Review: The Siamese Cat - Tempe, AZ (w/ photos!)

[Seth Chadwick]

Everyone in Phoenix knows the Light Rail mess is enough to make one scream. You never know from day to day what street will be open today, closed tomorrow and then re-opened again tomorrow. I have been struggling with this for about six months now on my commute from Arcadia to mid-town Phoenix. Luckily, there will come a day in the fairly near future where this won’t be a concern once the light rail goes live and I have my side streets open to maneuver to work.

Unfortunately, there is a stretch of road not connected to the Light Rail, but will perpetually be a thorn in my side. That road is Price Road in Tempe. Technically, it is Price Road, but it also serves as the Frontage Road for the 101 in the East Valley and finding businesses along it is fairly close to finding a needle in a haystack. You have to know which exit to take off the 101 so you don’t miss the place you are trying to get to. It sounds like it might be easy, but after having doubled back and forth along Price Road trying to find The Siamese Cat Thai Restaurant, I had the doctor double my stress medication.

Thankfully, I had Dave and Neil along to be on the lookout for the restaurant and guide me just past the office park and into the strip mall that houses The Siamese Cat. Sadly, it seems I am not the only one frustrated by how Price Road works and the strip mall was almost morgue-like on a Friday night when most restaurants would be hopping. After parking the car and entering the place, we were a bit relaxed by the comfortable booth and quiet surroundings.

We were handed menus and surveyed them as our server went to get us two Diet Cokes ($1.25 each) and one iced tea ($1.50). Our server returned and we were set to order. To begin our meal, Neil requested the Mu Satay ($5.95) and the Pau Pia ($3.95), a Thai version of spring rolls. For the entrees, Neil had the Chicken Curry ($7.75) and Dave selected the Pad Thai ($7.75). I thought the Curry Noodles ($7.45) sounded good and we also ordered the Pineapple Fried Rice ($8.45) to share at the table.

While waiting for our appetizers, I inquired about a notation on the menu under the beverage section. Right after the heading, it said “no refill.” I asked if that was just for the Thai Iced Tea and our server noted that it was for any beverage on the menu, including our Diet Cokes and, oddly, the plain iced tea that Neil ordered. I asked if that would apply to a cup of Maxwell House coffee and our server indicated it did.

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After a short wait, our first appetizer arrived. The Mu Satay was a plate of four skewers of curry-marinated pork. The pork looked like large paddles and the grill marks added a wonderfully attractive contrast to the dark yellow color of the pork. We each grabbed one of the skewers, some of the peanut sauce and began our meal. The pork was soft, pliable and smoky in its texture and taste. We thought it was a super dish and loved the liberal use of curry on the pork. The peanut sauce was also good. I also liked the cucumber salad because the kitchen wasn’t afraid to add onions and hot peppers to the mix.

The Pau Pia were miniature fried Thai spring rolls resting on a bed of cabbage. The eight rolls were blazing hot and we stabbed them with our forks and cut them open to allow them to cool. The interior was very unique and consisted of bean vermicelli, egg and bamboo shoots. The filling was slightly crunchy and had a very crisp wrapper, but even with the sweet and sour sauce, we felt they were rather bland. They would have been greatly enhanced with the addition of something that would have been a counterpoint to the subtle flavors of the egg or bamboo shoots.

We had just finished the Pau Pia when our entrees started to arrive. Neil’s Curry Chicken (called Gaeng Kari on the menu) was served first and was a brilliant yellow in color. Large chunks of chicken, potatoes and onions were swimming in a curry coconut milk broth. Neil spooned it over the white rice that was provided and said he thought the dish was a “solid” selection. He noted the potatoes were not mushy and the chicken was very tender. He found the curry sauce to be very good, but felt the dish could have been a bit spicier. I found the dish good, but I thought the curry was a bit overpowering for the dish and couldn’t really taste much else.

Dave’s Pad Thai arrived at the table and was mounded with plenty of bean sprouts and ground peanuts adoring the chicken and noodles. Dave thought the Pad Thai was satisfying and had a good mix of flavors. He thought there was a fair amount of chicken and plenty of ground peanuts which are often skimped on at some Thai restaurants. Dave admitted that he had had better Pad Thai but said this version was perfectly satisfactory. About his only complaint was that the Pad Thai was served atop a bed of mixed cabbage which he found odd and distracting to the texture of the dish.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c208/sethchadwick/siamesecatcurrynoodles.jpg

The Curry Noodles I ordered were exceptionally fragrant. The lean strips of beef that rested on the noodles were glistening from the curry sauce and I loved the contrast of textures between the soft egg noodles and the sprinkling of crispy noodles on top. The flavor was stellar. I thought it was the best dish on the table. The curry sauce was very flavorful and wasn’t overpowering like Neil’s dish. The noodles were appropriately cooked so they weren’t disintegrating in the sauce and really held up well with the sauce and the beef. The crispy noodles were a pleasant treat because they were an unexpected part of the dish. A very creative touch.

