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@Siam Cuisine
- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sun 11 am - 10 pm
Fri-Sat 11 am - 11 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Dogs Allowed:
- No
87 reviews for @Siam Cuisine
Review Highlights
"Yummy food, I love pineapple fried rice."
(in 5 reviews)
"Siam Cuisine has been a family favorite for decades."
(in 27 reviews)
"Yellow Curry medium+ (fresh and flavorful."
(in 6 reviews)
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87 reviews in English
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Review from Felicia B.
Berkeley, CA
9/22/2011
I stopped by for lunch and tried the @Siam Basil. I ordered it spicy, and they delivered it to me spicy. It was perfect--enough to give me a spicy kick but not enough to make me choke.
The veggies in the dish were fresh and crisp. I also got a Thai iced tea, and it's a little on the sweet side, but I enjoyed it as well.
I was surprised to see the place empty, but I came in for a late lunch. I dig the atmosphere. It seems like a very chill place to enjoy a nice meal with a friend or two. I'll definitely be back. -
Review from Nina Y.
Berkeley, CA
11/3/2011
After a long flight from Atlanta, I was unwilling to walk to pick up takeout from our usual Thai spots (Your Place or Bangkok). So, the husband and I agreed to try out @Siam. It seemed like a good idea.
I looked up the menu online and was prepared to order 2 dishes: a panang curry salmon with avocado and the appetizer sampler.
So I called, and was told that the new management no longer offers the appetizer sampler. The restaurant apparently still sells all of the appetizers, so that knocked off 1/2 star. Update your menu!
Next, they informed me that the Penang curry salmon with avocado is also longer on the menu. Being hungry and lazy, I asked for something similar as a replacement and ordered a Tom Ka soup and spring rolls instead of the appetizer sampler I really wanted.
The food arrived in a reasonable amount of time, but the driver would've just taken off without even realizing he forgot my soup! I had to call back and tell them. So, a star off for being lazy about checking your order to make sure it's complete before delivery. The soup was $9!
While we waited for the soup, we started in on the other food. The salmon portion was small compared to Your Place and it came with eggplant. That isn't particularly similar to avocado, but whatever. My husband doesn't like eggplant, so I ate it and it was okay. 1 star off for not offering a comparable replacement as I requested.
The spring rolls are fresh rolls, which the menu doesn't say. So, some iceberg lettuce and 3 shreds of carrot inside of rice paper - no basil or cilantro or anything else. Boring. The peanut sauce was really good, but not good enough. Minus another star.
They did come back with my soup and it was hot, but the broth was so thick. I'm used to Thai soups being a bit thick from coconut milk, but not this thick. I barely ate any of it, because it was sooo rich, but the mushrooms were really tasty in it and I usually don't love mushrooms, so there was one positive.
I'm not trying to be an entitled ass and say they should give me my order for free, but it would be good business to at least offer me a coupon for next time or a discount of some kind. They did nothing of the sort and I didn't really even get an apology. Customer service fail. I'll stick with Bangkok and Your Place from now on - it's worth it to walk the half mile. -
Review from Erin G.
Berkeley, CA
9/16/2011
What I ate: Ginger Fantasy with Beef, Green Curry with Tofu, Larb with Chicken, Thai Iced Coffee
"Visit" date: September 10, 2011
First time? No, 2nd (both orders were delivered)
First of all, I love Thai food. And more so, I love Thai food that is delivered straight to my door. @ Siam delivers for free (with minimum purchase).
If you frequent my food reviews, you'll know I like my food spicy. For many of @Siam's dishes, you can request your spice level. I go for 'Hot' when available. Of the dishes I had in this order, I would recommend both the green curry and the larb. The tofu in the green curry wasn't mushy but wasn't too firm either -- it was silky and smooth. The larb had a great sour-spicy flavor combo and they serve it with plenty of greens. As for the ginger fantasy, the beef was a bit tough.
@Siam's iced coffee is super sweet. I always have a problem with Thai iced coffee being too sweet so I dilute with water and usually get three-fold more beverage that way (which I have no problem with).
According to their delivery page, they are suppose to take 45-60 minutes, but in my experience they take a little longer -- 75-90 minutes. Order when you're not hungry yet. -
Review from Steven O.
