House of Siam

Stopped by today, 2-​JUL-​2014, and House of Siam is out of business. I talked to a security guard and he said it closed 2 days ago!

I went here a couple of weeks ago with my mom for dinner. We ordered the Yellow Curry and Tom-​Yum soup, both were super awesome and delicious! The atmosphere of the place was very warm and comforting and the decorations were beautiful. But when my mother went to go to the bathroom she saw into the kitchen (apparently it was right next to the bathroom and they left the door open for anyone to see in) and she said that it was incredibly dirty and unkempt. While I will probably come to this restuarant again, becuase the Yellow Curry was just to damn yummy, my mother will not.

I’ve eaten here a handful of times, and really loved their take on my favorite dish, pra ram long song, but when I went a couple of weeks ago with friends from out of town, the service was slow and the air conditioning nonexistent, which made for an unpleasant meal. Prices were also considerably higher than previous visits.
Tonight we ordered delivery (with a Waiters on Wheels gift certificate), and while the peanut sauce dish is ok, if light on sauce (and my husband seems to like the pad see ewe alright), the tom kha gai is the worst I’ve ever had, watery and bland. Not even adding some extra coconut milk from my cupboard could save it.
Won’t be going out of my way for this place again, unless I really have a craving for their overpriced but tasty pra ram long song.

Oh man, I have to agree with others on the slow and rude service. Being slow I can somewhat forgive as it was a Sunday afternoon and busy, but the stank-​ass attitudes from all the waitresses (not just one or two, but all we encountered!) were totally uncalled for when we had been polite and patient. It seems the mere act of coming in to purchase food at their restaurant was so off-​putting to them.
The food was decent, but the unhelpful/​snobby attitudes really put us off. :(

The worst Thai food I have ever had. The place was filthy and one of the workers was cutting vegetables on top of the garbage can. Many pairs of dirty shoes were in plain view of the dining area. Should have known not to eat there when I saw the filthy carpet and the lights in the traditional dining area were covered with dust and cobwebs. They get one star only because you have to. They don’t deserve any stars. The health department should check this place out. Warning if you are from out of town do not go to this dive.

The vegetable spring rolls to me were better than the traditional pad Thai they serve. Crispy fresh and obvious a staple for this place. I too had prawns with the clear noodles and green onions as it’s one of my favorite Thai dishes I can’t refuse anywhere I go for Thai food. It was really good and flavorful and yes, I would compare it to Krung Thai off Winchester in quality for this dish. It’s in a good spot for waling anywhere you need downtown and the public parking a few hundred yards away was easy to access and user friendly. I will definitely go back here and try some chicken dishes and other sauces. I do recommend House of Siam.

Not cheap, but the atmosphere makes it worth it. Out of all the Thai restaurants I’ve ever been to, House of Siam has the best ambiance by far. Authentic decorations and quiet traditional music make it a great place to eat with a friend or a date.
My friend and I had a light meal, sharing a papaya salad and medium tom ka talay soup. The papaya salad was fabulous, with a perfect fish sauce dressing over the combination of crunchy shredded papaya, fresh tomato, and salty dried shrimp. The tom ka kalay was generous with mushrooms and seafood in a strong coconut-​based broth; also very tasty. We got a side of sticky rice as well, and it came very cutely presented in a little woven basket with a lid. Our total came to about $ 25 for the two of us, but these were just appetizers. A curry dish is about $ 14.
When you go, definitely try to sit in the area where you take off your shoes and sit on mats at low tables. The floor is cut out for your legs, and it’s such a comfortable place to enjoy the atmosphere and your meal! It’s what makes House of Siam my friend’s favorite Thai restaurant.

I did not like the service here. I felt like I always had to hunt down the waiter/​waitress. When I first heard about this place, I had my heart set on getting the tables where you take off your shoes and sit on the floor. It seemed like the person in the front didn’t understand English and just sat us down elsewhere.
Besides my disappointment, when it came to the food:
The tom yum soup here is amazing! They gave a decent proportion for the medium sized bowl.
The Massaman lamb curry here was great as well. The lamb was very tender. It’s a bit on the expensive side but I would recommend trying.
The spicy beef here wasn’t so good, it felt like there was an overwhelming spicy flavor and the beef had no flavor at all. Don’t get me wrong, I love spicy food too! But unfortunately, it was a bit disappointing since it just felt like I was biting into a whole chili pepper as I was consuming this entrée.
I wanted to try out the exotic bomba and it was okay. It was overwhelmingly sweet.
The thai tea here is overwhelmingly sweet too.
Other than that, this place is nice to try at least once. Would recommend for a date. :)

