Foods from Siam Bistro
Comments
2013 Mar 5
Visited for the first time on Saturday night. The atmosphere is loud but still pleasant. Food is good quality Thai and portions are unusually generous!
Our server cut us off before we ordered our last dish, saying "that's too much food!" We took her advice and dropped a dish from our list. Later, we realized that her panic was a practical one as there really isn't room for more than two main dishes plus rice at a table for two. :-)
Even with the reduced order, I had two more lunches from the leftovers. We eat well and rarely bring food home!
Here's what we had (~$55+tip), clockwise from top left in the pic:
1/2. Spring rolls, 3 shrimp and 2 vegetable (black mushroom, carrot, cabbage). It was nice of our server to offer a combination of shrimp and veg spring rolls. In the end, we found the shrimp ones had great flavour while the vegetable ones had little taste and had soaked up a lot of oil.
55. Pad Kee Maow - Fried rice noodles with bell peppers, beef, and basil. Good wok flavour!! This dish was the star of the evening. Best pad kee mao I've ever had.
7. Tom Kha Goong - Hot and sour shrimp soup with coconut milk, galangal, lemongrass, chili. Pretty good but extremely rich.
6A. Tom Yum Goong - Hot and sour shrimp soup with lemongrass. Nice.
* Sticky rice obscured by beautiful flowers.
35A. Gang Keow Wan - Green curry with chicken, bamboo shoots, and eggplant. This was tasty, with a comfortable amount of heat. Our server warned us that the content would largely consist of bamboo shoots, and she was right. :-)
All in all, a wonderful meal with great value. We will return. Dropping by for a takeout order of Pad Kee Mao is a new temptation.
Our server cut us off before we ordered our last dish, saying "that's too much food!" We took her advice and dropped a dish from our list. Later, we realized that her panic was a practical one as there really isn't room for more than two main dishes plus rice at a table for two. :-)
Even with the reduced order, I had two more lunches from the leftovers. We eat well and rarely bring food home!
Here's what we had (~$55+tip), clockwise from top left in the pic:
1/2. Spring rolls, 3 shrimp and 2 vegetable (black mushroom, carrot, cabbage). It was nice of our server to offer a combination of shrimp and veg spring rolls. In the end, we found the shrimp ones had great flavour while the vegetable ones had little taste and had soaked up a lot of oil.
55. Pad Kee Maow - Fried rice noodles with bell peppers, beef, and basil. Good wok flavour!! This dish was the star of the evening. Best pad kee mao I've ever had.
7. Tom Kha Goong - Hot and sour shrimp soup with coconut milk, galangal, lemongrass, chili. Pretty good but extremely rich.
6A. Tom Yum Goong - Hot and sour shrimp soup with lemongrass. Nice.
* Sticky rice obscured by beautiful flowers.
35A. Gang Keow Wan - Green curry with chicken, bamboo shoots, and eggplant. This was tasty, with a comfortable amount of heat. Our server warned us that the content would largely consist of bamboo shoots, and she was right. :-)
All in all, a wonderful meal with great value. We will return. Dropping by for a takeout order of Pad Kee Mao is a new temptation.
2012 Nov 10
I am as of late have not been to keen on this place for the most part. i am a curry lover,and lately i found the red curry and yellow curry to be a tad too runny for my tastes. it is the constancy of water, and it seems to be a bit more sweeter in taste then normal. it used to be one of my favorite spots.
2012 May 18
A tale of Two Thai's (review of Baan Thai coming next)
A few weekends ago we needed somewhere to eat in Westboro before going to a party.
I was craving Thai and read all the great reviews on here about Siam Bistro so we made a reservation.
Service and atmosphere were great - no issues there.
Food - what we ordered:
TomTom Kha Goong — Hot & sour shrimp soup with coconut milk, lemon grass, & fresh mushrooms
Gai Haw Bai Toey — Marinated chicken wrapped in pandanus leaves served with sesame dipping sauce
Kao Pad Pak — Fried rice with vegetables and eggs
Swimming Rama — Thinly sliced beef cooked with mildly spicy peanut sauce served over steamed lettuce
All the food was delicious. The only thing I would change would be the lettuce under the beef. It was just really watery and the water started mixing with the peanut sauce till we ended up with wet watery beef on the serving plate. I would ask for this without the lettuce next time (or maybe on the side?)
