A New Westchase Arrival to Thai

How lucky for us that we now have a new Thai restaurant right in our backyards. How even luckier that it is worth making a habit.

Siam Thai Restaurant is located in Westchase Town Center across from World of Beer. Tampa has a huge shortage of quality Thai restaurants. This one is a welcome addition and is made even better by its proximity.

The Carnivore and I always do our Thai test by ordering the Shrimp Pad Thai and Pot Stickers. The Pad Thai was the usual hefty portion of shrimp, stir-fried with rice noodles, egg, bean sprouts, scallions and ground peanuts. Their version had an elusive flavor, which I could not quite identify. The Carnivore inhaled it.

Our pot stickers were not steamed but deep flash-fried in perfect thin pastry and stuffed with pork and vegetables. They shattered like glass at the first bite. Perfect!

The Chicken Panang Curry, one of my favorites, was another huge portion of sautéed chicken with panang curry paste, fresh zucchini, cabbage, broccoli, red bell peppers, Thai basil leaf and ground peanuts. A good-sized portion of fragrant Jasmine rice accompanied this dish. All the vegetables were farm fresh and cooked crisp yet tender. It was wonderful!

On another visit we ordered the Drunken Noodle with shrimp, another favorite. The shrimp were sautéed with rice noodles, egg, basil leaf, onions, broccoli, carrots and bell peppers. Again the freshness of the vegetables proved key in making the dish a great selection.

The Cashew Shrimp dish was another winner. It featured shrimp sautéed with Thai special sauce, lots of cashews, onion, red bell peppers, carrots, water chestnuts, celery and scallions. The Thai special sauce was very flavorful and proved more broth-like rather than thick or creamy. Delicious!

Siam Thai’s menu features many offerings. Several good soups and interesting salads are available. The Siam House Specials are also authentic Thai presentations. To please the more sensitive palates, the restaurant does not use any MSG in any of their cooking and each meal can be spiced a little or a lot. Siam Thai’s prices are very reasonable and they offer several dessert choices.

Siam Thai is spacious and its wait staff cannot do enough to make your dining experience an enjoyable one. The service was quick and extremely attentive without being annoying.

I love the fact that Siam Thai is so close – and that they are also open for lunch.

Welcome to the neighborhood, Siam Thai! I hope you stick around for awhile.

Bon appétit!

Siam Thai Restaurant
www.siamtampa.com
9546 W. Linebaugh Ave.
Tampa, 33626
(813) 475-6999
Hours: Mon-Thur and Sun, 11:30-10 p.m., Fri and Sat, 11:30-10:30 p.m.

By Gail Gundersen