Tom Kha: the gentle side of Thai soup

10 July 2026 · 2 min read · Rim Thang Thai, Glenelg

Tom Yum gets all the attention. It's the Thai soup people can name, the one that turns up on lists of the world's best dishes, and fair enough — the hot-sour punch of a good Tom Yum is unforgettable.

But Thailand has a second great soup, and it deserves a bigger following here. Tom Kha is the gentle one: the same lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime, wrapped in coconut milk instead of a fiery broth. If Tom Yum is a shout, Tom Kha is a warm word.

What Tom Kha actually is

The name gives it away. Tom means boiled, and kha is galangal — the peppery, pine-scented cousin of ginger that runs right through Thai cooking. Don't swap ginger in at home and expect the same result: galangal is sharper and more citrusy, and it's the whole personality of the dish. Tom Kha is a coconut-milk soup built around that root, with kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, mushroom, tomato, brown onion, baby corn and a measured amount of chilli.

The coconut milk changes everything. It rounds off the sharp edges of the aromatics, so instead of hitting you with sour and hot, the soup arrives silky, fragrant and gently warming. There's still brightness in there — the lime leaves and lemongrass see to that — but it soothes rather than startles. On a cold Glenelg night with the wind coming off the water, it's hard to beat.

Tom Yum: the hot-sour benchmark

Tom Yum is our most popular soup, and it earns the spot. The broth is clear and intense — sour, spicy and savoury all at once — with the same cast of kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, mushroom, tomato, brown onion and baby corn, driven along by chilli jam that gives it depth and a slow-building heat.

One practical note: because of that chilli jam, our Tom Yum can't be made vegan. If you're after a plant-based bowl, Tom Kha with tofu is the one to order.

Which to order tonight

Both soups carry the same protein pricing on our soup menu — tofu or chicken at $21.90, prawns and calamari at $25.90, or the combination of chicken, prawns and calamari at $27.90. From there, it comes down to mood:

• Cold night, want comfort — Tom Kha.
• Want the full hot-sour experience — Tom Yum.
• Vegan, or easing into Thai heat — Tom Kha with tofu.
• Love the Tom Yum flavour but want a fork instead of a spoon — try the Tom Yum Fried Rice on our fried rice menu.

Or don't choose at all

A tip from home: in Thailand, soup isn't really a first course. It sits in the middle of the table for the whole meal, spooned over rice between bites of everything else. Do the same here — add jasmine rice ($4/$7) and either soup becomes a proper main.

Plenty of tables order one of each and swap spoons halfway — the contrast makes both soups taste better. We serve them seven nights from 5PM at 39 Jetty Rd, and both hold their heat well in a takeaway container. Better yet, come see us in Glenelg and have them ladled out hot from the kitchen.