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| - Siam Cafe! They are open all the time. They have a liquor license. They offer the usual "American Chinese" fare for the Caucasians, especially at lunch (General Tso's chicken, fried rice, noodles, and so on). There is plenty of seating. But what about the really great, hidden secrets about the Siam? Well, there's the friendly greeting. Then, there is the fact that they have round tables for larger groups. You can take over a table and make it your own. Play dice, cards, whatever. They won't mind. But what about the food? Please do yourself a favor and take a gander at the dinner menu (they will serve any dinner items at lunch, too) and wander outside the realm of familiarity. I started to do this about a year ago. Every time I go in there (about once a week) I make a point to order something I've never had before. We took a group for lunch/dinner on Sunday at 1:00 (they start serving alcohol then.) We ordered a whole fresh fish (taken out of the tank and cooked right then) with black bean sauce. WONDERFUL! We ordered the fantastic "side pork braised with taro" (or it comes with preserved vegetable). I can testify that if you like pork, you will die and go to heaven over this dish prepared either way. It is essentially a side of bacon that is seasoned and braised and interspersed with taro (a potato-like root vegetable that's more delicious than a potato) or preserved vegetable (crunchy who-knows-what and good!) and it was a HUGE hit with my group of unadventurous eaters. They transcended their expectations and raved like madmen about how we have to go every Sunday from now on! Then, the leftovers I used the next day by sauteeing the bacon with fresh shallots until crispy and adding a huge pile of fresh watercress and arugula. WOW! What a great leftover. I must highly recommend this dish. The server tried VERY hard to dissuade me from ordering it. She said "Caucasians no like!" But I persisted. I have had some other really wonderful things there. They run the gamut between Cambodian, Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese. Highly recommend most of the soups. The corn soup and the fish maw soup are Chinese style and cornstarch-based; very mild, bland flavor for unadventurous eaters. Try the other soups instead. Their salads are stellar. One features romaine, lemon grass, and seared-medium rare marinated flank steak. FANTASTIC! You can also get that one with grilled shrimp. Resist the temptation to just order the regular Chinese stuff. Go outside your normal inclinations and order the tofu dishes, the eggplant dishes, or anything soft-shell-crab. The crab with green onion and ginger is delectable. Salt-baked soft shell crab was fantastic. They also have a huge tank with Dungeness crabs and they will snag one out and cook it however you want. What a treat! We really love Siam Cafe. Don't go to SC expecting it to be like a Chinese restaurant. It's not that. It's more than that.
Update! Feb. Super bowl Sunday. Escaping from football.This is the place! Super crowded because the New Year (Rat?) starts this week. We had 8 people. We got the last table. Here's what we had: stuffed chicken wings. GOOD. Always good. Tom yum goong soup. Emphasis on yum. Spicy, brothy, shrimp, mushrooms. Then Pad Thai, classic preparation. Vegetable lo mein. Great, with fresh shiitakes and Chinese broccoli. A good basic. A whole large mouth bass from the tank, prepared with black bean sauce and lots of onions and ginger and peppers and fresh cilantro. If you dig the whole fish (bones, skin, etc) it is GREAT. Also, a whole braised pork hock. GrrrmmmmmmmmmGOOD STUFF. Brontosaurus bone, skin, bones, soft and yummy meat. A true caveman's paradise. Had some other stuff, too. We ate and drank ourselves silly and left a great tip for $30 a person. Then we came home, ate some more, and sent home leftovers. Three delightful meals and (copious) drinks, $10 per person averaged out per meal, friendly and sincere service, and delightful vittles. The usual. Highly recommend.
UPDATE: Did I mention the Oyster, scallion and ginger in pot? WOW!!! The salt and pepper spicy whole shrimp? Assorted meats and tofu in pot? Curry vermicelli noodles with chicken? Duck Choo Chee? Massaman curry anything?
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