Oakland, CA
2/4/2012 1 Check-in Here
Great place to get away from the other Thai spots. Food is excellent and the service is awesome! I came here with my girlfriend and we Ordered Thai Iced teas, Tom Kha soup, Pad Thai, and Yellow Curry with rice. This is our usual order. The prices are about right. It's family style dishes. I dont know if they have Rice plates for lunch, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did serve it. The Tom Kha was delish! As well as the curry. We got medium spice which wasn't overpowering. I'm not a big fan of super spicy foods, but I like a little spice. I would recommend this place if you want to go on a date or take your family for a good dinner. Parking is available on the street. I don't know if there is a parking lot. The service was awesome! The staff treated my girlfriend and I really well. I would come back.
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Review from Christine L.
Oakland, CA
1/30/2012
This place has recently changed their name to "Chili Cha Cha", though the waiter said its still under the same ownership as Siam. (FYI, the owner has a restaurant in SF with the same name.) I had been here some time ago when it was still Siam.
Just had dinner there tonight, and it was very good. The papaya salad was fiery (ordered medium, so beware). It was good, but my mouth was burning afterwards. The blackened salmon was perfectly cooked, blackened and crispy on the outside, but still moist inside. It was delicious. It came with two sauces, the red sauce on one side of the dish was a little too sweet, but the green curry sauce on the other side was very good. Wished for more of the curry, less of the sweet red sauce. The salmon filet was a pretty good size piece of fish. Also tried the green beans with shrimp. The green beans were very good, the shrimp were somewhat overcooked. The portion size was not very large, we had no leftovers. The prices seemed slightly high, but rice was included which made it reasonable. We did not try the hot pot this visit. Maybe next time (although I'll be tempted to order the salmon again!). The entrees were ordered medium like the salad, but were not nearly as hot as the papaya salad.
The service was a bit slow even though the dining room was nearly empty. We didn't get a drink menu, but looks like they have a full bar ? Or at least wine. We did have a thai iced coffee which was very good, strong but not too sweet. -
Review from Rebecca B.
Berkeley, CA
11/20/2011
This place has the BEST thai noodles in town! In fact i have ordered a little of everything off this menu and it has all been FANTASTIC and they deliver!! I do not know why they do not have 5 stars! Youns are crazy!
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Review from Ellen B.
Fair Oaks, CA
11/12/2011
Fresh, tasty, friendly.
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Review from Hate poor service ..
CA
10/15/2011
The food here is so fantastically good I can't believe there isn't a line out the door every night! Every time I eat at Siam, I am pleasantly surprised by yet another fresh, well made, flavorful dish. Try the wide noodles with vegetables and tofu or the coconut soup with vegies. Yum yum! The vegetables are slightly al dente, which I think is close to perfection. The seasoning and flavors will make your mouth sing with delight! And the service is fantastic! The wait staff is knowledgable and very patient if you have children.
I can't say enough good things about this restaurant. I've taken a lot of friends here at various times and they all leave as happy as I do!
Try it! You really can't go wrong. You won't find fresher, more flavorful Thai food anywhere. -
Review from Sree C.
Berkeley, CA
7/17/2011
@Siam is a very very mediocre Thai restaurant among the many at Berkeley. I tried the Thai Fried Spicy Rice, which was basically their version of the Basil Fried Rice and I wasn't too impressed.
My friend got their Pad Thai and he seemed satisfied with it though. But overall it's a very passable restaurant. However, it does have a nice ambiance and if you randomly walk in here like I did, you probably will be very indifferent towards it.
The prices are reasonable and the service is very good.. they gave me all the red pepper i needed :) But in general, skip it if you can. -
Review from Trung N.
3/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
This was a nice, pleasant restaurant that probably should get more credit than it has. Just in the area right next to the Holiday Inn Express where we were staying, a few friends and I walked in to be greeted and seated quickly. The place was pretty empty, but we were starving and decided to give this place a go.
Service was good, and the food tasted great. Definitely give this place a try if you're in the area. -
Review from Shannon H.
Berkeley, CA
6/4/2011
Siam Cuisine has been a family favorite for decades. The food is consistently high quality, the atmosphere is lovely, the service is excellent. We are especially pleased with the delivery service...really great!