We all adored the Pineapple Fried Rice with its plentiful pineapple, chicken and cashews. The rice wasn’t greasy or oily from the cooking, but had a good mix of tastes from salty from the cashews, sweet from the pineapple, and savory from the chicken. I did comment that I would have liked to have had more onion in the mix, but that was a personal preference. We clearly enjoyed the rice as it was the first platter to be cleaned.

After finishing our meals, we debated over whether or not to get dessert. Our server gave us a convincing sales pitch and we all acquiesced. Dave immediately ordered the Sticky Rice with Mango ($3.95) and Neil got the Sticky Rice with Custard ($3.95). I went the simple route and chose the Coconut Sherbet ($2.50), which was perfect for a muggy evening.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c208/sethchadwick/siamesecatmangorice.jpg

Our desserts were out in a flash and I Dave wasted no time grabbing a fork and tackling his Sticky Rice with Mango. The immediate yummy sound Dave emitted clearly indicated that he was pleased with his selection. He said the mango was delicious and quite sweet. He also love the creaminess of the rice, but felt the sauce drizzled on the mango was a bit of an overkill.

Neil’s Sticky Rice with Custard was an interesting concoction. A bowl-shaped serving of the custard was placed atop a mound of the sticky rice and then all of it was topped with sweetened coconut milk. Neil and I both thought the dessert was excellent, but Dave thought the addition of the coconut milk marred the dish. I liked the fact that the custard was slightly warm.

The Coconut Sherbet really caught me off guard. I was expecting a rather light and airy dessert, but this was substantial. It had all the flavor of a rich coconut ice cream, but the icy crystals revealed its true colors. The chopped peanuts on top were a crowning touch and I felt this dish really was a knockout because it had such a strong flavor. Cool and refreshing, it really made me smile. It was, as I had hoped, perfect for a summer evening.

After finishing our desserts, we requested our bill and the total was $64.85 including tax. We all thought this was a pretty good value because the food was above average and the portions were satisfying. The service was very good and our server, despite being rather quite, but attentive and cheerful.

As we left The Siamese Cat and headed to the car, my stress level returned as I knew I would have to find my way back to Arcadia via Price Road. As we maneuvered back home, we talked about our experience and the consensus was that The Siamese Cat was a solid choice for Thai food. It wasn’t the best in the Valley and I did question the blanket no refill policy on every drink in the house, but if I was in the area, I would return. Dave and Neil agreed.

Although, we might bring along a GPS indicator or a bloodhound.

The Siamese Cat
5034 South Price Road
Tempe, AZ 85282
Dress: Casual
Hours: Monday through Thursday - 11 AM to 2 PM and 5 PM to 9 PM; Friday - 11 AM to 2 PM and 5 PM to 10 PM; Saturday - 5 PM to 10 PM; Sunday - 5 PM to 9 PM.
Notes: Best to use Google Maps or MapQuest to find. Easier to reach via Baseline Road than Price Road.
Alcohol: Limited Beer and Wine selection.
Website: www.thesiamesecat.com

Additional photos can be found at www.feastinginphoenix.com

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Siamese Cat Thai Restaurant
5034 S Price Rd, Tempe, AZ 85282

[vibrant]

About 3 weeks ago, I was visiting Phoenix and this was one of the places I tried after reading about it on the boards. The place is hard to find! If not for the GPS, we would've missed it. Anyway, I was disappointed!!! We started off with the appetizer sampler. It was good. I ordered the Pad ka pow with ground chicken and the bf had that pad see eww with shrimp. It started off good so I was hoping that our food to come were good also. We were both disappointed. The pad ka pow lacked flavor and the pad see eww was cooked with a weird tasting soy sauce. It reminded me more of chinese style chow fun because it was soy sauce flavor with lots of bean sprout, only the soy sauce didn't taste good. Maybe I'm just spoiled by the countless good thai restaurants out here in Los Angeles. But that had to be one of the worst and most expensive thai restaurant I've ever tried.

[starlightjulian]

I had to try this restaurant after reading the posts here, and I, too, was disappointed. The server recommended the curry noodles, which came with watered down curry flavor, and the crispy noodles weren't even crispy :( I may give the place another shot and order one of my fave Thai dishes, green curry with tofu.

Next time you're in the area, try my favorite Thai restaurant here in the valley- Lemongrass Thai Cafe, which is located on the NEC of Broadway and Hardy. My second favorite Thai restaurant is Thai Hut, which has relocated to 3rd St. and McDowell (today, 9/6, is the grand opening, so I may pop over for lunch or dinner).

