Siam Restaurant

Waited one hour for an order that was called in 30 minutes before I got to the restaurant. One of the worst services I have ever experienced in Hyde Park. Dont waste your time, go to noodles instead.

Siam definitely has the best Pad Thai in Hyde Park.

I ordered the Tom Yum Noodles to go and was surprised to find that the dish didn’t resemble anything I’m used to in terms of Tom Yum soup. It wasn’t spicy at all, and that signature lemon grass flavor was absent. Also, there weren’t any mushrooms or shrimp.
Of course, this will sound pretentious, but I’ll go ahead anyway. I’m basing my opinion on Tom Yum soup from Bangkok, having recently visited and tried Tom Yum the first time while I was there.

Food was ok, portions were quite small. I ordered basil chicken and it was ground chicken, not regular chicken! I felt that should have been specified. I feel since they’re in competition with two others on the block, they’d step it up a bit better.

The atmosphere/​décor here isn’t very good, and the food isn’t either. It’s not bad, but it’s not as good as the other nearby restaurants (e.g. The Snail, another thai place). Generally, the problem with the rice-​based dishes is that the sauces are too watery and that the vegetables are a little lackluster in flavor.
Further, the duck meat at Siam generally isn’t very good. I had a duck soup and found some of the meat inedible.

Love these guys. I only order carry out and have not had a bad meal yet. The pick up is never wrong and the food is pipping hot at each pick up. I always get the combination fried rice and basil beef. Always good. I was able to try one of their soups and it was amazing. I never had a chance to dine in, but pick up is legit. Ordering from them now.

What else to do on a Saturday night when you’re feeling ill (no, really… pain meds make you loopy & your stomach less than happy) then venture out for some soup? Glad I decided to call this local gem for some wonton soup. I was extremely happy when I called seeing as though it was –20 minutes before closing & they were happy to take my order. I’ve called other places before & have been turned away since it’s close to closing time — hey, I get it, everyone’s gotta go home, but sometimes you just need something simple & quick without breaking the bank.
Within 15 minutes (including the short walk over), I was greeted by the guys behind the counter who’ve remembered me from the past 2 visits, & warm container of goodness. It was my first time having their soup & I wasn’t disappointed — I had wished I got the large because it was THAT good. While the wontons could have been bigger, I appreciated the bean sprouts & BBQ pork. The broth was perfect & my *currently* sensitive stomach couldn’t be happier.
Other visits I’ve gotten crab rangoon (YUM), bamee noodles no broth (very good), & pad see ew (spot on). Definitely worth a trip over!

Siam isn’t very good, but I will definitely give it another shot. Why? I waited while they actually cooked my food to order. A giant plate of food for $ 7.50, and a giant thai iced tea for $ 2.50. Both were waaaaaay too sweet, and the sauce on the pad thai was definitely non-​standard, but I would go back and try a curry. The ladies working there seemed pretty serious about the whole thing, as well.

BEWARE DELIVERY!!! They told me 40 minutes when I called. It is now over 1 ½ hours later and the food still hasn’t showed up. They told me it was on its way when I called when it hadn’t shown up after an hour. Still waiting!!!
Update: now it is almost 2 hours. Still waiting.
Shame on you. We are very hungry.

My first sampling of Thai food that I really liked was from Siam Restaurant years ago when I lived in Hyde Park. There were and still are three Thai restaurants on the 55^th Street stretch and I rotated my visits among the three. Having not been to Hyde Park in quite some time, I returned to Siam Restaurant.
The owner who was there when I used to go was still there. And he remembered me enough to remember than I had tried to learn Thai by ordering food. I still got through much of the brief conversation in Thai.
Potstickers. Yellow curry shrimp. Thai iced tea.
There was a reason why Siam Restaurant had a draw more than the other two nearby Thai restaurants. The potstickers were not al dente and the yellow curry shrimp had a hearty gravy as opposed to a thin base. I loved the smoky flavour of the Thai iced tea. There is no attention to décor and that is all made up for with some of the best Thai in the city. I’m sure that the next time I go back to Hyde Park for some food, it will be to Siam Restaurant. Kab kun krab.

Ordered the Bangkok chicken it was alright. And it came with plain rice. It tasted like sweet and sour chicken. It wasn’t that bad but nor was it that great. I might try something again from this place in the future. For now, it’s just okay. I’m still searching for the perfect Asian restaurant in Hyde Park!

I love me some Thai food. Really I do. In particular I have a slight obsession with curry, so it is always really really hard for me to not order curry whenever Thai is on the menu for dinner. I tried this restaurant recently as a large delivery order, so perhaps things are different if you eat there, since some of the pictures on here make the curry seem more like what I love – thick and yummy and flavorful. The curry we got – one order of green and one yellow – was just kind of watery. Some of the good curry flavor was there, but I love having some brown rice or fried rice or even some extra rice noodles to mop up tasty curry. There is something about how curry can soak into rice that makes me so happy inside, but this place just didn’t quite take me there.
That said, the egg rolls were pretty good and their noodle dishes – we got a few – also were pretty tasty as well. The crab rangoons were so so and their spiced orange chicken type of dish also was so so, but I do appreciate the amount of cashews in some of the dishes we ordered. So all in all, this place was good, but not amazing, but it is super affordable delivery and they clearly can handle large orders as well, so decent spot!