So here's the weird thing. Within about 30 - 40 minutes of leaving, both my husband I got really hard, swollen stomachs and (sorry to be descriptive) REALLY bad gas.
Now this is nothing too new for me as I have (sadly) a myriad of digestive issues. But my husband has intestines of steel so we have NO clue what the problem could have been?
We just felt horrible the rest of the night.
We eat really clean regularly so is it possible it was an MSG overdose? Although I avoid Chinese food for this reason, I thought they didn't use MSG in Thai food?
My husband was brave enough to eat the leftovers a few days later to see what happened and the exact same thing happened again.
MYSTERY!! But I probably won't go back as I don't need a repeat of that evening ever again!
A few weekends ago we needed somewhere to eat in Westboro before going to a party.
I was craving Thai and read all the great reviews on here about Siam Bistro so we made a reservation.
Service and atmosphere were great - no issues there.
Food - what we ordered:
TomTom Kha Goong — Hot & sour shrimp soup with coconut milk, lemon grass, & fresh mushrooms
Gai Haw Bai Toey — Marinated chicken wrapped in pandanus leaves served with sesame dipping sauce
Kao Pad Pak — Fried rice with vegetables and eggs
Swimming Rama — Thinly sliced beef cooked with mildly spicy peanut sauce served over steamed lettuce
All the food was delicious. The only thing I would change would be the lettuce under the beef. It was just really watery and the water started mixing with the peanut sauce till we ended up with wet watery beef on the serving plate. I would ask for this without the lettuce next time (or maybe on the side?)
So here's the weird thing. Within about 30 - 40 minutes of leaving, both my husband I got really hard, swollen stomachs and (sorry to be descriptive) REALLY bad gas.
Now this is nothing too new for me as I have (sadly) a myriad of digestive issues. But my husband has intestines of steel so we have NO clue what the problem could have been?
We just felt horrible the rest of the night.
We eat really clean regularly so is it possible it was an MSG overdose? Although I avoid Chinese food for this reason, I thought they didn't use MSG in Thai food?
My husband was brave enough to eat the leftovers a few days later to see what happened and the exact same thing happened again.
MYSTERY!! But I probably won't go back as I don't need a repeat of that evening ever again!
2012 Feb 22
Last night hubby and I decided to grab dinner before grocery shopping. We intended to go to the new Hintonburger, but the parking lot was PACKED and it looked full, so we decided to drive around and ended up at Siam. We have been loyal fans of Talay Thai, which will always have a special place in our hearts, but this place - wow. We're already dreaming of our next visit.
The decor is kinda dark and kinda run down, but once you start eating you REALLY don't care. It is very clean. Service is brusque in a totally inoffensive way. I presume our waitress was the owner (just from her authoritative manner), and while she was abrupt she certainly was not unfriendly or rude - seems like she is just a no small talk kind of lady.
I started with my favourite Thai soup, Tom Kha Gai (chicken, coconut milk, lemongrass, mushrooms, etc). This is my favourite dish at Talay Thai, and the Siam version doesn't come close. The one at Talay is sweet/sour, whereas this one was sour/salty. With that said,it really was pretty much a big bowl of super fresh chicken breast and mushrooms with broth on top - no skimping on the quality ingredients.
Hubby and I shared green curry with tofu, Pad Kee Mao (stir fried noodles with chili and basil) and sticky rice.
We adore sticky rice, and you get a giant bowl of it that is more than enough for two. Amazingly toothsome and chewy - perfect.
The green curry with tofu was just amazing. The flavours were very bold and perfectly balanced, not too spicy or salty, with clear notes of lemongrass and chili. Chock full of fresh peppers, broccoli, napa cabbage, carrots, and fantastically tasty tofu. Not sure what they do to make the tofu so tasty, but YUM.
The Pad Kee Mao is listed on the menu as coming with pork or chicken, but our request for tofu and no egg was happily granted. They also added lots of veggies. The dish has that fantastic smoky wok flavour, had lots of basil leaves, and wasn't too greasy. Again, the tofu tasted great, veggies were fresh, and noodles were nice and chewy.
