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| - The best way I can truly review this restaurant is to give a bit of background first. I haven't had the best Thai in the country but I've had some of the best in San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Mateo. That being said, the 2 best Thai restaurants I've eaten at before this place were 'The Original Sab-E-Lee' in San Diego and Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas. Even though Lotus of Siam is more popular than Sab-E-Lee, I personally think Sab-E-Lee is more authentic. Lotus of Siam is basically a relatively authentic Thai restaurant in a very classy setting. Sab-E-Lee is a authentic Thai Hole in the Wall with great flavors and relatively fresh ingredients which I've come to expect from good thai restaurants. That being said, this restaurant is the first Thai restaurant I've ever been to with ingredients that you can TASTE how fresh they are with the sauces complimenting as opposed to covering the dish. I would go as far to say that this is potentially a future 1 michelin star restaurant if they get busy and the owner is confident enough to hire the right staff.
I was originally going to go to Chada Thai as I heard good things about it as well as the owners formally worked at Lotus of Siam. I decided against it when I heard the portions were tapas sized for $9 starting. I checked online quickly for a Thai restaurant with reasonable reviews near the Rio Casino and chose this place. I came here with a friend and when we both got to the front of the restaurant at night, the place was empty. I was worried that it was empty because of bad food or something as I already checked ahead of time on the prices knowing they are cheap for Las Vegas. We looked at the menu's and decided that it looked promising. It's 1 giant dining area with wood flooring and simple red walls for a trendy design while playing trendy music. We ordered the Tom Ka soup with shrimp(large) as well as Double cooked pork with basil and 'Jungle Curry' with shrimp. The Tom Ka was a surprise in the sense that I could taste how fresh the ingredients were. The only flaw was that there was a bit too much coconut milk making it a bit too sweet. The Jungle Curry was a curry that was supposed to be authentic to Thailand and was definitely a surprise as it was the first Thai curry we've ever had without coconut milk. It was delicious as both the curry and the ingredients stood out from each other. The double cooked pork worried me as it sounded chinese to me because most people who've had a lot of Thai know that literally 90% of Thai restaurants in America are 'Chinese food with some Thai flavors because most people don't know the difference(think Panda Express). It was delicious and yet again, as flavorful as the pork was, we could still taste the freshness of the veggies.
I can't comment on the service as since we were the only table there, we obviously got amazing service. The prices were pretty ridiculous in a good way, average dish not counting shrimp+ was $7-$9, with shrimp costing like $2+ more. Portions were good, not oversized but not undersized either. Also as a side note, there's a authentic vietnamese supermarket next door which probably helps them in having fresh ingredients(no need to stock frozen ingredients). Also I found out during the meal that this is the 2nd location, first location is in Hell's Kitchen near Times Square and was very successful for 'real thai' food.
Last paragraph is based on spice level which is important for Authentic Thai restaurants. For a americanized Thai restaurant, 1 is mild, 5 is medium, 10 is hot(think sriracha hot) whereas in a authentic Thai restaurant, 2 is medium, 4 is hot, 6 is very hot, 8+ is 'Thai hot'(think habanero pepper or a fresh jalapeno with seeds in). My friend loves 'Thai' spicy food so she wanted a 10 and I can handle at least a 7, so I agreed on a 10. It passed her grade for authentic spice level and then some. They also provide the Thai spice ground pepper on the side in case you want to get a 1 and control your own.
To sum it up, they have authentic Thai food with fresh ingredients at inexpensive prices and trendy decor at a reasonable close location compared to Chada and Lotus. My only regret is that I live 500 miles away in Los Angeles and I live 2000 feet away from the worst Thai restaurant I've ever been to while the prices are $9-12 for normal ingredients. I come to Las Vegas for a fashion trade show and I hope this place survives another 6 months as I will let all my fellow exhibitors know about this place and hopefully give them the attention they need.
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