Last weekend, we went to the Havasu Falls in Supai, Arizona, and it was absolutely amazing. On the way there, we passed through Vegas and got buffet at Bacchanal in Caesar Palace, and we weren't really impressed by it. We decided that on the way back, we should try one of the local restaurants in Vegas. Vegas has more than buffets, right?! We came across this Thai place called Lotus of Siam in a relatively sketchy area. It is located in a huge plaza, but the parking lot of the plaza is mostly empty! It opens at 5:30 pm for dinner, and we were a little early, so we went to Chinatown to get a boba to quench the heat (it was 38C/100F!). We came back at 5:35, and there was already a LINE!!!!! Oh my, it must be damn good!
It was a huge restaurant inside, and the decor was a little fancy for good Asian food, but we will see! They have a pretty thick menu and what surprises me is that they do not only have the usual Thai items we've found in the U.S., but they also have a couple of northern Thai dishes! I had a lot of northern Thai dishes when I was in Chiang-Mai, and it was amazing.
We were all dying to try everything here, so we ordered quite a lot. But the dishes weren't that big, so we were able to finish everything.
Pork Sa-tay - Pork marinated with fresh herbs and spices, grilled, served with peanut sauce
Som Thum (papaya salad) - Classic Thai dish, green papaya, tomato, chili, crushed peanuts with lime juice and fish sauce
Northern style Tom Kah Kai - This northern home style chicken soup has no coconut cream, cooked with roasted green chili, tomato, onion, fresh herb and spices
Northern Larb - Ground pork cooked with northern Thai spices without the lime juice
Drunken Noodle Soft Shell Crab - Deep fried soft shell crab with homemade fresh chilis and Thai basil, served on top of pan fried flat rice noodle
Crispy Duck with Penang - Crispy duck topped with Thai style red cream curry sauce
Green Curry - Green curry paste with coconut cream, bamboo shoots, Thai basil, fresh chilis and your choice of meat or tofu
Mango Sticky Rice - Classic Thai dessert, coconut cream on sticky rice, topped with mango
Everything was DELICIOUS! Way better than the Thai food I have had in LA so far. The pork satay was very tender and juicy and the papaya salad was fresh. For the northern dishes, the soup was great, a lot lighter than the normal soups with coconut cream, and the larb was very flavorful. The highlight is definitely the crispy duck with Penang. The duck skin was really crispy and the red cream curry was just perfect. This place might just become my destined food spot on the way to the canyons!