Lotus of Siam

Last Thursday night, Ken and I made plans to go on a double date with his roommate and girlfriend. Joe and EY were on time for our reservation and Ken and I both got caught up in the office and ended up being an hour late (probably the latest I’ve ever been). Luckily, they weren’t upset with us because EY ended up knowing the hostess and got hooked up with drinks at the bar while they waited for us. When we finally arrived, we were all starving and decided to sit down right away so we could order.

I’ve never had great Thai food in the city and was very excited when I found out Lotus of Siam had opened up in the old Cru space. I kept a list of dishes I wanted to try and we ended up ordering almost all of them. We started off with one of my favorite dishes of the night, Nam Kao Tod Crispy Rice crispy rice tossed with thai sausage, fresh chili, ginger, peanuts & lime:

I’m not sure what temperature the dish was supposed to be served at; it was slightly cold but also had pieces of warm rice mixed in with the slices of red onion, sausage, and lime juice. The crispy rice kept its texture even with an infusion of lime juice (the peanuts helped with the crunchy texture).

Our next dish was Chilean Seabass king sot steamed with napa cabbage, scallion & ginger sauce, pad kra-pao deep fried & topped with spicy thai basil sauce:

EY’s friend came over after we ordered and asked if we had ordered the chilean sea bass that served two (we didn’t) – this sea bass had a nice spiciness to it and the fish was incredibly meaty and fresh.

Another favorite of the night – Crispy Duck penang served with a penang curry sauce & cognac, pad kra-pao with spicy thai basil sauce:

My first complaint of the meal: the portions were incredibly small and the prices were also really high (that’s two complaints in one, but who’s counting?) The prices were higher than any Thai restaurant I’ve ever visited in the states (although now that I think of it, I’ve only visited them in Illinois).

The server recommended we order the Kang Khiao Wan, made with green curry paste, coconut milk, bamboo shoot & thai basil:

And I always love Pad See-Ew (stir fried flat rice noodles with egg, chinese broccoli, black soy & a touch of vinegar):

Everything was really delicious but our plates were licked clean because we were so hungry. We ended up ordering dessert – tapioca pudding with tropical fruit:

The dessert had the same toppings as a Chinese shaved ice or Korean patbingsu. Young coconut, coconut milk, taro balls, and a lot of other delicious sweet toppings made the dessert a really good way to end the evening.

Me and Ken before going to town on dinner and wine:

Joe and EY:

I’ve heard that there are a lot of great Thai choices in hell’s kitchen (Pam’s keeps being brought up) so I’ll probably try dining there before returning to Lotus of Siam again. The four of us had a great time catching up and talking about EY’s amazingly cute dog, Aioki, and planned to go out more often.