575793 Fri Nov 28 09:06:10 -0800 2008 20 68 Las Vegas 0 4206645 I am too lazy to scroll through all the posts on LS. Would the Vegas 'hounds out there indulge me and offer up some recommendations from LS menu. I've only been once and ordered some stuff off the Northern Menu which was all great but I'd really appreciate some ideas and descriptions of "must have" dishes. Thanks. Fri Nov 28 09:06:10 -0800 2008 81692 lebdog 1 4209145 Well, I've been there a few times. Everyone raves about the crispy rice and sour sausage appetizer (Nam Kao Tod), and it's pretty good, but I have my own favorites. I really like the Tom Kah Kai (soup w/sliced chicken, mushrooms, coconut milk, etc). For a main, I think the Nua Sao Renu (charbroiled beef with tamarind sauce) is a knockout dish. It's pictured on this page: http://www.saipinchutima.com/lotusspecial.htm Definitely skip the lunch buffet. Sat Nov 29 20:35:28 -0800 2008 4206645 15807 Steve Green 2 4331820 I will second the tamarind beef recommendation! We liked our dinner here so much that we went back the next night and had the same dish! I asked for it spicy and they asked me what number on a scale of one to ten. A 9 got a nice level of heat...what a great dish! We arrived at 5:30 on both nights (weekdays) and by 6:30 the place was packed! Fri Jan 16 08:39:12 -0800 2009 4209145 12618 erica 3 4333008 Wow -- you must like spicy food. 4 was about as hot as I could take, and I thought I had a normal tolerance for spiciness. I guess not. Fri Jan 16 14:10:18 -0800 2009 4331820 15807 Steve Green 4 4333214 I do like spicy. But my dining partner cannot eat any spice at all. So we also had the pad see euw which was very good, and the fried pork strips for appetizer. I liked the beef with tamarind so much I brought some back on the plane with me! I was amazed at all of the ethnic eateries we saw in LV! All those Asian shopping centers! (We are from NYC) Fri Jan 16 15:37:25 -0800 2009 4333008 12618 erica 3 4333930 If you like the tamarind beef, inquire about whether they have short ribs as a special, which has some of the same luxurious taste. Fri Jan 16 23:28:07 -0800 2009 4331820 10031 Dave Feldman 1 4229670 bump because I'll be here in 4 days Mon Dec 08 11:06:02 -0800 2008 4206645 91179 ns1 1 4230268 OP, I found an older thread http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/395888 Mon Dec 08 14:12:14 -0800 2008 4206645 91179 ns1 2 4230385 A few more: IMO The best Thai food ever (Lotus of Siam) http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/536238 LoS Vegas Recs please http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/425449 Vegas - Lotus of Siam review http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/487165 Mon Dec 08 14:46:31 -0800 2008 4230268 10271 Rubee 3 4230539 thanks! Mon Dec 08 15:42:53 -0800 2008 4230385 91179 ns1 1 4231424 I gleaned this list from past threads regarding LOS and emailed it to myself. Whenever we go to LOS, I just print it out and take the list with us. Tom Kah Kai (Bangkok Style Soup) somtom sea bass, a green papaya salad with huge chunks of sea bass, along with red grapes, matchsticks of green apple, and perfectly ripe cherry tomatoes. shrimp curry with cognac sauce (regular special) drunken noodles with chicken Hoh mok plar is one of my favorite dishes at LOS -- pieces of catfish with egg, cabbage, with a judicious amount of coconut milk and curry. kang hung lay (northern pork stew) There are actually two different pork dishes on the nothern menu - the Kang Hun Lay is meat without vegetables, in a curry with some Burmese/Indian overtones that has a hint of sweetness, some of that coming from roasted garlic (you will usually find several whole cloves per order). The other is Kang Hoh, which relies more on dry spice, but does have glass noodles and some other vegetables with it. Prawns Ocha House special crispy garlic shrimp. It is not on the menu so you have to ask for it. They take prawns peel the shells but still keep them on. Cover in coarsely chopped garlic and fried up. The shells get so crispy that they are like really thin potato chips. Seared Scallops with Red Curry (the sweetness of fresh scallops and the hottest of their curries plays so well together; there is usually a slight touch of cognac to balance this