Chicago Foodies

Siam Café – Chicago's Oldest Thai Restaurant

Chicago's Oldest Thai Restaurant Offers a Tasty Lunch Buffet. Siam Cafe (Uptown) is one of the many low-key Thai restaurants in the city. Its claim to fame is that it's the oldest. What really helps it stand apart is that it has one of the best deals for lunch - a $6.50 buffet. Green curry, pad thai, papaya salad, tom yum soup and a dozen other choices.

TAC Quick: A Welcome Variety of Thai Food

Usually I like picking out restaurants due to word of mouth, but in this case I credit the feedback from food writers for sending me to this place.   My big gripe with Thai food is that it's almost all the same stuff: pad thai, pad see ew, red curry, yellow curry, panang curry, etc.  After a while it begins to taste the same, though of course there are variations in quality.

Siam Noodle & Rice

One favorite place of ours is Siam Noodle & Rice. It's a small, cozy, zero-ambiance place in the tough neighborhood of Uptown... but boy does it have great authentic Thai. The dish that beats out all the other Thai places in Chicago is Pad Kee Mao.

It's the prefect blend of thick rice-noodles, eggs, bean sprouts, basil leaves, black bean sauce and (what makes it different) collard greens. It's a zesty delight that's sure to please the Thai newbie or the authentic Thai food lover. Other dishes like Basil Chicken, Tom Kha Kai Soup, and the Thai Iced Coffee will make you glad you took the trip to this whole-in-the-wall in this often-overlooked neck of the woods.

Cozy Noodles & Rice

Do you like robots? Want curry in a hurry? Ever wondered what it would be like to use Pez dispensers as wallpaper?

If the answer is yes, then you should make plans to schlep to Cozy Noodles & Rice. With a kitschy, vintage decor and a coterie of classic Thai dishes on the menu, this restaurant certainly puts the "D" in cognitive Dissonance.

Upon entering, you are greeted with a dining room that is busier than Obama's team of economic advisers. In an offbeat cross between a '70s diner and a five-and-dime store, the walls are jam-packed with retro signs and the shelves are lined with all manner of wind-up cars, plastic rockets and robots. A grinning, life-sized model of Elvis stands in the corner, crooning into a microphone and pointing directly at you. Be careful not to kick the jewel-studded tables, whose bases are made from sewing machines and have some moving parts.

Ruby of Siam Skokie

The only thing harder than collectively deciding on what movie to see at Old Orchard on a Saturday night was what restaurant to go to first for dinner.  The mall does provide a convenient yet extremely unappealing variety of chain restaurants to choose from like The Corner Bakery, Johnny Rockets and the Cheesecake Factory.  Although we were all willing to compromise on the movie we weren’t ready to compromise our food choices and decided there just has to be something worthwhile to eat close by that wasn’t a chain. 

Rama Thai Kitchen – The Edible Art of Sushi

I recently returned on a trip from La Jolla, California where I satisfied my craving for the freshest sushi I could get my chopsticks on. Rappungi Sushi Bar, centrally located in the heart of downtown La Jolla, was the place of choice.

 

Reminiscent of the days years ago that I spent working in the great food city of San Francisco and being spoiled by the delights of this new-to-me cuisine, my earthy Midwestern food roots were instantly replaced by tiny raw-fish I could shove into my mouth in one bite. Who would’ve thought?

 

en•Thai•ce – Ya get it?

I've driven past en•Thai•ce several times and shaken my head. It always reminded me of a hair salon's attempt to be funny. In any case months later I ended up getting delivery and it was terrific.  

Sabai Dee: Chicago's Laotian Restaurant

As far as I know the only Laotian restaurant in Chicago is the recently opened Sabai-Dee on Broadway. I enjoy Thai food a bit more than Vietnamese and find Laotian food to be a good mix of the two for my tastes. It seems a bit more Thai-leaning and the fish sauces are pretty light. the upside is that they still integrate tons of fresh herbs and use rice in terrific ways.

Pho at Quang Noodle

Now that it's cold it's time for soup. I was walking back from a haircut and went in thinking Tom Yum and ended up at Quang Noodle getting chicken Pho. $6.95 gets you a very large steaming bowl of noodles, chicken, chilies, cilantro, sprouts and wonderful clear broth that has just enough heat to last on your lips for an hour and keep your core warm for a 4 block walk. It didn't do anything for my gloveless fingertips.

Sura – Space-Age Thai Tapas

Just next door to the Bamee Noodle shop (where you can get bang-up udon noodles btw) is the new trendy face of Lakeview, just south of Boystown. They're serving food on the weekends until midnight? 2am? I'm not sure how late but late... The interior is all white and very modern circa 1977... so it's retro-modern? Saarinen-type stuff. There's a digital DJ turntable rig. The room was fairly cold (chilly) and the club music was playing. Waiters were plentiful (no waitresses).