Thanks, Siam Cuisine! Yummy! -
Review from Alyssa C.
San Francisco, CA
4/29/2011
The food was pretty good here. Light and healthy tasting as well as flavorful. I agree with other Yelpers about their pad-se-eew the meat was too chewy and hard to bite but I liked the noodles.
The decor was nice a lil too romantic for me but would work nice for couples.
Price isn't too bad as long as u use a restaurant gift certificate.
Owner was friendly and her waiters were on top of it. -
Review from Christin C.
San Francisco, CA
3/8/2011
We randomly decided to eat here last night since my honey had recently discovered his love for red curry....
We got there around 9pm and it was completely dead so we sat ourselves. Our waiter was extremely awkward and shy making it a bit difficult to communicate with him. When I ordered my wine I had to point out which one I wanted because he had no idea what I was talking about.
We ordered the Coconut Milk soup, spring rolls, Red Curry with chicken and Garlic & Pepper with beef. I've never had coconut milk soup before so I don't have anything to compare it to...it was interesting. I might have liked it better if it didn't remind me of a Filipino dessert, ginatan. So it was a little weird having that familiar taste with mushrooms and baby corn rather than with bananas and mochi. The Garlic & Pepper with beef was alright, nothing really to rave about. The Red Curry was delicious though! The bamboo shoots were nice and tender and the shrimp wasn't overcooked.
We asked for chili pepper and they gave us a tray of 4 different kids of spicy sauces, so that was kind of cool. The prices were pretty normal, dishes were all around $10.50. Service was fine, no complaints there. Not sure if I'd come here again, there are tons of other Thai restaurants in the area. -
Review from Kirsty M.
Berkeley, CA
10/6/2011
Absolutely delicious food! I had the cashew chicken and all the chicken was great quality, no fat or gristle. Huge portions, but cheap prices. Delivery was timely and the delivery guy was friendly. Will definitely order from here again!
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Review from Jennifer M.
San Francisco, CA
11/3/2011
I ordered from Siam Cuisine based on online recomendations. The employee who took my order said the food would be 30 minutes. After waiting for 40, I called to see what was going on. The same employee told me the food had been sitting there for 20 minutes and wouldn;t be delivered for at least another 20. The boss, he said, was insisting on doing the orders himself and had no sense of direction. Needless to say, we didn;t get the food and will never think about this amateur hour again.
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Review from Melanie R.
San Jose, CA
1/26/2011 4 photos
I came in for lunch here and was seated immediately. I asked a round of questions regarding the lunch specials - and though it was hard to understand some of the server's accent - she was very accomodating.
She brought us our round of salads before my friend even arrived.
Oh, and bonus, we were the only customers in the restaurant.
I had the spicy string beans with chicken, medium-level spice. It wasn't very spicy at all, actually. But whatever. And I forgot to order brown rice, but the white rice was of a really good texture and taste. And had cute little smiley-faces made on them with veggies!! My friend had the ginger chicken, but I didn't try any. The salad and dish I had were very satisfying.
The one thing we both loved was that they began playing techno when we were getting ready to leave. They kept playing it too. In the words of my friend, Jason, "I just went back into the restaurant to use the bathroom and the techno was even better. I will certainly eat there again."
Parking was easy too, and the prices very reasonable. It was a good lunch. -
Review from Carolen M.
Walnut Creek, CA
When we went to use the Groupon I purchased, there was only 1 other table with customers. We purchased a lunch special. The pork seemed to be cook separate from the actual noodles so the pork didn't have the same flavor as the rest of the dish.
The place was clean, just really empty. The dishware used seemed to be coordinated, but it was weird that they served the thai iced tea in a long tall glass for the group at the other table and put ours in a normal water glass...sad.
I'd rather go to the Purple Neon lights Thai place =) Definitely yummier food and closer to campus. -
Review from Nancy P.
