had a relaxed atmosphere. It felt suitable for students, couples and small families alike.

Service was warm and accommodating, especially given our slightly unusual request to come in just for sweets.

There is also a 10% service charge added to the bill, which is worth noting, although overall prices still felt reasonable by current dining standards.

Final Thoughts

Yum Yum Thai turned out to be exactly what we needed: a reliable stop for Asian-inspired desserts when other nearby restaurants came up short.

The Thai Banana Fritters were excellent and absolutely worth ordering, with crisp batter, sweet banana and ice cream making for a very satisfying dessert.

The Tim Kati was less successful, largely due to missing ingredients and a texture combination that did not quite work for us.

Still, the friendly staff, welcoming attitude and dessert availability alone make Yum Yum Thai worth remembering.

Next time, we would happily return not just for dessert, but to try their starters and mains too.