The portions were insane - we both stuffed ourselves, and there is enough for hubby to have a big dinner tonight. Total cost - craziness - was onLY $37 (2 entrees, soup, rice for 2, plus leftovers.)
We will be back. Again and again and again.
The decor is kinda dark and kinda run down, but once you start eating you REALLY don't care. It is very clean. Service is brusque in a totally inoffensive way. I presume our waitress was the owner (just from her authoritative manner), and while she was abrupt she certainly was not unfriendly or rude - seems like she is just a no small talk kind of lady.
I started with my favourite Thai soup, Tom Kha Gai (chicken, coconut milk, lemongrass, mushrooms, etc). This is my favourite dish at Talay Thai, and the Siam version doesn't come close. The one at Talay is sweet/sour, whereas this one was sour/salty. With that said,it really was pretty much a big bowl of super fresh chicken breast and mushrooms with broth on top - no skimping on the quality ingredients.
Hubby and I shared green curry with tofu, Pad Kee Mao (stir fried noodles with chili and basil) and sticky rice.
We adore sticky rice, and you get a giant bowl of it that is more than enough for two. Amazingly toothsome and chewy - perfect.
The green curry with tofu was just amazing. The flavours were very bold and perfectly balanced, not too spicy or salty, with clear notes of lemongrass and chili. Chock full of fresh peppers, broccoli, napa cabbage, carrots, and fantastically tasty tofu. Not sure what they do to make the tofu so tasty, but YUM.
The Pad Kee Mao is listed on the menu as coming with pork or chicken, but our request for tofu and no egg was happily granted. They also added lots of veggies. The dish has that fantastic smoky wok flavour, had lots of basil leaves, and wasn't too greasy. Again, the tofu tasted great, veggies were fresh, and noodles were nice and chewy.
The portions were insane - we both stuffed ourselves, and there is enough for hubby to have a big dinner tonight. Total cost - craziness - was onLY $37 (2 entrees, soup, rice for 2, plus leftovers.)
We will be back. Again and again and again.
2012 Jan 27
I must say that I've been to most (if not all) the thai restaurants in Ottawa. I'm a bit of a thai-food-freak...so it's hard to say which is best, because some have better individual dishes than others. However, Siam Bistro has because the favorite for consistent, delicious all-around food. If it isn't my favorite restaurant in Ottawa, it's certainly the most missed when I'm out of town:)
2011 Apr 26
My wife and I enjoyed take out the other day. It was a special occasion so we ordered enough food for probably 6 people and enjoyed it the rest of the weekend. Our kids also enjoyed the leftovers - at least the ones that were not too spicy. Overall the food was very good. The prices may be a bit higher than other places but the portions were large. Comments on specific items:
Soups: We ordered both Tom Yum Goon and Tom Kha Goon. Both soups were loaded with button mushrooms. The soups were good, but we would have preferred enoki mushrooms, and more lemongrass/ginger. I would have like a bit more heat as well.
Salads: We ordered #14 Green Mango salad. Very good, maybe could have used a bit more herbs, but quite tasty. Also ordered #14 Neua Yank Siam - which was perfectly done. My personal preference is for #15 Neua Nam Tok, but we decided to try something new this time.
Curry: We ordered #37 Pa-Nang with chicken. This was just outstanding. The flavour profile was right on and it was our favorite dish of the night.
Other: #39 Pad Bai Kra-Prow with pork. This is one of our go to dishes when ever we order Thai. Siam bistro did not disappoint. Solid dish - my only wish may have been for a bit more basil. We also ordered #44 Neua Ta-Krai. This is a new dish for us - shredded beef with lemon grass. It was very tasty.
Finally we also had the Pad Thai. This was ok - but we found it a bit sweet for our palate. The kids really enjoyed it.
Soups: We ordered both Tom Yum Goon and Tom Kha Goon. Both soups were loaded with button mushrooms. The soups were good, but we would have preferred enoki mushrooms, and more lemongrass/ginger. I would have like a bit more heat as well.
Salads: We ordered #14 Green Mango salad. Very good, maybe could have used a bit more herbs, but quite tasty. Also ordered #14 Neua Yank Siam - which was perfectly done. My personal preference is for #15 Neua Nam Tok, but we decided to try something new this time.
