Lotus of Siam

One of the most highly-acclaimed Thai restaurants in America, both in the press and word-of-mouth amongst our friends. Jonathan Gold of Gourmet Magazine named Lotus of Siam "The single best Thai restuarant in North America" and Chef Saipin Chutima recently tied for the James Beard Award for Best Chef (Southwest) - 2011. We've made so many trips to Las Vegas with the intention of dining here, but usually other "finer dining" options seem to always take precedence. However, as this particular Vegas trip was to celebrate Danmy's mother's birthday, with taste preferences leaning more towards traditional Asian fair, reservations for Lotus of Siam never felt more appropriate.


1. LARB-beef chopped onion, green chili, lime juice. Served with fresh cabbage. - Minced beef, served cold with onions and mint leaves. It's distinctively sour and spicy and eaten much like a salad. Not too exciting and different from the versions you find in Los Angeles.


2. NAM KAO TOD- Crispy rice mixed with minced sour sausage, green onion, fresh chili, ginger, peanuts, and lime juice - Similar taste profile as the larb in that the heat and citrus are at the forefront. The crispy rice adds a nice crunch. Loved the texture but very heavy on the salt.


3. BRAISED SHORT RIB with PANANG-Braised short rib topped with Thai-style red cream curry sauce with cognac. The typical Thai curry with the beef slices replaced with braised short ribs. The curry is sweet and rich with hints of peanut. The short ribs were very tender and served as a nice compliment to the curry. Portion was a bit small, but otherwise, a very nice dish.


4. CRISPY DUCK with chili mint leaves- Crispy duck topped with homemade fresh chili and Thai basil. The best dish of the night. The duck was breaded and fried perfectly crisp. Every bit had a fantastic "crunch". The duck meat was cooked well and tasted great with the sweet, spicy and minty sauce. Truly delicious!


5. Sea bass with Drunken Noodles - Deep-fried Sea Bass topped with homemade fresh chili and Thai basil. Serve on the top of pan-fried flat rice noodles. These are the same noodles used in pad see ew. The sea bass was delicate and mild and paired nicely with the bouncy noodles. A little more heavier on the sauce than I would have preferred but still yummy.


5. Chicken Pad Thai - The noodles were distinctively different from other pad thai dishes we've had. These were noticebly thinner and shorter. However, the pad thai flavors were definitely present. The noodles had a great consistency. A bit sweet and nutty, with nice textural crispy from the carrots and beans sprouts.


6. Trio of desserts: Mango sticky rice, fried bananas, coconut ice cream - There are three desserts on the menu and we ordered all three. The mango sticky rice is always a winner, with sweet mango and sticky rice covered in coconut cream. The coconut ice cream was tasty as well. But the surprising winner of this trio was the fried bananas. The ripe bananas were blanketed by a superbly crispy outer shell. The combination of the creamy bananas and crunchy wrapper made for a fantastic ending to a great meal. As instructed by our server at least 3 different times, we paired the fried bananas with scoops of the coconut ice cream.

The acclaim is warranted and there were no dishes that truly failed. Everything we ordered was tasty and well-executed. Some of the portions are a bit on the smaller side while prices, in general, tended to be a bit higher. But I guess you pay for quality. This was the first time I've ever seen a Thai restaurant with such an extensive wine list and impressive wine cellar - definitely adds to the appeal of the restaurant. A definite nice place to try if you want to splurge on some yummy Thai food.