Lotus of Siam blooms again
If you thought most restaurants had problems, how about Lotus of Siam?
Lotus has earned a reputation as arguably the best Thai restaurant in North America. Chef/owner Saipin Chutima had accolades from the country's most respected food writers, many appearances on TV food shows, and a celebrity clientele that would rival Spago in Beverly Hills. But in December of 2017, the roof over their heads collapsed during a storm. Chutima took her game to a spot a couple miles away, to what had once been Roy's, still blasting out spicy Northern Thai fare to continued reservation-only dining rooms and half-hour wait times for take-out. The plan always was to return to the decrepit old Commercial Center, and they were just about to when everything shut down from the Coronavirus. But Chutima still worked away, churing out meals for hospital workers and first responders.
At long last, Lotus is back. And as great as ever.
For the Thai novice, you might want to give fried rice or noodles a go. This is pad se-ew, flat rice noodles stir-fried with Chinese broccoli, egg, soy sauce, and in this case, pork. There was a depth of flavor here, reminiscent of Chinese black bean sauce. My one order was big enough to split into two boxes, so I could make sure the maternal unit got some. And if you're unadventurous, like her, it's not spicy. Those are for other dishes, which are Lotus' specialty.
Like the thum-ka-noon, shredded jackfruit with ground pork, tomato, and Northern Thai spices. I didn't detect any jackfruit, but then, that's an ingredient I wasn't familiar with. I did get some great seasoned pork though, so no complaints there. I asked for medium spicy, which may very from place to place, but here it was tangy but not burning.
If you want a good entree, try the nua yang panang. Charbroiled steak served with Panang curry sauce. In my case, I pretty much put the steak on a bed of steamed rice and poured the curry over it. The curry was sweet and spicy but didn't overpower the nice grilled flavor of my medium-rare beef.
So when you're coming to Vegas, you have no excuses for not going to Lotus of Siam. Now that it's back, I do plan on making it a regular stop as much as possible. It's reknown is well deserved, and unless you're Komol and Arawan, the other two Thai restaurants in that shopping center (and those are good, too), you should be thrilled.
Lotus has earned a reputation as arguably the best Thai restaurant in North America. Chef/owner Saipin Chutima had accolades from the country's most respected food writers, many appearances on TV food shows, and a celebrity clientele that would rival Spago in Beverly Hills. But in December of 2017, the roof over their heads collapsed during a storm. Chutima took her game to a spot a couple miles away, to what had once been Roy's, still blasting out spicy Northern Thai fare to continued reservation-only dining rooms and half-hour wait times for take-out. The plan always was to return to the decrepit old Commercial Center, and they were just about to when everything shut down from the Coronavirus. But Chutima still worked away, churing out meals for hospital workers and first responders.
At long last, Lotus is back. And as great as ever.
For the Thai novice, you might want to give fried rice or noodles a go. This is pad se-ew, flat rice noodles stir-fried with Chinese broccoli, egg, soy sauce, and in this case, pork. There was a depth of flavor here, reminiscent of Chinese black bean sauce. My one order was big enough to split into two boxes, so I could make sure the maternal unit got some. And if you're unadventurous, like her, it's not spicy. Those are for other dishes, which are Lotus' specialty.
Like the thum-ka-noon, shredded jackfruit with ground pork, tomato, and Northern Thai spices. I didn't detect any jackfruit, but then, that's an ingredient I wasn't familiar with. I did get some great seasoned pork though, so no complaints there. I asked for medium spicy, which may very from place to place, but here it was tangy but not burning.
If you want a good entree, try the nua yang panang. Charbroiled steak served with Panang curry sauce. In my case, I pretty much put the steak on a bed of steamed rice and poured the curry over it. The curry was sweet and spicy but didn't overpower the nice grilled flavor of my medium-rare beef.
So when you're coming to Vegas, you have no excuses for not going to Lotus of Siam. Now that it's back, I do plan on making it a regular stop as much as possible. It's reknown is well deserved, and unless you're Komol and Arawan, the other two Thai restaurants in that shopping center (and those are good, too), you should be thrilled.