Curry: We ordered #37 Pa-Nang with chicken. This was just outstanding. The flavour profile was right on and it was our favorite dish of the night.
Other: #39 Pad Bai Kra-Prow with pork. This is one of our go to dishes when ever we order Thai. Siam bistro did not disappoint. Solid dish - my only wish may have been for a bit more basil. We also ordered #44 Neua Ta-Krai. This is a new dish for us - shredded beef with lemon grass. It was very tasty.
Finally we also had the Pad Thai. This was ok - but we found it a bit sweet for our palate. The kids really enjoyed it.
2011 Feb 18
Siam Bistro has been on my ‘to-try’ list for at least a year, so last night I ordered take away. I’m sure takeout is not the same experience as dining in, however I was so pleased with my meal. I’m not a Thai expert like other foodies on this website, but I have had my fair share of Thai food. My problem with Thai restaurants is that there are usually 50+ items on the menu, and personally I know I would love 98% of them. This enigma usually gives me two options; the first is to choose something I am familiar with and the second is to play eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Last night I asked the waitress, ‘what is your favourite thing on the menu’. Without even hesitating she said: ‘#39; Pad Bai Kra-Prow, but that’s just me’.
The Pad Bai Kra-Prow is composed of your choice of chicken, pork or beef with fresh chillies and basil leaves. The menu did not list the other ingredients: mushrooms, green/red peppers and onions.
The only way I can describe this dish is that it was perfectly balanced in everyway. It was sweet, savoury and spicy all at the same time. The pieces of chicken were not sketchy quality (as is the case at some thai restaurants), and the flavour was so full. This was not at all greasy and it felt very light. They were generous with the thai basil.. Delicious! It was just the right spiciness. I can handle very hot food, but I found this more enjoyable because it left my mouth burning, but not in a painful way.
Although I had take out and only sampled one dish, I really believe this restaurant sets a very high standard for Thai food in Ottawa. Pictured here is about ¼ of the quantity given to me. I am going to have a fantastic lunch today – and maybe even a little afternoon snack. That being said, 14 bucks for two and 1/2 amazing meals is a bargain.
I can’t wait to come back to this place. I will gladly skip the Green Papaya and come to Siam Bistro in the future! :)
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
The Pad Bai Kra-Prow is composed of your choice of chicken, pork or beef with fresh chillies and basil leaves. The menu did not list the other ingredients: mushrooms, green/red peppers and onions.
The only way I can describe this dish is that it was perfectly balanced in everyway. It was sweet, savoury and spicy all at the same time. The pieces of chicken were not sketchy quality (as is the case at some thai restaurants), and the flavour was so full. This was not at all greasy and it felt very light. They were generous with the thai basil.. Delicious! It was just the right spiciness. I can handle very hot food, but I found this more enjoyable because it left my mouth burning, but not in a painful way.
Although I had take out and only sampled one dish, I really believe this restaurant sets a very high standard for Thai food in Ottawa. Pictured here is about ¼ of the quantity given to me. I am going to have a fantastic lunch today – and maybe even a little afternoon snack. That being said, 14 bucks for two and 1/2 amazing meals is a bargain.
I can’t wait to come back to this place. I will gladly skip the Green Papaya and come to Siam Bistro in the future! :)
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
2010 Sep 15
Visited for the first time last night with out of town friends. Hostess (I'm assuming Mrs. Montha) was very warm and helpful in our selection.
Our friends ordered the Poa Pia Tood (spring rolls stuffed with black mushrooms, shredded carrots & cabbage served with sweet sauce) to start and two mains: Pad Preow Wan Siam (shrimp, squid & scallops with asparagus snow peas, tomato & onion) and another dish, I believe it may have been Pad Bai Kra-Prow (chicken, pork or beef with fresh chillies & basil leaves). Everything looked delicious and they gave rave reviews, especially to the spring rolls who were very light despite being deep fried. They declared it to be some of the best thai food they'd ever had.
