Siam Lotus

[mrbigjas]

It's true!

Where most Thai food in town is overly sweet, not hot enough, and is missing this whole other realm of flavor, this place is the shiznizzle right here. There's a wealth of sour, rich, funky flavors in the food here. The service is really pleasant, the decor is nice, but... the FOOD.

I know that Thai-American food is similar to Chinese-American, in that it's very different and much simpler than the "real thing."* And I've never been to China or Thailand, but I can tell you this: where you start to notice the difference at Siam Lotus is that things aren't as sweet. Where you next notice, if you order a bunch of things, is that the various curries have strikingly different flavors. The general "Thai Food" flavor that is a constant at most places no matter whether you get green, red, masaman, or whatever--it isn't here. I'm sorry I don't know the names of them other than Masaman, but there's a variety of flavors in them that distinguish them from each ther that you just don't get in other, cheaper places.

And they're really nice.

So sorry Thai Singha, sorry My Thai, sorry Amara, sorry Pattaya Grill, allayous just got served.

Note: not cheap, when it comes to this stuff. Entrees are $13-18; soups/salads/apps are $4-9 or so. ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT. And you can go shooting before or after at the range next door. Where else can you get that in town?

respectfully submitted,

Jas.

*please, not the "authenticity" argument again. You know what I mean; let's not take this too far.

[shelly59]

Whre is this wonderful place?

[mrbigjas]

Sorry--it's just below 10th and Spring Garden.

[brescd01]

I am sorry but I have to disagree. I tried Siam Lotus recently and I was very disappointed. Thai food very much in the American style. I accept that this is the best Thai restaurant in Philadelphia, but if this is the case, Philadelphia lacks decent Thai food.

[mrbigjas]

brescd01--

You have to consider the background here... oh wait, in a way you already did. When you say "if this is the case, Philadelphia lacks decent Thai food" you basically hit the nail on the head.

All I'm saying is that Siam Lotus is way way better than the others. Wanna complain about Americanized Thai? Go to My Thai, Thai Singha, Amara, Pattaya Grill and whoever else around town for fifteen years,, and then go to Siam Lotus and see if you don't wax effusive about it.

[philadining]

Wow, almost three years since the last post in this topic... for some reason I keep thinking of this place as "that new Thai restaurant on Spring Garden..."

In any case, I think I'm pretty much with mrbig here: Siam Lotus may or may not be objectively excellent Thai food, but from a recent visit I think I'll put it at the top of what's available in Philly. I haven't been to Thailand, but I've eaten Thai food in NY, San Francisco, LA, Tokyo, and elsewhere, so I've had a relatively broad sampling of how it manifests itself over here at least. Not surprisingly, the Tokyo restaurant was very different from any of the US places I've been to.

I'll avoid any discussions of authenticity or regional style, I'm just not qualified, and as with most cuisines, I'm less concerned with how authentic it is than I am with how delicious it is.

Even though we ordered some fairly down-the-middle stuff, the flavors at Siam Lotus were notably different from that typical too-sweet profile jas referenced above. There was a more vivid, edgy, complex spice to the curries, and we found it quite to our liking.

Kuia Jub

Chicken consummé with rolled rice noodle, ground pork, napa cabbage, carrot and scallion.

This was a simple, basic, warming chicken soup, exactly what I was looking for right then. The broth was very good, the curly noodles had an interesting texture, and there was plenty of ground pork and still-crunchy cabbage. I liked it.

Poe Tak

Spicy Seafood Soup with Blue Crab, Mussels, Shrimp and Squid

This was out of control good... I only had a small taste, in the interest of avoiding a shrimp allergy reaction, but the broth was a very intense, spicy, Tom-Yum-like affair. And I have no idea how they fit all of that seafood in that bowl, it's some sort of 85 clowns in a VW trick I'll never understand. There were good mussels, tender squid, a few shrimp, and somehow contorted underneath, half of a crab.

My dining partner really enjoyed this. The only caution I would give is that we waited a pretty long time for the soups, and I have to assume it was due to this one getting assembled. Everything was tender and fresh, so it's clearly not pre-prepared in a big pot ready to be scooped-out, so be patient...

Penang

The beef in this was not especially tender, and the only other element was bell pepper, but I'd still get this again just because the flavor of the Penang curry was so excellent. I was literally drinking spoonfuls of the sauce after I'd finished the (ample) meat and vegetables. It had a good solid spice to it, but wasn't incendiary.

Masaman

I still yearn for a long-cooked masaman curry, but in the meantime, this will do. The chicken in this was nice and tender, joined by the traditional potatoes and peanuts, but the real star was the flavor of the sauce. Masaman is one of my fave curries, and this was a good one.