The food here is good. The wait is not.
Service is… mediocre. Our waitresses are always polite and very helpful, though. However, it’s such a hassle waving them down. They all seem so busy, and some do not even speak English so they have to wave down another waitress who does. It’s all a big effort and there should be a better system, such as assigning a certain waitress to a section.
They have four levels of spice here: mild, medium, hot and Thai hot. The last time I came, I got «hot» pad see ew. I was surprised to see that they just put a handful of chili flakes on top of my dish. It’s the same red chili flakes that are in the containers on each table. I mean, I could’ve done that myself. It makes me wonder what medium is… a little bit of chili flakes?
None of my coworkers complained their food was not good. Looking around my table, I saw a lot of eggplant combo, panang curry, and brown rice! A Thai restaurant that serves brown rice? Awesome. Only downside is they ran out of brown rice and it was only lunch time. I mean, how does a restaurant run out of brown rice? You would think they’d purchase it in bulk and just cook it when it seems low.
I’ve been here twice with my coworkers and both times, our lunch were about 2 hours long. I’m not sure what’s happening in the kitchen, but it is so time consuming eating here! The last time I came with a party of 14, we waited about an hour to get our food and the restaurant was only ¹⁄₃ full. Robert Irvine would be pissed if he had to wait even 20 minutes. Considering the size of the restaurant, I would assume they’d be used to cooking for multiple patrons. I hope the kitchen was slow due to a cook who took the day off. About 45 minutes in, my coworker had to go back to work for a conference call and the food was not even out until ~15 minutes after he left and lo and behold, his dish was first out of the kitchen!
ps. I spy two huge Batman and Robin figurines.

I have not been back to this place since moving away from downtown, but I remember it being easy to order and get a quick meal.
Sometimes the waitress will give you medium spicy when you say no spicy, but in the end you’ll get a dessert on the house and a wink.
My favorite things off the menu would be: Beef larb; Beef yellow curry no onions; roti; red chimay beer.

Heavier dishes, darker sauces (even for the non-​spicy dishes), and chewier meat than at Sa By Thai down the street. Still pretty good.

When you’re Filipino and it’s your birthday you HAVE to treat your family to lunch or dinner. House of Siam was the perfect place to celebrate my birthday with my fambam. The food is excellent, price is reasonable, and the décor is very Thai (except the huge Batman and Robin toys, what the heck is that all about?!?). My family must’ve loved the place, they kept taking pictures of every corner of the restaurant like tourists. Some of them were uncomfortable sitting low and we were crunched up, but I didn’t mind it one bit. We ordered so many different dishes that not every one of them made from one end of the giant table to the other. Maybe we made the mistake of ordering a very varied menu instead of ordering 3 each of 4 dishes. I think some in our party got butt hurt because they didn’t get to try each of the 12 different dishes we ordered.
Now on to the food. I have to give the chef/​cook a standing ovation. All the meats were tender, each plate had the robust flavor of Thai goodness, and they didn’t skimp on anything:
1. TOM KA TALAY — Seafood in coconut milk soup. There were plenty of fresh prawns, calamari, scallops, and mussels. 5 STARS
2. TOM YUM GAI — Hot and sour chicken soup. 4 STARS
3. CHICKEN SATAY — Chicken in coconut milk. I like to dip mine in the sweet cucumber sauce more than the peanut sauce. 5 STARS
4. PED YANG — Roast duck with sauteed spinach. 4 STARS
5. TITANIC EGGPLANT — Japanese eggplant sauteed with lots of good stuff! Surprisingly one of my top favorite dishes of the night. 5 STARS
6. PLA RAD PRIG — Pompano fish with sweet and sour sauce. 4 STARS
7. SHRIMP PAD THAI — Fried thin rice noodles topped with sweet sauce. 4 STARS
8. PAD SEE EWE — Pan fried thick rice noodles. I didn’t get to try this so I can’t rate it. I’m sure it was good, it was gone so fast! Maybe someone took a big ass portion.
9. MUSSAMAN LAMB CURRY — Lamb in coconut with potatoes. 5 STARS
10. MANGO AND COCONUT STICKY RICE — Mangoes were thinly cut and the sticky rice was too sweet for me. 3 STARS
11. FRIED BANANAS WITH ICE CREAM — Not bad, not great. It’s just like any fried bananas with ice cream. 3 STARS
12. EXOTIC BOMBA — Mango, passion fruit, and raspberry sorbet covered in white chocolate. 4 STARS
Unfortunately, I can’t give the same props to their service. I mean, c’mon, WHY WOULD YOU HAVE AN INEXPERIENCED HIGH SCHOOL KID SERVE A PARTY OF 20 ON A FRIDAY NIGHT!!! *face palm*. Okay, maybe he wasn’t a teenager but he was young and inexperienced for sure. He was slow and he needed help. There was one waitress who helped him serve food but she would dump each plate at the edge of the table as if she was angry. It’s a freakin’ long table, why can’t you spread the food so people can see what’s being served!!! We even asked them to spread the dishes around the table but most of them were served in the same spot. No wonder there are so many low reviews about the lame service here! But the food is so gooooood, I can’t help but give them 4 stars.

