Siam Thai

Admittedly, we haven't spent much time in downtown South Bend, and after spending date night there, I am asking myself "why?" The area has really been built up and from the looks of it, has many delicious restaurants to offer, one of those restaurants has been around for 17 years, Siam Thai on Main Street. My hubby found a Living Social deal offering $20 worth of food for $10, and fortunately he snatched this one up, we had never tried Thai food before, but were anxious for this new experience. The minute we walked in the door the owner (or the man we suspect was the owner) hailed us to a table, and was practically giddy to tell us about the special offerings they had including several appetizers, fusion dishes, desserts, and a tea of the month. Normally I am a water drinker, but the tea of the month was hot apple cider tea and with fall in the air I couldn't resist, it was more aromatic than flavorful, but it was a nice warm up. I had barely laid eyes on the appetizer section of the menu when "Thai Mushrooms" jumped off the page at me; mushrooms stuffed with marinated ground pork, tempura battered, fried, and served with Thai sweet and sour sauce, they were delicious and might make it near impossible to ever eat traditional fried mushrooms again.

Our waitress was very helpful in pointing us in the direction of very traditional, must try Thai dishes and my hubby was smart to take her suggestion to try the Pad Thai, it was delicious! He received a heaping plate full of stir fried rice noodles with shrimp, tofu, eggs, bean sprouts, onions, covered in peanuts and cilantro. The dish came with something like 10 tiger prawns so of course I took it upon myself to try one, the shrimp was cooked perfectly and the sauce was delicious, pair that with the crunch of the peanuts and I could have eaten a whole plate of just the shrimp! Despite the fact that this dish had tofu and onions, my husband loved it, and the heaping portion was just around $11.

  

I was very indecisive when it came to my dinner, they put stars next to the dishes to indicate heat and since I am a wimp when it comes to spicy food, I narrowed down my choices to the items with no stars. I chose one of the specials that the owner had told us about Neau Nam Man Hoi, which was thinly sliced beef with green onions, mushrooms, and broccoli in a wine sauce served with a side of Jasmine rice. Many times when you get thinly sliced beef it can be tough and hard to chew, but this was tender and easy to eat, not to mention the sauce was delicious. The dish cost around $12, but was delicious and a large enough portion to be worth the cost.

On top of delicious, well cooked food, the staff at Siam Thai were incredibly friendly and helpful, in fact we chatted with the owner for a bit who told us to let him know when we come back so he can suggest other dishes to us and give us a good taste of the menu. I am happy to report that our first experience of Thai cuisine will most certainly not be our last!