El Sobrante, CA
8/9/2011
*IF YOU EAT THAI, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO EAT SPICY
IF YOU COOK THAI, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO COOK SPICY*
Since I just reviewed Ruen Pair, I thought it'd only be right if I FINALLY review @Siam. Afterall, I have been going to this place for the past three years because of it's location - I work in the vicinity. (Convenience over all else)
Although the food is decent (in flavor) they are a bit overpriced for what you actually get. My favorite dish there is the spicy eggplant dish and the basil chicken. Unlike other places like Ruen Pair, their "extra spicy" or even "spicy" isn't quite spicy at all. It's quite disappointing. I guess you can say their spice levels are catered more towards the majority of the Caucasian population that cannot eat spicy. I am SE Asian so I know my spice. If I stare you dead in the eyes while placing my order and I do not flinch nor tremble in my voice when I say "extra spicy", I MEAN IT! That's not your cue to be safe and under-spice my dish since you don't think I can handle real "thai spicy". Sadly, I don't get my spice fix here. I recently ordered the panang curry with chicken (extra spicy) and instead of being spicy it actually turned out sweet. Needless to say, for those who love authentic thai, you won't get your authentic spicy thai cuisine here.
I do like this place because it's close, the dishes get me full, the flavors are there (minus spice) and there's a pleasant ambiance when you dine in. -
Review from Bernie L.
Berkeley, CA
8/25/2010
Until today, this has been a regular spot for me for work lunch and the occasional dinner, but the recent chef change has been for the worse.
Their special potstickers are still unchanged and awesome.
The two dishes I ordered today for lunch have changed too much for me to want to order again. Their Prik King (curry green bean + X) dishes used to be among the best around, reducing the sauce to a unique sweet roasted flavor, rather than leave it too wet. To my dismay, today's order was an entirely different sauce, kind of wet/salty/soyish, bearing no resemblance to the delicious paste I was used to. The server told me that (inexplicably) the non-vegetarian ingredients had been removed (I suppose either shrimp or fish paste). ?!?!?! You change the flavor of a dish for all diners to be able to serve the same batch of sauce to a small minority??
The Pad Thai also has lost the distinctness of individual flavors one finds in good Thai cuisine, and now is covered by a general bland salty heat.
I have no idea which other dishes have changed, but I'm not inclined to investigate further. I also used to enjoy the mango ribs, but am now hesitant to see if it too has been altered for the worse.
Very nice staff and pleasant decor, but with the higher price for now hit or miss food, I'm going to stay away for the time being. -
Review from Van W.
Oakland, CA
9/28/2010
I came here after climbing and with a http://restaurant.com coupon.
Happy to see they were open until 10.
The inside is clean and tastefully decorated, the server was nice.
The food was pretty good, we ordered a lot. Tom Yum Soup, Green Curry, Garlic Chicken, and Pineapple fried rice.
Thai Iced Tea to wash it down.
All the food was tasty, I probably wouldn't order the Garlic Chicken again (not because it was bad, just didn't fulfill my Thai flavor cravings) and I was really disappointed that their pineapple fried rice didn't actually have any pineapple in it.
Ya, we ordered a shit ton of food. =)
it was a good price after the coupon, but too much without in my opinion. -
Review from wildcat g.
Berkeley, CA
Updated - 10/25/2010
I'll leave this place at 4 stars for now. Somehow I always end up here at odd times of day, so it's nice they're open at 4:30pm on a Sunday, but I'd love if the service were a bit quicker.
That being said, when we didn't like a dish the waiter replaced it with something we did like. The sweet potato appetizer is delish, and the duck curry was as well.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/21/2010
Went here because I had a groupon and it's very close to my house. The service wasn't the best (for… Read more »
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Review from Will M.
Berkeley, CA
4/21/2011
I had the pad thai with shrimp for lunch and it was inedible. It's always a risk to try a new thai place, even if it gets high Yelp reviews. Maybe I'm picky, maybe other people are satisfied with terrible food (why is that?). Pad thai is boring, but the staple I ate when visiting Thailand, and it's my preferred thai lunch food.
I walked in on 4/21/2011 at noon and was the only person there. I ordered pad thai with shrimp, and the waiter first brought out a salad. It was lettuce soaked with dressing that I didn't like, but you don't go to a Thai restaurant to eat salad, so I don't count it against them.