I LOVE Siam. Easily, best Thai in Hyde Park. I’ve been here so many times, I’ve eaten in, I’ve taken out, I’ve ordered by phone, I’ve ordered by GrubHub, in winter, in spring, in summer, in fall… this place really hits the spot.
The BEST thing about Siam… well, they are numerous. First, this place has an incredible lunch and dinner special — rice, soup, egg roll, your dish, for $ 8-​$ 11. The choice is limited, but there are great things. The curries (panang!) and the basil chicken are good. Second, this place introduced me to kai tom kha soup. If you have never had this soup before, get it. It is delicious. You will be inspired. Third, the panpipe Titanic music on repeat. That is the definition of ambience. Fourth, this place is kind of a hidden gem. For some reason, except for the people who live nearby, most of Hyde Park doesn’t really know about or come to this place — they all frequent the more popular Snail and Thai 55. Fifth, I had Thai iced tea for the first time here. Now I am a junkie on sweetened condensed milk and have ventured so many times to try to make this stuff myself, unsuccessfully.
The outside looks a little bit sketchy, and honestly so does the inside. It looks like you’re sort of inside someone’s house, if it were restaurant shaped and maybe a little sparse. I consider this an authenticity bonus, but you do you. There’s stuff all over. But there is enough space for a lot of people to come in even without a reservation.
While many of the dishes are really great, I’ve had a couple things here that are genuinely gross (one of them was the roast duck soup; sounds good in theory, not so good in practice — though I had a friend who LOVES it, so who knows). Look out for these in the reviews — I really do think that the mixed reviews on Siam come from people who chose poorly. If you order well, this place is amazing.
It’s BYOB, and if you bring your own beer or wine, they’ll help you open it and give you glasses and no sass. Lost a star for the occasional gross dish, gained one for BYOB. Classy joint.

Massaman curry rocked my world here. Quick delivery. Cheap and you get very large portions. No complaints. Will order again!

My mom and sister went here a couple of weeks ago and thought I’d like it, so we all went today. I read all the Unilocal reviews and wasn’t exactly sure what to expect since they varied so vastly.
I LOVED IT.
We came in at the same time as a group of about 10 people, and the waiter sat both groups quickly, and took our order first (he implied that he knew it’d take the other group a lot longer, so he wanted to expedite our order). We ordered the fried squid for all of us, my mom had the shrimp lard nar, my sister had the baby clam chili, and I had the basil mussels and beef pad siew with beef.
I’ve been eating at Thai food spots before they became really popular in Chicago, and I often lament that restaurants no longer pan fry the noodles (to get some texture and flavor on them) before adding the sauce, which makes the noodles really soft with tons of gloppy sauce. This was the opposite. There wasn’t a bunch of sauce and the noodles were al dente and flavorful. My mussels were also wonderful; I could just eat the veggies, sauce, and rice from that dish any day. The fried squid was cooked to perfection as well.
Our waiter was very nice, attentive, and even lamented the drastic changes of weather with with us as we left.
I can’t give it all 5 stars since I’ve only been once, but I will DEFINITELY be back.

Reviews say that this was the best Thai food in Hyde Park, and I completely agree (feel free to read my reviews of the other places). I came here and got the drunken noodles and panang curry.
First of all, they have very good portions. The drunken noodle was pretty good — although I wish it was a bit spicier. The panang curry was thick and pretty delicious. I actually took some of the leftover curry home, watered it down a bit the next day, and added some noodles to it to have a second meal. It seems like most people like this place’s curry, so definitely give that a shot.
Next, the food came out pretty quickly, which was good because I was starving. The servers here don’t really wait on you, so if you want that kind of service, I would try one of the other Thai places. I personally like being left alone during a meal, so I thought the service was perfectly fine.
Overall, if I crave Thai food, I’ll be coming here.

Still the best authentic Thai restaurant in Hyde Park.
Their roast duck basil is to die for. If you can take spicy, ask them for special «Thai chili» version of that dish.
The fish cake is okay.

I read the reviews and decided to go out on a limb. The food was just mediocre, and I’m saying this while keeping Hyde Park in mind. I ordered the spring roll, Bangkok Chicken, and beef Lad Na. The spring roll was made with a thicker wrap than I’m used to. That, not the flavor, was what stood out most to me about this appetizer. The Bangkok Chicken was fried and sweet but not noteworthy. I can’t comment on the beef Lad Na because we received the shrimp version. No big deal, just check your order carefully before walking out the door. This was the best dish of the three. The best thing about this dish is the price when compared to neighboring restaurants.
I ordered carry-​out. I don’t think I could have eaten here. The décor is a major turn off but it was the smell that was a deal breaker. Sometimes restaurants have that bathroom smell. Not the foul, just used bathroom smell. The smell that public restrooms take on over time. Maybe this was one off occurrence. I don’t know but I will forever associate food from here with that smell.

I live around the Hyde park and this restaurant is my weekly must-​go place. The boss and the waiter are very friendly and nice. Most of all, they cook the best Thai food around here! Not even the other two Thai restaurants on the same street can beat it. The Tom Yum Koong soup is the most authentic one I’ve ever had among so many places! And the Shrimp in Hot Pot, Chili Scallop, etc are so tasteful, too!
Last, UChicago students could get 10% discount, based on this already extremely cheap price!

I heard this was the best place for authentic Thai food, but I think I must not have had the right dish. It wasn’t that great, but I’m willing to give it another try, maybe with someone who knows what to order.
They’ve got GREAT egg rolls. I’ve returned a few times just to have them.