out, similar to their Salmon Panang). Andy Mon Dec 08 21:58:53 -0800 2008 4206645 24061 shamu613 2 4232222 Last time we had a duck dish that was fantastic. Unfortunately, I don't remember exactly which one it was. The staff is always happy to give recommendations. Tue Dec 09 08:49:51 -0800 2008 4231424 11166 JoeyH 3 5185638 I believe the dish is Duck Panang. It's excellent! One of the best things I've ever eaten. If the name is wrong I can add that it is duck in a cognac curry sauce. Mon Nov 16 09:58:56 -0800 2009 4232222 13011 Missmoo 1 4234613 Give the hoh mok sea bass or khao soi. The first is off-menu but always available. Tue Dec 09 23:16:46 -0800 2008 4206645 10031 Dave Feldman 2 4235027 How about this for a nice twist - they are even doing khao soi now with braised short ribs. The epitome of comfort food now that we are getting into December, when even the Las Vegas evenings get a bit cooler.A person could even do an entire evening of Sea Bass. They are serving it in a Tom Yum soup now; which could be followed by the Sea Bass Som Thum; and then the Hoh Mok Sea Bass and Sea Bass with Drunken Noodles. Wed Dec 10 07:02:34 -0800 2008 4234613 67111 QAW 3 4237958 Saipin has been experiencing more in the past year than ever before. I've never heard of khao soi with short ribs, but I'm game! I'd think that it would be too fatty for khao soi, but I'm she she has worked out a solution. I know that most of the staff prefers khao soi with beef more than with chicken, but I'm not sure I agree. Why not pork? I think that would work, too. A sea bass tasting menu. What a wonderful idea. Think of all the different flavors in those four dishes. Thu Dec 11 02:16:47 -0800 2008 4235027 10031 Dave Feldman 4 4337052 I have never ordered sea bass at LOS, largely because I feel guilty that it might be a bit politically incorrect. But I confess: when I had dinner there with my friends the other night we had the Hoh Mok Sea Bass after we each picked a dish and my friend really wanted to try it. It was the most delicious thing I've eaten in a long time!!! Even his 15 month old twins ate every bite they were given, and made it clear they wanted more! Another dish my friends ordered that I had never tried was an appetizer that consisted of shrimp wrapped with bacon and then some kind of wonton skin (I forget the name of the dish of course..). It was deep fried..like an egg roll, but so much better...... Sun Jan 18 13:59:51 -0800 2009 4237958 10290 janetofreno 5 4337160 actually, black sea bass, which may well be, indeed probably is, what is in the dish at LOS, is fine from a sustainability standpoint. http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx The issue is that many other fishes are often called 'bass' even though they really aren't. (ie chilean sea bass, which isn't sea bass at all, and sometimes various types of snappers). Just ask the server what type of sea bass it is if you are worried: I imagine at a place like LOS they know the source and specific species. In any event, it sounds delicious! Sun Jan 18 14:53:38 -0800 2009 4337052 10158 susancinsf 6 4337821 Unless it has changed, LOS does serve black sea bass. Blll is quite sensitive about the whole notion of sustainability re: seafood and one of the reasons he doesn't carry some fish. Sun Jan 18 20:48:24 -0800 2009 4337160 10031 Dave Feldman 7 5179642 How far is Lotus from the strip? We won't have a car- how much is it for the cab ride? We are from DC and have great Thai here...do you still recommend the place? Fri Nov 13 13:31:17 -0800 2009 4337821 98770 xena1441 8 5180652 Xena, LOS is a little less than a mile east from the Sahara or Las Vegas Hilton, but obviously much farther from mid- or south-Strip. Cab prices would obviously vary depending upon where you were leaving from. As for the second part of your question -- I have never found Thai in DC or Maryland that satisfied me, although years ago I had some decent Thai in Virginia. LOS is my favorite place to eat in Las Vegas, and it's certainly the best Thai I've ever eaten in a restaurant. Events have conspired so that I haven't been to Las Vegas in more than a year, As long as Bill & Saipin are running the restaurant, I'm confident in recommending it. Fri Nov 13 23:28:34 -0800 2009 5179642 10031 Dave Feldman