A few minutes later, the pad thai came out. Immediately I knew it would be disgusting. It was wet-looking noodles coated in a steaming thick sugary syrup, and smelled like a stagnant marsh (kind of like the opposite of what you want pad thai to smell like). Pad thai is supposed to be light and fresh, spicy and sweet, and fairly dry (not dripping with oil or thick sugary sauce). This was a mess of syrupy nastiness. My heart sank as I felt ten bucks being sucked out of my wallet for something I knew I would hate.
I ate one shrimp, and it was cooked fine, but tasted terrible because of the syrupy grossness of the sauce. I gave it one more shot and took a small bite of noodles, and they tasted as bad as they looked and smelled. Usually I would push through and eat the food merely for calories, but this would have just made me sick to my stomach. So I stood up, told the guy I couldn't eat anymore, paid and walked out.
This is one of those instances where I read the other Yelp people raving about the pad thai and wonder what's going on. Either those people (1) love terrible Thai food (kind of like people who think Chinese mall food is awesome), or (2) we ate two totally different versions of the same dish (i.e., the real cook was working when they ordered and the dishwashing guy made my dish). Either way, this was among the worst two or three pad thai dishes I've have every had in my life. -
Review from Jennifer S.
San Francisco, CA
8/13/2011
I had one of the best pad thai ever. I usually get pad thai when I go to thai restaurants. this was one the most artistically designed and delicious one. The service here is really good and the atmosphere is nice with good furniture and little waterfalls. The BBQ pork dish and yellow curry dish were also very tasty.
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Review from Jim W.
11/13/2008
Siam Cuisine was our first stop as we rolled into Berkeley. Not because we had heard anything particularly good about it but because it was open, close to where we were staying and Thai.
We were all tired, rushed and wanted some comfort food quickly. In our family, Thai has become one of our top comfort foods. We sat down, explained we were in a hurry and ordered. Our food was on the table in under 10 minutes.
We had basics: chicken satay, chicken pad thai and shrimp pad thai. The satay was wonderfully tender and the yellow curry flavor had just a hint of spicy bite. Among the better satay I've had. The chicken pad thai was very nice, not spicy at all, with a slightly redder sauce than the shrimp pad thai. It tasted like there was a hint more fish oil or another pungent ingredient. The shrimp pad thai had a lighter, browner sauce with a very good but less distinctive flavor.
Portions were large enough that the two orders of pad thai and one appetizer were plenty of food for two adults and two teens.
Service was fast as requested and very friendly. The atmosphere was more upscale than many Thai restaurants around Berkeley. Prices for pad thai were about $9 bucks. Not bad.
Siam Cuisine earns my 4 star ranking as a recommended restaurant. That and 2 dollars will get them a nice coffee at Caffé Trieste. -
Review from Jessica L.
San Mateo, CA
3/27/2009
Really really good pad thai!!!! I like it when its very wet with sauce... YUM
We also got an eggplant dish with beef - everything was full of flavor. I would definitely go back!Listed in: I (heart) Thai Food!!
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Review from debora l.
1/4/2010
Had dinner here with 2 other friends and had 3 dishes total: Pad Thai with shrimp, green curry with pork, and spicy eggplant with chicken. Served over brown jasmine rice.
Presentation: Overall, colorful and lovely. The rice presentation had red colored kernels) and our waitress served it on to our plates, which was quite nice. The eggplant and curry had ample basil, green bell peppers, and carrots (eggplant only) to give the dish some color. The pad thai was the most traditional looking dish, with that nice (faux?) orange-y glow.
Food: overall, average. Each dish was a bit greasier than expected and made me very full before I expected. The eggplant and curry were both medium hot, which was more like mild. The pad thai was a tad too sweet, and could have used more shrimp and tofu and less noodles that were stuck together.
Quantity of food: 3 dishes was enough for 3 girls, but none of us ate that much......
Service, atmosphere: fair, normal Thai with a quiet environment suitable for evening conversation. The restaurant only had a few more full tables on this Monday night. Our waitress and water boy were prompt, which was nice, but nothing beyond average.
Overall: 3 stars for an average experience. This is not knock-your-socks-off Thai, but it does appear to accommodate a large crowd, have fairly dependable (albeit heavy) food, offer your standard Thai cuisine, at an average price (about $10/ plate). Street parking is plentiful and free after 6pm (metered) and Sundays.