I got a large Tom Ka Gai soup for carry out. Easy ordering and it was ready in 15 minutes. The price seemed a bit on the high side though. About $ 16 for soup and a cup of white rice? Ouch. The proof is in the pudding though and the soup was very good. I’ve heard the Pad Thai is good so I’ll be back to try that.

If you want to get a real Thailand experience, I would definitely come here. It has authentic décor and you can even sit on the matted floors. Don’t be discouraged by the exterior or the décor because it is a little dingy and looks a little dirty as well.
My friend and I had dinner here and we ordered the Pad Thai Noodle with seafood and the Panang Curry with Tofu. The Pad That Noodles were cooked perfectly, but the seafood was definitely overcooked and slightly rubbery. I was also surprised that we couldn’t find any peanuts on our plate either. I mean, it is a thai restaurant, isn’t that one of the ingredients that come on Thai cuisine? Maybe I am just being picky. Also the Panang Curry was a little bland. The curry itself was a little more watery than I would like. Panang curry is my favorite so I am extra picky about this dish. However the veggies and the tofu were cooked perfectly. They were just tender enough so that they did not get lost in the dish, but still added taste and texture.
Overall I would come back to grab a quick bite to eat because it is close to my house, but if I truly wanted some delicious Thai food, I probably wouldn’t think of this place.

LOVE the interior. So authentic. You can even sit on the floor.
Food was DELICIOUS and authentic. Mmmm… writing this review is making me hungry…=)

Food: 1.5÷3 Stars
Have been here quite a few times and I must say quality control tends to be an issue. Some days the soup lacks flavor and some days it’s Luke warm. One time the chicken was chewy and undercooked. Regardless, compared to other Thai restaurants, this place does a relatively good job of trying to expose you to authentic favors.
Service: ¹⁄₁ Stars
For the most part, the servers here are attentive.
Environment: ¹⁄₁ Stars
Thai style and regular style seating. The place is decorated beautifully and the bathrooms have bamboo benches.

2.75 stars, not quite A-​OK and I’m definitely not a fan anymore. I’ve been here several times for lunch only. Yesterday two coworkers and I went for lunch –we couldn’t get into to our first choice eatery and ended up at House of Siam because we could be seated right away. They’ve changed their lunch menu and have lots of $ 9.95 lunches that include a cup of soup, side salad and rice. A pretty good value for downtown SJ but it has seemed to go downhill a tad. Inside still has a very traditional Thai vibe and seating is comfortable, not too close together. There’s an area left of the front door that’s great for groups.
The soup was vegetable and didn’t have much flavor EXCEPT FOR PEPPER. I had the Pra Ram Long Song Chicken: pieces of chicken in a peanut sauce with sauteed spinach and lots of chopped garlic. Overall the portion size was very generous and the flavor was pretty good but the sauce was way too thin and soupy, not like any other pra ram I’ve had in other Thai restaurants. I absolutely did not like the rice. It was formed into a half dome on the plate and was way too mushy, or overcooked. It became soup when I mixed it with the thin peanut sauce. I wish more places offered brown rice…
Service was fine and we were seated almost immediately. The restaurant was not packed and there were lots of office groups (4 – 6 people) at most tables. The location and lunch prices are good and I may try again someday, but no promises.

Pad See Ew. Pretty basic, usually. From my understanding, the basic requirements are sweet soy, probably a little regular soy, big wide rice noodles, chicken, egg, and broccoli and a nice wok and some oil to fry it all in. Maybe some garlic if you’re fancy.
Thus, one day when my stomach wasn’t feeling great, I thought to myself «It can probably handle some Pad See Ew!» I was always intrigued by this place because it was right by the light rail station.
This Pad See Ew at House of Siam, however, seems to have suffered from the burnt out taste buds of a chef who smokes too much. (Evidenced also by the fact that one of the kitchen staff was outside smoking on the sidewalk afterward…) In addition to the basic parts, it was overloaded with bean paste, tons of white pepper… it was hard to get through.
The free soup that came with the lunch special was even worse. I should’ve known from the very dirty bowl that I shouldn’t eat it. Acrid tasting, goopy. Also way too much white pepper, salt, and probably some form of bullion or MSG. You can see that Katrina T. also agrees with me about the pad see ew and the soup– good to know I’m not crazy.
The only thing that was decent was the salad that came with the lunch plate.
So I went in feeling sick, left feeling not really any better.
While the lady who served me was very nice and the decorations are spiffy, I’d be very hesitant to go back.

A Roi!

My favorite Thai place downtown.
The food is tasty and quick. I love the flavors of Thai food and this place brings all the best out of their dishes. I love the soup in coconut milk with the seafood and mushrooms in it, I think it is called tom yum gai, but not absolutely sure about that. The ambiance is very pleasant and service is quick and friendly.
All in all I recommend this place for your Thai food fix while downtown San Jose.