With a spicy-hot taste that gets behind your nose and stays
there long after the meal, curry is not for everyone.
With a spicy-hot taste that gets behind your nose and stays there long after the meal, curry is not for everyone. But if you revel in that dish’s fiery flavor – and even if you don’t – Siam Thai Restaurant in Morgan Hill serves high-quality, reasonably priced Thai food in an intimate and charming setting.
A year ago, the restaurant was known as the House of Siam. That changed when current owner Sean Theravithayangkura – a mouthful he shortened to Thera – and his wife, Wanna, took over last December. Since then, they’ve switched up the restaurant’s menu, keeping many House of Siam favorites and also adding some new items. They’ve also changed the decor, making the atmosphere feel less formal and more cozy than its predecessor.
Although my usual weeknight routine is to go home after work and make dinner, I recently did a rare thing, venturing out of Gilroy to dine all by my lonesome at Siam. I’m a fan of Thai food, but it had been months since I had eaten any. Looking forward to some solitude and downtime, I grabbed a book and headed to downtown Morgan Hill.
Siam is located at 17120 Monterey Road in a small structure that looks like it could be a house in the countryside. The exterior is decorated with white icicle lights and a neon “open” sign that hangs above the door.
A bell’s light jingle welcomes diners upon entering, and in keeping with the theme of the restaurant’s outside, the interior feels like an old friend’s home. The dining room is small, accommodating only about eight tables, but it doesn’t feel cramped. A fireplace is built into the north wall, and on either side are bookshelves lined with Thailand-related trinkets, pictures, and books, magazines, and travel guides detailing the country. A few more pictures adorn the light-brown walls, but the decor feels simple and elegant.
I first perused the appetizer menu and wine list. Satay chicken ($7.95), a staple in most Thai restaurants, sounded yummy – chicken breasts on skewers that had been marinated in coconut milk with a hint of curry, grilled and served with peanut sauce and cucumber salad. Other appetizers included vegetarian spring rolls ($6.95), stuffed chicken wings ($7.95) and seafood dumplings ($8.95).
The wine list was small but informative, offering descriptions for each wine that aimed to help guide a novice such as myself. Several offerings from South Valley vineyards were featured, including Guglielmo Winery in Morgan Hill and Leal Vineyards in Hollister. I chose Leal’s “threesome” – a marriage of syrah, grenache and mourvedre. It was wonderful, with an intense red fruit flavor and a slight spice.
For an appetizer, I decided on the sweet potatoes ($6.95), which were chunks of the orange tubular veggie deep-fried in sesame seeds and a house-made batter mix, served with a sweet sauce that was topped with ground peanuts. The sweet potato slices arrived on a medium-sized plate, and despite my best intention to not devour every single one, I did. They were piping hot and reminded me of thick-cut french fries – made with sweet potatoes rather than regular potatoes, of course – and the batter, I discovered, included coconut, adding a tropical touch. The peanut sauce was also sweet and paired well with the wedges.
The appetizer was filling, and during a well-deserved break, I looked over the dinner menu. Vegetarians and meat-eaters would both be satisfied at Siam. Salads included a green salad ($6.95) – which included fresh green vegetables topped with fried tofu and served with a peanut-based dressing – and the beef salad ($8.95), consisting of charbroiled beef with cucumbers, onions, fresh mint leaves and roasted rice powder, seasoned with fresh lime juice and a light garlic dressing. On the soup list were several sweet-and-sour variations that included chicken, shrimp, seafood or a seafood mix.
The menu’s pricing is consistent. All beef, pork and chicken curry dishes were $9.95, as were all chicken, pork and beef dishes. Seafood dishes were between $11.95 and $12.95. The chef’s suggestions were a little pricier – between $11.95 and $14.95 – but their interesting-sounding menu descriptions made the extra couple of bucks seem worth it. Roasted duck curry, for example, consisted of roasted duck soaked in red curry with coconut milk, pepper, pineapple and Thai basil leaves.
The menu was divided according to dishes that contained chicken, pork or beef, and each section seemed to parallel the others. Angry chicken, angry beef and angry pork all appeared, for example, meaning the meat was sauteed with garlic, mushroom, onion, bell pepper, a house special sauce and some Thai chilies for an extra kick.
There was also an entire section for vegetarians, which is where my eyes were drawn to. A couple of dishes offered vegetables mixed with tofu and different kinds of sauce, cooked in varying methods. Being a curry person, I chose the vegetarian green curry ($8.95) – blocks of tofu mixed with a medley of vegetables, all soaked in green curry. My friendly, cheerful waitress asked if I preferred mild, medium or hot. My palate is pretty wussy when it comes to spicy food but I like it anyway, so I chose medium.
As I waited for my food, I surveyed the dining room. The only other diners were a party of four who were seated a couple of tables away from me. Because of the restaurant’s small floor space, I could hear every word they were saying (they were talking business). I can imagine the noise level is high on nights when the dining room is full, and conversely, on empty nights it would be difficult to speak in anything but hushed tones unless you wanted the entire room knowing your conversation.
The waitress brought my food in a timely manner, and it looked and smelled delicious. I dug right in, feeling the sensation of heat from the curry fill my mouth. The vegetables – baby corn, specially cut carrots, eggplant, cucumbers, and red and green peppers – tasted fresh and crisp, and the squares of tofu were silky and had a nice consistency.
The curry was smooth, flawless and, I must add, an attractive shade of pale green. It was spicy, all right – but I gladly finished the plate’s contents with watered eyes. Granted, I likely would have unabashedly cried had I ordered the spiciest version. I could have used more water about halfway through the meal, but my glass stood empty until I made eye contact with the waitress. Maybe my red face gave me away.
High-quality Thai food isn’t too common around the South Valley. But Siam Thai Restaurant makes it available at fair prices in a fine setting with kind service.
Duncan Hines is a staff writer at South Valley Newspapers. She digs weird food and is game for trying – almost – anything. Staff writer Nathan Mixter contributed to this story.