Oddball Details: does not accept AMEX. Mints offered after dinner. water has citrus flavoring. May ask for tofu (even though it's not listed) instead of the chicken, pork, or beef offered on the menu. -
Review from Rinne R.
Union City, CA
8/13/2006 3 photos
Surprisingly different than the other Thai restaurants I love, although their food is also quite good.
I love the interior..with one part of the room housing the bar (and wide screen TV), and the other part being a cozy restaurant. One wall scales a massive painting of the typical market in Asia...beautifully done and interesting to look at. The room has fountains and other Thai decorations, transforming you to a more relaxing atmosphere. With its wooden beams, plants, and track lighting, the restaurant offers a romantic and cozy feel.
We got the fried wonton, served with a sweet and sour sauce and topped off with some chili paste. The flavors together dance with your taste buds. But make sure you have plenty to drink as this dish is pretty spicy. (see picture). This appetizer is my favorite part of the meal.
For the main entrees, we picked the Imperial Beef Broccoli and the @Siam Sweet and Sour. These two dishes may sound like your typical Chinese, but they're anything but. The Beef Broccoli is served in a bed of bean sauce...with the meat so tender & the veggies so fresh. The Sweet and Sour Pork is subtlely sweet, but I didn't think it measured to the other dishes as far as flavor and zest. We also got the @Siam Drunken Fried Rice, which the waitress recommended. It has peppers, mixed vegetables, basil and chicken. It was delicious but I think there were too many additives but not enough rice.
@Siam also has a great-looking Vegetarian Menu and a customized drinks menu---cocktails served with sake or soju (these I have to try next time).
The service was also very attentive, but I must say that it wasn't very crowded that day. Although, the waitresses were super nice and friendly. -
Review from Kat C.
3/27/2009 9 photos
Dinner with my sisters in Berk is becoming routine :) hippity hop hop onto http://restaurant.com (yes, again...) and got a $25 GC for $3 (thanks to my Borders rewards and perks!) Had dinner around 6:30~ on a Thursday night....not busy at all. More people showed up after 7.
Recommend:
*Chicken Satay appetizer ~ 4 chicken kabobs with a light peanut sauce and cucumber/thinly sliced onion toppings. The cucumber balanced the flavor of the chicken and peanut sauce very well ... refreshing :)
*Yellow Curry medium+ (fresh and flavorful ... tasted lighter than King of Thai curry, which I'm assuming is a good thing/healthier?) Portion is enough for 2-3 people.
*Chocolate Truffle ~ RICH and satisfied my sweet tooth
* Banana Cha Cha ~ Not gonna lie...the chocolate dipped banana looked like shat but it was delicious. Warm banana with vanilla ice cream drizzled in a fruit syrup and topped with a dollop of whipped cream and strawberry. Just don't look at the banana...
Do Not Recommend:
See-IW ~ tasted kinda funny... either it was too bland or they used a weird sauce? The beef was tough to chew and I had to spit my piece out (if my teeth cant break it down, I won't put my stomach through the trouble)
Excellent, friendly service. At dinner time, they set heart-shaped candles on all the tables. :) Clean and cute bar located in the center of the restaurant. Our total for 2 entrees, appetizer, side of brown rice for 3, and 2 desserts after our gift certificate came out to $33 (including tax and tip) for 3 people. FTW! -
Review from Hex K.
Vallejo, CA
3/20/2009
We picked @Siam after a long grueling day of cleaning and filling a dumpster...we were exhausted and starving and hoping for some good delivery. The reviews here seemed to indicate it would be a good choice.
But for $56, the portions were meager and the food unimpressive. There was no flair to any of it...no fresh cilantro, no color, no pizazz. The Tom Kha Gai (arguably difficult to mess up) was too spicy (we asked for medium) and was basically coconut broth with a lot of mushrooms floating on top, some onions and some chicken sunk at the bottom.
The chicken satay were small and a bit rubbery, the peanut sauce was thick and bland. The pad thai was probably the most disappointing. Just some dry orange noodles with a lot of peanut gravel and a few chunks of chicken and tofu. The cashew pork was underwhelming. In short, if we weren't starving and exhausted, we would have been HUGELY disappointed. -
Review from M.C. H.
