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| - Firstly, let me say that Lotus of Siam is housed in one of the most bizarre strip malls I have ever visited. Here you will find two gay bathhouses (a.k.a. spa/health clubs), two wig shops, one 420 cafe, several evangelical and pentecostal churches, a roller hockey rink, a reggae club, a BDSM supplies/goth clothing store, an Alcoholics Together meeting space, and numerous Asian restaurants/clubs, all seemingly harmoniously coexisting.
I had high hopes for LoS after reading the foodie blogs. We arrived on a Sat night around 7:30p sans reservation and entertained ourselves by walking around the strip mall during our 30 minute wait. The staff was courteous. Prices were a bit higher and portions were smaller than you'd find in Thai Town in Hollywood or at LoS's sister restaurant Renu Nakorn (Norwalk, CA). We ordered two Issan specialties, kang hoh and nam kao tod (medium spicy), in addition to mango sticky rice and Thai iced coffee. The kang hoh was less vinegary than Renu Nakorn's (a good thing), but contained something resembling overcooked beef stew meat, not pork as listed on the menu. The nam kao tod was likewise somewhat disappointing - heavy on the rice with small cubes of purchased sausage. Maybe I'm used to the nam kao tod at Khun Dom (Hollywood, CA), but I prefer it heavy on the fresh ginger and prepared with seasoned ground pork and pork skin with the rice as more of a topping. Neither dish was in the least bit spicy and appeared on the table too fast to be prepared freshly upon our order. The food seemed sadly farangified.
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