PlanJam!From your screen to the scene

Chicago’s oldest Thai restaurant, Siam Café cooks up a wide-ranging menu of traditional Thai dishes. If you want to treat a date to some spicy, old-school Thai food, bring them here.

You can start a meal with pork or chicken sate in peanut sauce or the fresh, spicy spring rolls with cucumber, bean sprouts and egg. Salads include the traditional Papaya Salad with your choice of salted shrimp or crab. The Thai iced tea and Thai iced coffee are sweet but not cloying, and arrive in round ceramic cups. All of the rice and noodle dishes and entrees cost less than $10 and portions give you enough for two meals. If your date likes to share, you can try several dishes. The cook will accommodate your request for more or less spice. Many wait staff totally ignore or disbelieve my request for spicy food, but Siam Café understood.

The Sweet and Sour Chicken came with large slices of pineapple, tomato, green pepper and onion in a tangy brown sauce, sweet but not too sweet. I really enjoyed the wide rice noodles and fresh basil in my Pad Kee Maow, which I ordered hot with tofu. The dish had plenty of red peppers and crisp seasoned tofu. If your date likes seafood, they can enjoy many shrimp dishes like Kao Pad Kra Paow (with holy basil and jalapenos) and Kao Nam Mun Hoi (with mushrooms, green onions and oyster sauce) and cuttlefish, mussels and sometimes red snapper and pomfret. Siam Café is the first Chicago Thai restaurant I’ve found that serves my favorite soup, the spicy pink Yen Ta Fo with shrimp, wide rice noodles and vegetables. Vegetarians can easily get tofu or vegetables only in most dishes. If you have a weekday off, try the $6.50 lunch buffet from 11:30am until 2:00pm.

The unassuming Edgewater storefront houses a quiet dining room decorated with wooden statues and plants. Many customers order take-out, but I prefer the cool, quiet dining room. Service is polite and you are never rushed to finish a meal. You have plenty of time to savor your appetizer, enjoy your main course and sip Thai iced tea or Thai iced coffee. The large comfortable booths invite you to sit and converse. When I visited, the only noise was from a family watching Thai TV in the back of the dining room, which added to the welcoming atmosphere.

There are no desserts or alcohol on the menu, but neither is really necessary here considering the large portions and spice. If you or your date live Devon (north) Western (west) Lake Shore Drive (east) and Diversey (south), you can order take-out. Otherwise, Siam Café is well worth the trip for a savory meal in a mellow setting.