Berkeley, CA
5/17/2008
Came here for an early Tuesday lunch and I was surprised to find the place COMPLETELY dead! No matter -- I had a lovely window seat to myself, and made a leisurely meal of my spicy chicken thai basil lunch special, which also came with a salad. The dishware was quite lovely, the food was tasty (quite spicy, though not overwhelmingly so, even for a 'medium'), and my portion was generous enough to double as dinner later that night.
What really impressed me was the music. Really. Nothing fruity and ethnic, nothing commercial and in-your-face, just a nice, mellow mix of indie tunes to eat by. It's rare that I give props to a restaurant for their music selections, but all the more reason that it deserves to be mentioned. -
Review from rori nicole z.
Pittsburgh, PA
8/12/2007
Maybe my experience was tainted by the fact that we had them deliver our food...From the other reviews, It sounds like the restaurant is lovely, and their website is very nice- pretty photos, nice descriptions of yummy sounding food. and i'll admit it. i am such a sucker for food that comes to me that i was sold by their website... Maybe we'll give the actual sit down restaurant experience a shot one day in the future, but
that being said, i can not recommend their food when delivered to your house...
Aside from the fact that the food arrived hot, there really isn't anything else nice to say, but i'll say it anyways....
My husband had the "ginger fantasy" w/beef - there was a lot of ginger, i'll give them that. and baby corn. lots and lots of baby corn. but the beef was tough, and overcooked- and there wasn't that much of it, (but then thinking about it, maybe that was a good thing.)
I somehow thought that the clay pot (seafood) would be good. I love love love clay pot from pho 84, and le cheval. this however is not even a close relative. there are clumps of thin rice noodles, and the second the food entered our house you could smell the super super fishy smell. and the shrimps weren't de-veined. it was basically leftovers, without any real flavor, just a lot of smell.
i'm tossing the whole mess and making a salad- and opening all the
windows to get the fish smell out!
love the delivery option, but would rather eat a pb&j than order from them again. -
Review from Stephen H.
Berkeley, CA
10/8/2007
The Tom Ka (coconut soup) was tasty, but I have yet to find a place that is unable to pull off this soup.
I like the interior and the service was quite good, there was always water in my glass. This would be a nice date place, as it is just the right level of darkness to provide some romance. -
Review from Andrew K.
Austin, TX
12/14/2008
Duck curry = tasty
Majority of duck curry duck skin/fat = not tasty
$13 + $2.50 = pricier than most places
bottomline = My limited order was tasty, but disappointingly skin-ny. A little spendier than a normal Thai place, but their menu looks interesting and try some of their seafood (read soft shell/dungeness crab, halibut etc) as they could be tasty as well.
value = for thai, not good, for any other restaurant its fine. -
Review from lori b.
Berkeley, CA
5/7/2011
We just came back from eating at Siam and it was fantastic. Their menu is vast with great selection of vegetarian as well as fish/ meat dishes. They also let you choose among 4 different types of rice. We had 3 dishes and a dessert: tofu pra ram, kepow with chicken and tofu pad thai. Mango sticky rice for dessert. Everything tasted fresh. The vegetables were not overcooked.
The decor and the presentation of the food were way beyond what is typical for a neighborhood Thai restaurant. The waiter was very attentive.
It was a great experience. -
Review from chuck b.
Berkeley, CA
9/7/2007
Friendly people, nice atmosphere (once you get inside) and the food..they pretty much nailed it.
My favorite thing is that coconut milk prawn lime soup - nailed it!
Great flavors - and they have that little rotating carousel of hot sauces in case you need more - you can spin it around and choose.
Delivery also a bonus. -
Review from Scott A.
San Francisco, CA
3/22/2008
I liked this family owned Thai restaurant. The food was fresh and the brown rice was better then many other places. My server was exceptional. the atmosphere was about what one would expect for a Thai restaurant. A worthwhile stop for good Thai food. I am sure that I will be back.
The family owns another Thai place in San Francisco, but I have not been there yet. -
Review from Heather C.
Walnut Creek, CA
5/25/2010
I had them deliver to my office at UC Berkeley. Poor guy got lost around campus, which is easy to do. But we kept in contact via phone, I felt so bad. He eventually made it and we tipped him well.
The food was great, I was starving by the time the food arrived.