Overall, I like this place a lot. It may or may not be authentic as they bill themselves, but it is distinctive, and at least to my palate, very tasty. They have a broader menu than most places in town, offering several dishes I never see anywhere else. For better or worse, they're generally NOT the kind of place that just lists a sauce and lets you choose what to put in it: the penang curry has beef, the masaman has chicken, etc. I saw a few whole fish go by the table, and they looked good. There's lots more on the menu I want to try, we played it a little safe this time just to get a baseline comparison.

I haven't yet tried going to Erawan Thai and goading them into making the full-on authentic stuff, and until I attempt that, Siam Lotus has slid into my top spot for Thai in Philly.

If I had any complaints about the place, it might be that it seemed a little slow, but that was probably due to the complexity of that one soup. But maybe they could have warned us... Also the menus we got were done in a cutesy newspaper-style on newsprint, which sadly had gotten rather stained and grungy-looking. I saw some cleaner-looking laminated menus, and I think they ought to stick to those...

It wasn't super-cheap, entrees are in the low-to-mid-teens. Our total was a little under $50 before tip for two (large) soups, two curries, two beers. But it seemed like a good value to me. (That Poe Tak soup is a steal at $7)

www.siamlotuscuisine.com

[mrbigjas]

man, what a classy title i gave this thread. maybe we should change it to 'reviews and discussion'

hahahahaha

[Andrew Fenton]

see, and I thought it was a nod to your well-known love of Thai kickboxing.

Anyway, I really ought to try Siam Lotus-- or really, the whole Erawan real-Thai deal-- because the Thai options in Philly are indeed pretty dreadful.

[Diann]

Poe Tak

Spicy Seafood Soup with Blue Crab, Mussels, Shrimp and Squid

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You're kidding, right? Look at the size of that bowl (relative to the utensils and fingers) -- and they fit half a crab in it too? That's insane!

P.S. I automatically like a Thai place better if it DOESN'T give you a "pick sauce from Column A, pick protein from Column B" option.

Edited April 3, 2007 by Diann (log)

[philadining]

No joke, there was an insane amount of seafood in that bowl, in the original shot you can just barely see the crab claw peeking up at the front. Next time I move, I want this chef to pack the truck for me.

And I agree about the column A-column B thing...

[mrbigjas]

I haven't yet tried going to Erawan Thai and goading them into making the full-on authentic stuff, and until I attempt that, Siam Lotus has slid into my top spot for Thai in Philly.

i wonder if other thai places do that. i mean, siam lotus, when they reopened, the newspaper articles said things like they had gone back to thailand for a few years and come back. you'd think they'd be into it.

erawan got a decent amount of publicity for that for a little while, from the newspaper article and the folks over on chowhound--for a while there it seemed like a group was going like every week for one of them dinners. i always meant to do something like that, but then i felt lame.

[mattohara]

i did a search for Smile Cafe in the Forums but didn't find squat. i've been there a few times and had lovely food and lovely service. it's tiny and BYOB. 22nd street just between chestnut and sansom i think.

does it stack up to Siam?

[philadining]

That used to be Amara, right? Is it still the same folks? As you can tell, i haven't been there in a while..

[mattohara]

That used to be Amara, right?  Is it still the same folks?  As you can tell, i haven't been there in a while..

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not sure. i'm only two years old in Philly.

[herbacidal]

That used to be Amara, right?  Is it still the same folks?  As you can tell, i haven't been there in a while..

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not sure. i'm only two years old in Philly.

←

Yes, that used to be Amara Cafe, the same owners that opened East of Amara at 5th and Bainbridge, where Cary Neff is now trying to put in some version of NYC's Balthazar, according to Mike Klein.

No idea as to ownership of Smile Cafe and relation to Amara Cafe.

[philadining]

I've been back to Siam Lotus a few times since my last post, and I think this is really solid place.

I especially liked the Kang Phed Ped Yang: slices of tender duck in a coconut-milk based red curry, with pineapple and cherry tomatoes. The Phad Ped Kai Yang was spicier than it seemed like it would be, another red curry, this time with chicken, little spherical Thai eggplants and bamboo shoots, but no coconut milk to calm it down.

One of our party recently got that Poe Tak soup, and it was again stuffed with more seafood than can actually fit in the bowl. I'm still confused. He liked it, and was somehow not sucked into the space-distortion vortex that apparently exists inside their serving vessels.

Satay is pretty standard, which is to say, good. A salad with grilled pork had an assertively limey dressing, and a good dose of spice.

The creme caramel is not to be missed, and is the perfect antidote to a smoldering palate.

Worth noting: they have a better beer selection than most Thai places...

[brucedelta]

I will have to try this place. Is it on 10th or on spring garden?

As I type this m ywife is enroute home from Bangcock (18 hrs nonstop to JFK!), so it will be fun to take her there in the next week or two and see what she thinks compared to what she had while there.

-- Bruce

[mrbigjas]

it's on spring garden, near the railroad bridge. next to the gun shop