Lotus of Siam - Sahara Ave.
Thai restaurant · Southridge ·
Northern Thai cuisine, family recipes, vast wine list, reservations essential
Northern Thai cuisine, family recipes, vast wine list, reservations essential
"After being closed since a 2017 roof collapse and a couple of spotty reopenings, I report that the original Lotus of Siam on West Sahara — the location that earned James Beard recognition and attention from Anthony Bourdain — is slated to reopen before year’s end with a significantly larger footprint, a new bar, new decor, and the northern Thai cuisine of chef Saipin Chutima that made the restaurant a classic; Penny Chutima and the family have also opened other locations while fans have clamored for the original to return." - Janna Karel
"Reopening in its original Sahara Avenue home, Lotus of Siam will occupy a much larger footprint—expanded from 11,900 to 19,000 square feet after the owners bought adjacent buildings—and will include a new, bigger bar, higher ceilings, an expanded dining room (shifting some seating to the left), and a refreshed private room that nods to the Chutima family’s history with framed photos of the previous king and queen of Thailand and family portraits dating back to the 1800s; the restaurant will keep its green color scheme while adding traditional Thai decorative touches seen at the Flamingo location. The Sahara restaurant, which closed in 2017 after a roof collapse and has had only spotty reopenings in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 and staffing issues, has long been the nostalgic favorite for locals even as Lotus launched locations on Flamingo Road and inside Red Rock Resort, and it has earned recognition from the James Beard Foundation and attention from the late Anthony Bourdain. The expanded space also allows room for the restaurant’s roughly 5,500-bottle wine collection—focused on Gewurztraminers and Rieslings to pair with the restaurant’s garlic prawns and Issan sausage—and the menu will continue to showcase signature dishes like bright orange kaho soi with roasted duck, pad prik king in spicy chili paste with bell peppers, and slow-cooked short ribs with garlic pepper sauce. Chutima says the Sahara location is likely to reopen before the end of the year, and as John Curtas puts it, “In no other Thai restaurant in town can you find the variety and freshness and vivid flavors put forth by the kitchen on a daily basis.”" - Janna Karel
"Opened by the Chutima family in 1999 on East Sahara Avenue, the original Lotus has grown from that single location into multiple sites while weathering expansions, pandemic shutdowns, and temporary closures; it is currently closed for renovations but plans to reopen within the next couple of months." - Janna Karel
"For 20 years now, the Spring Mountain corridor north of the Las Vegas Strip has been a hotbed of hot pots—and every other Asian dish under the desert sun. When celebs such as Anthony Bourdain and Penn Jillette raved about the real-deal northern Thai cuisine at Lotus of Siam, chowhounds followed. Tell your friends you're finally making the trip out to the strip mall and they'll tell you to avoid the items you can order from the takeout joint at home: no pad thai, no chicken satay. They're right. Dive into the last page of the menu, the one about dishes from Northern Thailand, then entrust your tastebuds to the award-winning hands of Chef Saipin Chutima and try her larb or the jackfruit curry, anything with ground pork sausage, the khao soi (egg noodles and meat in a coconut curry sauce), the nam prik ong (a chunky mix of pork, tomato, and red chili, served with lettuce and raw vegetables), or the whole fish with chilis. The food is spicy, yes, and the afterburn is serious, but the depth of flavor is sublime enough to make you weep with regret the next time you have to call your local takeout place for delivery."
"For 20 years now, the Spring Mountain corridor north of the Las Vegas Strip has been a hotbed of hot pots—and every other Asian dish under the desert sun. When celebs such as Anthony Bourdain and Penn Jillette raved about the real-deal northern Thai cuisine at Lotus of Siam, chowhounds followed. Tell your friends you're finally making the trip out to the strip mall and they'll tell you to avoid the items you can order from the takeout joint at home: no pad thai, no chicken satay. They're right. Dive into the last page of the menu, the one about dishes from Northern Thailand, then entrust your tastebuds to the award-winning hands of Chef Saipin Chutima and try her larb or the jackfruit curry, anything with ground pork sausage, the khao soi (egg noodles and meat in a coconut curry sauce), the nam prik ong (a chunky mix of pork, tomato, and red chili, served with lettuce and raw vegetables), or the whole fish with chilis. The food is spicy, yes, and the afterburn is serious, but the depth of flavor is sublime enough to make you weep with regret the next time you have to call your local takeout place for delivery."