I was really worried that this place was style over substance. I bet myself that the website surely played music... check and find out.

Everyday Thai

I love Thai food, and Chicago is a great city for it.  There are at least 4 Thai restaurants in a 3 block radius by my house in Edgewater and I frequent every one of them, they all do it a little differently so it's never the same dish twice.

So when Everyday Thai opened (2 months ago) up on Devon I was definitely eager to try it.  The restaurant was spacious and clean, serving lunch, dinner and delivery until 10pm. The menu had all of the Thai dishes you would expect, nothing new or out of the ordinary, which is OK since there are places down the street like Blue Elephant (also on Devon) that are a little more adventurous. 

Vong's Thai Kitchen

I’m a Thai food junkie and Chicago is just the place to fuel that addiction.  I’m sure you could go to a different Thai restaurant every day for at leas a year, that’s how many Thai restaurants there are in the city.  One place in particular that I have passed quite often but had never been in was Vong’s Thai Kitchen.  I think I’ve always stayed away because it is a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant and the prices are much higher compared to authentic Thai restaurants – entrees are around $15.00 versus noodle and rice dishes under $10.00 at most places.  That being said I decided to give it a try for lunch. 

Thai Pastry: Go-To Thai?

Thai Pastry has been for the past 5 years our go-to Thai restaurant. It's been the measuring stick we hold other places against. We even suck up delivery charges and extra charges for rice to get it at home. Most recently we weighed the pros and cons against Blue Elephant. We gave our order and $5 extra dollars to Thai Pastry. It was the first time we were actually disappointed by our order.

Indie Cafe pt.2

It's been a long while betweeen visits to Indie Cafe. My experience had been months ago, during their Reader-induced celebrity. It was time to go back.

They're still BYOB and they're still packed. Thursday night we had to wait about 15 minutes for a table. The dining room is small. So I'm guessing their business is still very brisk. That was a good sign and I was in for more good news.

Thai Spice

Thai Spice is an unassuming restaurant on the north side of Devon just east of Clark. It was empty when we walked in. The owner and an employee were sitting down for dinner. A couple of police walked in. Someone came in for take-out. Otherwise it stayed empty. They have been in business for quite some time and it was a Wednesday evening.

Pingpong

Pingpong is yet another one of those Asian fusion restaurants that seem to be popping up in every neighborhood. Pingpong however is not new to Lakeview. I remember it opening about four years ago, just before I moved out of the neighborhood.  I didn't get a chance to try it then but I've always heard from people in the area that it is a favorite. 

Bamee Noodle Shop

Having spent most of my recent years in the Lakeview area of Chicago I developed a few regular spots along the Broadway strip between Diversey and Belmont. I went back to one of them this past week and got what I used to usually get – Bamee Soba...

That being said their entree's are very good. I gravitate to their noodle soups which seem to be their specialty. It's very reasonably priced and in addition to Thai iced teas you can get beer and wine.

Arun's for Dinner: $10

Dinner for 10 bucks is a good deal anywhere but when its a couple of entrees from Arun's it's a sweeter (and spicier) deal.

After work I get a call, "There's a thai thing going on at Daley Plaza... Arun's has a booth..." Even if I wasn't 2 blocks away I'd have made the effort.

Considering my annual intake of Thai food it's shocking that I have yet to eat at Arun's. They are annually included as one of the top restaurants in Chicago, my friends love it and it's on the north side. I have no excuse.

Silver Spoon: Downtown Lunch Special

I've been to Silver Spoon (conveniently, one block west of Michigan Avenue at the 700 block) once before, after work and before a movie when a hungry (which means generally poor) decision took the reins. Luckily this is the sister location of Spoon Thai up north (4608 N. Western). Another restaurant I have yet to try... It gets high marks from Thai fans so this could be an initiation to the Spoon Thai experience.

This time I was going for the lunch deal and a $6.95 lunch special downtown is nothing to sneeze at either. Especially when the alternative is Taco Bell at the 8th floor food court across the street. The sign indicated soup, appetizer and an entree.

Blue Elephant

Blue Elephant has been on the border between Roger's Park and Edgewater for about a year (1235 W. Devon Ave). As of late Indie Cafe has been getting lots of props. They both blend Thai with other Asian foods.

I'll confess I am a Thai Pastry fan that has never been to Arun's. I will have to go back to confirm this but I found Blue Elephant's panang better than any I've had in a long time and I eat panang often. It was creamy but not too creamy, spicy but not too spicy, sweet but not too sweet... The ingredients were fresh and not overcooked.