Lotus of Siam Restaurant Review, Las Vegas

Why did we dine here? – Lotus of Siam is a legendary Thai restaurant that most foodies in the US know of. James Beard Award winning restaurant. We have been putting off visiting this famous spot for many years. Having dined at most of the famous Las Vegas restaurants, we felt it was high time to finally visit Lotus of Siam. Anthony Bourdain recently featured this restaurant on his television show. Saipin Chutima, is the owner and chef. She uses family recipes with a northern Thai focus to produce some of the best Thai food around.

Lotus of Siam is located in a lower end part of Vegas, so be prepared for this environment. We came for lunch and found the restaurant emtpy when we arrived at noon. A steady stream of customers filled it up within 30 minutes.

Insider Tip – Come early as there are no reservation during lunch. Make reservation for dinner ahead of time.

Cuisine – Thai
Location – North Las Vegas
Opened – 1999

Service – Lotus of Siam had surprisingly solid service that could have easily been dismal. The waiter helped navigate the menu and took care of our needs. He even saw one of us with our mouth on fire and brought over a Thai Ice Tea.
Verdict – Lotus of Siam met our lofty expectations. We haven’t had this style of Thai food in the San Francisco Bay Area. Pretty authentic and very high quality. If you’ve been thinking about dining here, just do it.

Is this restaurant worth a 5 minute drive? Yes. 30 minute? Yes. 1 Hour? Yes.

Lotus of Siam Signature Dishes – Nam Prik Ong, prawns garlic, Tom Yum Kai, Yum Nuah (Thai Beef Salad), Jin Tod & Nam Prik Noom, Crispy Duck Panang

Lotus of Siam’s Menu is extremely extensive. They even have a lunch buffet, that you should ignore. There are dishes for anyone including vegetarians.

Website Lotus of Siam Menu

Lotus of Siam Food Picks:

Soup 23 Tom Kah Kat ($4.95) A distinctive soup of sliced chicken with coconut milk, straw mushrooms, galanga, lemon grass and a touch of lime juice. This individual portion was sized perfectly, allowing us to share this soup and still have a lot of room for other dishes. Orange colored oily blobs floating on top did not detract from the strong and bold flavors present in the soup. Quality ingredients unlike most Thai restaurants.

Appetizer 14 Nam Kao Tod ($7.95) Crisy rice mixed with sour minced pork sausages, green onions, fresh chilis, ginger, peanuts, and lime juice. What a fantastic dish. Crisp rice along with a mixture of peanuts and green onions. Tasty chopped up sausage chunks. The accompanying cucumber and lettuce looked out of place.

Chef’s Choice: Crispy Duck Panang ($23.95) Crispy duck topped with Thai style red cream curry sauce with congnac. Wow, an excellent duck curry. Crisp duck on top of a medium heat rich curry sauce. This dish is begging for some sticky rice.

Chef’s Choice: Garlic Prawns ($21.95) Deep fried prawns with shells (almost like potato chips) sauteed with our special garlic sauce, topped with ground black pepper. This dish reminds us of salt and pepper prawns Chinese style. Excellent fresh crustaceans fried with a light batter. A must order.

36A Yum Nuah ($12.95) – Thai Beef Salad – charbroiled steak-slices. Thai green round eggplant, fresh chili, lemon grass, fresh herbs and spices. High quality beef, strong and tomatoey element, and an intense spicy flavor dominated this dish. Next time we will ask for a milder version. The waiter set this to 3 out of 10 on the temperature scale, and we were still dying.

OK: (Order if you like this dish)
Beef Noodle Soup ($8.95) avoid this and order one of their classic dishes.

Tom Yum Kai Noodle Soup ($9.95)

Pans: (We would not reorder these dishes)
None

Do you agree with our review? Have you found other similar restaurants that are better?

Lotus of Siam Overall Rating: (Excellent 3)

Come Back?

Food Rating:	(Excellent)
Service Rating:	(Very Good)
Atmosphere Rating:	(Good)
Value Rating:	(Very Good)

Guide: 0 = poor, 1 = Below/Average, 2 = Good, 2.5 = Very Good, 3 = Excellent , 4 = Extraordinary

Alcohol:	Beer, Wine
Attire:	Casual
Parking:	Street
Reservations:	Yes