If you’re craving authentic Thai food while in Las Vegas – you won’t believe it when I tell you that the best Thai restaurant in North America is located right off the strip and it’s called Lotus of Siam!
Who would ever believe that THE best Thai restaurant in North America would be located in Las Vegas?! Serious Eats, Saveur, and the New York Times have raved about how good the food there is. So when we found ourselves with 6 nights in Las Vegas last November, we knew Lotus of Siam would be a sure foodie stop in our trip.
Our trip was a 15 minute taxi drive from our hotel, the MGM Grand, to Lotus of Siam. You can definitely walk out there, but we saved the walk after our meal – walking back was easy and the perfect way to digest all the food we had consumed. Starting with the traditional Thailand beer, Singha – light and refreshing, it’s the perfect beer to pair with spicy food.
First Course: Issan Style Beef Jerky. This deep fried marinated beef is served with homemade spicy sauce and a light salad of cabbage and carrots. It’s extremely flavorful and unlike any American jerky you’ve tasted. Perfect to snack on with the beer. ($8.95)
Second Course: Spicy Vegetable Soup. A hot and sour soup with assorted vegetables, lime juice, lemon grass, and straw mushrooms. A light and refreshing way to start the meal. ($3.95)
Third Course: Tom Kah Kai, Bangkok Style soup. Sliced chicken with coconut milk, straw mushrooms, galanga, lemon grass, and a squeeze of lime, with a floating hot dried pepper. This is one of my all time favorite soups from Thailand and it was layered in flavors.
Fourth Course: Nam Kao Tod, seriously THE BEST DISH we tasted during our visit! Crispy rice mixed with sour cubed pork sausages, cilantro, green onions, grounded dry chiles, ginger, peanuts, and lime juice. Each grain of rice is crispy (how do they do it!?) and the flavors of the pork sausage, tart lime, fragrant ginger – it all comes together to make one of the best Thai bites I’ve ever had. A must have when you visit. ($8.95)
Fifth Course: Pork Drunken Noodles. Pan fried flat rice noodles with a sweet/spicy glaze, Thai basil, dry chile peppers, and sautéed pork meat. Fresh vegetables rounded out this dish. ($13.95)
Sixth Course: Beef Green Curry, one of the most popular curries in Bangkok city. Green curry paste with coconut cream, bamboo shoots, Thai basil, fresh chiles, eggplant, and your chocolate of meat. Would have loved if this has more “soup” portion, but it was delicious served over steamed rice.
Last course: Coconut Ice Cream. The perfect end to a spicy meal, very light and creamy and full of coconut meat and flavor.
Note about the spiciness of your meal at Lotus of Siam: when you order your meal, the serve will ask how spicy you’d like the dishes. Levels are from 1 to 10 (ten being the spiciest). We ordered the entire meal a level 4, with exception of the drunk noodles which were a level 6. Even at 6, the spiciness was bearable for both my husband and I, but we do love spice. Take this into account when you order!
Lotus of Siam Menu – Address: 953 E. Sahara Avenue, Suite A5, Las Vegas, Nevada; 702-735-3033
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