My husband ordered Satay (skewers of marinated pork or chicken with piquant peanut sauce)to start and chicken Pad Thai (traditional fried rice noodles with shrimp, eggs, peanuts & bean sprouts) for his main. He was very impressed with the peanut sauce (I had a taste and so was I, you could taste the freshly ground peanuts) and loved his pad thai. He said the taste was more "refined" than the usual pad thai you get around Ottawa. And the portion was huge! He got two big platefuls and was totally stuffed by the time he was done. I also tried a bite of his pad thai and I agree it was delicious!
I had the Tom Kha Gai (hot & sour chicken soup with coconut milk, lemon grass, & fresh mushrooms) to start - yum! Very comforting and tangy with lots of chicken, mushrooms, lemon grass and lime leaves. For my main I had the chicken Gang Keow Wan (traditional Thai green curry with chicken or beef, bamboo shoots & eggplant). I usually order Pa-Nang when I dine out, this was my first green curry and while it was quite good, I prefer Pa-Nang (I think bamboo shoots and eggplant aren't my thing). The portion was very generous and I could only eat half which is no problem because I'm very much looking forward to lunch today!
The meal for hubby and I (along with two pops) came to $50 which is super reasonable for all the food we had.
Atmosphere-wise, the exterior is extremely unassuming but once you cross the doors to the dining room your doubts are put to rest. Simple, classy decorations and layout, the only issue is it can get loud at times. The place was almost packed for most of our stay, I'm glad I didn't take chances and made reservations. Oh, and service by Mrs. Montha and another lovely waitress was impeccable. Their advice was spot on, our water glasses were always refilled and the food came quickly.
Hubby and I look forward to going again soon! I recommend.
Our friends ordered the Poa Pia Tood (spring rolls stuffed with black mushrooms, shredded carrots & cabbage served with sweet sauce) to start and two mains: Pad Preow Wan Siam (shrimp, squid & scallops with asparagus snow peas, tomato & onion) and another dish, I believe it may have been Pad Bai Kra-Prow (chicken, pork or beef with fresh chillies & basil leaves). Everything looked delicious and they gave rave reviews, especially to the spring rolls who were very light despite being deep fried. They declared it to be some of the best thai food they'd ever had.
My husband ordered Satay (skewers of marinated pork or chicken with piquant peanut sauce)to start and chicken Pad Thai (traditional fried rice noodles with shrimp, eggs, peanuts & bean sprouts) for his main. He was very impressed with the peanut sauce (I had a taste and so was I, you could taste the freshly ground peanuts) and loved his pad thai. He said the taste was more "refined" than the usual pad thai you get around Ottawa. And the portion was huge! He got two big platefuls and was totally stuffed by the time he was done. I also tried a bite of his pad thai and I agree it was delicious!
I had the Tom Kha Gai (hot & sour chicken soup with coconut milk, lemon grass, & fresh mushrooms) to start - yum! Very comforting and tangy with lots of chicken, mushrooms, lemon grass and lime leaves. For my main I had the chicken Gang Keow Wan (traditional Thai green curry with chicken or beef, bamboo shoots & eggplant). I usually order Pa-Nang when I dine out, this was my first green curry and while it was quite good, I prefer Pa-Nang (I think bamboo shoots and eggplant aren't my thing). The portion was very generous and I could only eat half which is no problem because I'm very much looking forward to lunch today!
The meal for hubby and I (along with two pops) came to $50 which is super reasonable for all the food we had.
Atmosphere-wise, the exterior is extremely unassuming but once you cross the doors to the dining room your doubts are put to rest. Simple, classy decorations and layout, the only issue is it can get loud at times. The place was almost packed for most of our stay, I'm glad I didn't take chances and made reservations. Oh, and service by Mrs. Montha and another lovely waitress was impeccable. Their advice was spot on, our water glasses were always refilled and the food came quickly.
Hubby and I look forward to going again soon! I recommend.
Older
2007 Oct 20
About 8 different beers on the menu, with 5 or 6 of them being decent choices. Choose a hoppier, higher alcohol, or even spicey beer to help cleanse the palate of the zing in the food. Thai Singha is nice and hoppy but average alcohol - still a good choice to help keep the bite of the spices subdued. They had some higher-alc Belgian beers too, including a Wit and a Brune. The unique coriander spiciness of the Wit is perfectly matched to Thai cooking, as is the sweetness of the Brune. Not a bad beer menu at all.
FoodDemon