[ziggylu]

When I was working up by the university I liked Lemongrass Thai for lunch. The green curry there is pretty good and the pad thai quite respectable.

I also like Yupha's on the corner of Hardy and Elliot for lunch.

[Firenza00]

From what I hear, you LA folk are spoiled with awesome Thai. Even the waitresses at our favorite Thai place here lament that they aren't as good as LA places. The first tom ka gai I had was in LA ten years ago and it still haunts me. I've only just found a place here in the Valley that makes it almost as good.

[starlightjulian]

And what will it take to pry the name of that place in the valley out of you?? :D I've had great Tom Kha soup at Lemongrass Thai Cafe (surprise, surprise) and Swaddee Thai Scottsdale location (haven't visited the Chandler/Ahwatukee location yet). I find Scottsdale's Swaddee Thai's menu spotty- I love the above-mentioned soup, as well as the orgasm-inducing Coconut Paradise (oh, the coconut paradise!!). I found their Pad Thai to be one of the worst I've ever eaten, even worse than the Pad Thai I had back when I hated the dish! (This was in Illinois, many, many years ago... I never could see what was so wonderful about Pad Thai before I tried the dishes cooked here in AZ).

[vibrant]

Next time I will try Lemongrass. Have any of you tried Thai Rama on Camelback (11th ave?, i think). We were suppose to go there but I got the bf to drive out to Siamese Cat instead. Boy did I get points minus for that. Also any good affordable food places to try for our next trip? This last trip consist of mediocre meals. I got some recomendations for some interesting restaurants before we headed out that way, but we're still broke college students that don't wanna spend more than $50 (for the both of us) for each meal. Thanks.

[silverbear]

I've been to Thai Rama recently. It's good neighborhood Thai if you're nearby, but not special enough to be worth a long trip from across town.

The most impressive Thai meal I've had recently was at Chanpen on the Phoenix / Glendale border. The papaya salad, one of my favorites, took no prisoners with its blend of spicy and sour flavors.

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Thai Rama Restaurant
1221 W Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85013

Chanpen Thai
13828 N 51st Ave, Glendale, AZ 85306

[Firenza00]

Chanpen and Osha Thai Cafe are our favorites, with Osha getting the nod.. Friendlier waitstaff (Chanpen's can be downright rude sometimes) and if Osha had Chanpen's Garlic Chicken, we'd stick with Osha.
Thai Rama is pretty good. Their version of panang is very peanuty and different from what I'm used to, but I really like it. And if you look closely at some of the plants around the parking lot, some are ingredients. Kaffir lime or something. I can't remember exactly. A date I took there once pointed them out to me.
Swaddee in Scottsdale was average at best and Osha is close enough to it that we don't bother with Swaddee. Lemongrass was just a pathetic joke when we went. Garlic-less Garlic Lover's beef was a travesty. Service was marginal at best and charging extra for the rice without telling us guaranteed we'll never go back. The waitress' reply to our inquiry was "well, our prices are so low, we have to charge for the rice" was just the nail in the coffin.

[starlightjulian]

I'll have to try Chanpen and Osha Thai very soon, then. I did not favor the bland curry noodles (I ordered medium spicy) at Siamese Cat at all, and I'm sticking to my favorite Lemongrass for their great curries, eggplant garlic, pad prik khing, Tom kha soup, and pad-woon-sen. I must say that I pretty much order tofu dishes, as I haven't enjoyed beef dishes anywhere (I sometimes have chicken issues due to a corn allergy). I hear the buffet at Pink Pepper in Tempe is pretty good, but I've never been.

Re charging for rice at LTC, that is a minor pain in the arse, but what's $1 for white rice, which is what I assumed you ordered? I order the brown rice, which is rarely on the menu elsewhere, so I'm stuck paying for whatever they ask for! Perhaps you visited during lunch, a time where the restaurant is slammed, and some of the servers' grasp of English isn't very good, so something as simple as miscommunication could be misconstrued as nonchalance or even rudeness!

I've tried Thai Rama in Chandler (Dobson/Chandler Blvd) more than a year ago, and I can't recall what I had, so it must have been just ok. I've been meaning to return and try again with a couple of favorite dishes.

[ziggylu]

I've been to Lemongrass only at lunch and never been charged for rice. I assume this is because we've always ordered off lunch menu and not the standard menu. Lunches come with soup and I think an fried spring roll(it's been a few months since I was last there so I could be wrong about this). I remember neither the soup or spring roll being noteworthy but have always been happy with lunch itself(have stuck wtih the green curry and the pad thai however). Service never seemed notably good or bad. Definitely quick at lunch but they get a good crowd so I'm sure they want people in and out as much as the lunch crowd prefers not to linger so it doesn't feel rushed.