I got a lunch combo, with the yellow curry and chicken satay. Both were great!
I would order from here again -
Review from Quinn G.
Edmond, OK
2/3/2010
Review of Delivery Only:
Speed: Lightening-quick! Ok, I live nearby, but arriving in under 30 minutes? Who does that? @ Siam does, I guess.
Food:
Veg Tom Yum-nice mix of veg. Great lemongrass flavor, BUT no awkward huge lemongrass pieces like at some places.
Tom Kha-never thought I would say this, but I gotta agree with the folks who say it's a little too sweet.
Duck Curry--this is what brought me back within a week. There's a nice variety of vegetables and well as PINEAPPLE in there. And the flavors were perfect, delicious creamy curry, wonderful ducky duck, nice vegetables and pineapple all sang together in perfect harmony. It actually viscerally took me way back to the first time I ever tasted Thai curry--It gave me a food flashback to that very first discovery that curry+coconut=magic. Maybe I simply ordered it on a very, very good day, but the dish was transcendent. And when does that ever happen with delivery?
@Siam Seafood Splash-Did I order this just because the name made me think of Daryl Hannah? Possible. Great mix of nice, fresh-tasting seafood. Nothing rubbery or dodgy under that nice curry saute sauce. Perfectly crisp green beans and a few but thank god not too many crunchy-crisp bell pepper slices.
NB: I ordered both of these "medium." Now, I like spicy food, but the medium seemed a little too mild to me. This is really subjective--and it's not really a criticism--just information. It's like saying, "Oh that brand runs really small." This Thai place runs a little mild.
Price: This is where it kind of falls apart. Their sticky rice is 3.50. Another Thai place on the same BLOCK charges 1.50. So, the markup on RICE is more than double. There's a $25 minimum delivery charge, add tax and tip, and with what I paid for my two (very tasty) meals, I could buy a pair of shoes. Or jeans. Or possibly both, if I did not have such expensive taste. I could completely fill the gas tank in my car more than twice over. I could get my little sister that magazine subscription I've been promising her for the next FOUR YEARS. And what would that money accomplish in Haiti?
It's good food. And a reliable delivery service. But I prefer my meals without a side of buyer's remorse.
So, here is my promise: I will investigate other neighborhood Thai places...and if I conclude that the @ Siam quality is TRULY worth the markup, I will return, update this review, and tell all of Yelp to eat up and pay up. So, basically, I just committed to eating a bunch of different Thai food over the next couple of months. Awesome. -
Review from Steph G.
El Cerrito, CA
2/10/2011
Hearing them yell in the back - "Brown Rice?" "Brown Rice!" ".....Brown Rice?!" Should have been my first clue. I came in here for lunch last week, ordered over the phone, togo. Normally, I'd be a few blocks away at a different Thai resto whose name rhymes with Mancha-Mee, but they don't have eggplant on their lunch menu, so I thought I'd give @Siam a try.
My second clue should have been the smell. I know what good Thai smells like and the second I got back into my car, I knew something was off. My third clue should have been the pre-cut lightning bolt-shaped carrots. Who can't take 10 extra minutes each day and cut up some carrots?
While sparing you the details, I was grossly unsatisfied with my lunch. Bits of the rice were hard and crunchy, which leads me to believe that rather than tell me they were out of brown rice, they just microwaved the rest of last night's rice and served it to me to make an extra buck. The sauce on my eggplant was too sweet, and there were not enough veggies to my liking. The weird side-salad thing that they serve smelled off and I could not for the life of me figure out the dressing. Blech. And it looked like the lettuce was from last night too.
I will not be back @Siam. No Thank You. -
Review from Magi B.
Lafayette, CA
9/16/2009
I give @Siam a solid 4 stars for taste, ambience, service and price.
We ordered the Shrimp Tom Kha, Chicken Pad Thai, Eggplant with Beef and a side of brown rice. The Tom Kha and Pad Thai were a little sweet for my taste, but everything was otherwise very tasty.
It's a good looking restaurant, too- clean, modern, well maintained. The decor and lighting are tasteful. A nice place to take your parents to for a casual lunch or dinner when they come in from out of town.
Our waitress was lovely and attentive and the food was reasonably priced.