We live up the street from the Thai Rama in chandler and have never been in. Probably as when we head to that corner we always stop in at Cyclo. Never hear any mention of Thai Rama from anyone that lives around here and have always wondered how they've stuck around. Parking lot always seems fairly empty at night so they must do a busy lunch business with the Intel, Countrywide, etc crowd.

[tara17]

Actually, when Firenza and I went to Lemongrass, it was dinner and there were only about three other tables occupied. The rice thing was only part of the service problems we encountered. We were seated and sat without even getting glasses of water or being greeted for at least 15 minutes. At the end of the meal, I wanted to try some sticky rice, but they brought our check without asking if we wanted dessert. The other problem was that most Asian restaurants don't charge for white rice. If they did charge, I wish she would have mentioned that. She asked "do you want white or brown rice?" If she would have mentioned an extra charge, I wouldn't have had a problem paying for it.

Thai Rama is okay - Firenza likes it more than I do. I tried a few things on the menu, but hadn't found a standout. Osha and Chanpen are definitely our favorites.

Don't bother with the Pink Pepper buffet - I was very unimpressed. I would be willing to try stuff off the regular menu, but the buffet was small and nothing really stood out.

[starlightjulian]

I had consistent good service at LTC, until about three months ago when I failed to remind them of a celery allergy (of which I didn't think I needed to tell them, since celery was not listed as one of the ingredients in that particular dish I'd ordered) and both the head cook and the cashier/owner's smiles turned into mad frowns, and I was ignored for the rest of my visit. I thought this behavior was unwarranted; I was willing to order something else, and I would not have avoided dining there again for so long had they not acted so surly afterwards. My coworker told me that they were asking me to return, so I finally gave in last week. I really did miss my green curry and pad prik khing!! However, if I can find another top Thai fave to patronize, I will be much happier with my pride intact (and grateful to the chowhounder that offers up the name of the winning venue!).

The only Thai restaurant that did not charge me for white rice was Thai Hut. It's been my experience that if rice (or anything else, for that matter) came complimentary with a dish, it would definitely be noted on the menu. I always make it, upon being asked if I liked a side dish (rice, fries, potato, bread, tea, whatever), to ask if the side came with the dish, so as to avoid the surprise additional charge at the end. When the food and the service are good, what's a few dollars and/or cents added in the end? But that same few dollars and cents can break the camel's back when the night is less than good enough...

Does anyone know of any other good Thai venues that also offer brown rice? I know that white rice compliments the dishes better than brown rice, but I do favor brown as it is higher in fiber (which, in turn, sop up more low density lipoproteins), and has that nutty flavor and texture that I have grown to like.

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Lemon Grass Thai Cuisine
818 W Broadway Rd Ste 108, Tempe, AZ 85282

[Firenza00]

I've been to more Thai restaurants than I can count all over the country, from holes in wall to trendy, cutting edge, and I can't even think of any other place where rice wasn't included. When you add in all the other Asian restaurants (hundreds) I've been to, and I can only think of one or two that charged and they made it clear.
Like tara17 said, it was a Saturday night, they weren't busy, and folding napkins and cleaning menus is what they did instead of bringing us water, checking on our meal, or stuff competent waitresses do. There are better places much closer to us, so we won't bother them by attempting to patronize their restaurant.

[starlightjulian]

Sorry if I've offended you or anybody else... such is the danger when expressing oneself with just words without vocal hints to suggest kind or harsh undertones...

The next time I visit Lemongrass, I will somehow suggest to them to check out chowhound.com for constructive criticism.

Still looking for a better replacement for Thai cuisine that won't require me to drive so far!

[misohungrychewlow]

It is sometimes criticized for offering gringo Thai, but Malee's on Main, which has been around for 20 years now, offers brown rice (they may run out later in the evening). I have never been to the Desert Ridge location.

[Seth Chadwick]

I am curious as to the price point you normally pay for Thai food. Setting the actual experience aside for a moment and focusing just on the price, what did you order and how much did it cost?

I went back and looked at the Thai restaurants I have visited and I found Siamese Cat to be in the middle-of-the-road as far as cost was concerned. Here is rough average of a few of the other Thai restaurants I have gone to:

Lemon Grass Thai Cafe - $7.95 for entrees
Touch of Thai - $7.95 for entrees
Osha Thai - $8.75 for entrees
Sala Thai - $7.95 for entrees
Chanpen - $7.50 for entrees
Siamese Cat - $7.75 for entrees

These are restaurants scattered across the Phoenix metro area.