Siam Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Billings

I only have one complaint: no wait, I don't. Siam is my favorite restaurant, period. I've been eating here with my parents since I was in a high chair. Don't mistake me though; it isn't the nostalgia that makes Siam awesome — it's the food!

Okay, so I've never been to Thailand. I have no idea what "authentic" is. BUT, I've eaten Thai food up and down the West Coast, and I tell you: Siam is THE BEST.

As a local die-hard, I'll give you my ABC's of why Siam Thai is my favorite restaurant, followed by three tips to help you get the most out of your dinning experience.

The ABC's of Siam Thai's Supremacy:

A) FLAVOR: It is wizardry what these folks do.Trust me, I've tried cooking all the top-rated Thai recipes you'll find online — and I'm no slouch in the kitchen either. Yet I can't even get within the same dimension as Siam. Caterpillar to butterfly.

B) CONSISTENCY: Did I mention I've been eating here since I first grew teeth? Yeah, there are no off-days at Siam. I'm wracking my brains trying to remember a time when they messed up my order or delivered sub-optimal cuisine... but no. It's always been prime.

C) REHEATABILLITY: Again, I'm crediting this to magical powers, but, in my experience, every hot dish on the menu can be chilled and reheated within a few days without noticeably diminishing the quality. Contrast this to (for example) many Mexican dishes, which require fresh ingredients (lettuce, olive, tomato, sour cream) to be added immediately before serving... That's why burritos don’t make good leftovers.

Tips # 1-3 from a Local Die-Hard:

#1) ORDER A VARIETY. If you walk in and order one entree at Siam, you are cheating yourself. Take your family. Get at least FIVE different things to share. Leftovers are great! (see Reason C). Here are my favorite things to order at Siam, IN order, and in the words I use to order them, because at this point I don't look at the menu often: Phad Thai (w/ tofu & extra sauce see Tip#2), 2. Drunken Noodles (w/beef & extra spicy (CAUTION this is spicy, get it?)), 3. Basil Beef, 4. Massaman Curry, 5. Summer Rolls (w/tofu or shrimp), 6. Tom Kha Kai soup, 7. Poh Tak soup.

#2) ORDER the Phad Thai w/ EXTRA SAUCE. This is THE ubiquitous superhero-home-run-slam-dunk-touchdown at Siam. You choose the meat or tofu. BUT if you've read this far in the review, take my advice now and order EXTRA sauce. It doesn't come on the side; the sauce is cooked right into the noodle mixture. And it is heavenly.

#3) TAKE IT OUT. I've probably eaten in the dining-room at Siam once for every fifty times I've ordered takeout. Kid you not. I've spent $5k there if I've spent a penny. That lady with the thick accent who takes your order on the phone? Well, that's the owner. And yes, she knows exactly what you mean, even if you're not quite sure what she means (See point B). I have never shown up to pick-up my dinner when they didn't have it ready; that said, don't expect them to have your food out sooner than they project, because that's just not fair.

(Bonus Tip!) If you're dining with someone who, let's say, would rather be at Pizza Hut or Burger King... Get them the Lemon Chicken (#21). It's the most boring, western-hemisphere thing you'll find at Siam. But it's still fantastic!

Lastly, TIP. Please tip. This is my favorite restaurant, I gain nothing from writing this review except, perhaps, to help further their business beyond what my mere patronage can provide. And, if you have a great experience (which you will, provided you have human lips and tongue and teeth), drop them...

I have lived in Billings for 6 years. Having visited Siam Thai numerous times with friends and family I cherish the memories. Great food, great service, congenial surroundings. It is a while since I visited this restaurant due to Covid-19 as well as personal circumstances. Having moved into a new house in the West End, I was excited to see that Siam Thai delivered. As food items were requested over the phone, the limitations of typical Thai dishes such as Pork and Eggplant and Salmon or Scallop Curry as well as brown rice caused much frustration. Not only that, but the person on the other end of the phone was curt, uncooperative and extremely unwilling to move an inch on any requests. Brown rice - NO! Salmon Curry - NO! Pork and Eggplant- NO! Scallop Curry - NO! I guess was hungry as I didn't put the phone down at this point. Determined to find something to satisfy requirements I ordered Beef Curry even though all I craved was fish, but when the question "what kind of fish?" was presented the response was so vague, it was not worth the risk. The other dish chosen was duck rather than pork as pork was not a menu item (really?). After the long arduous frustrating order request was complete it was time to anticipate these chosen dishes from past thai food experiences.

When I finally tucked in - YUK!

The duck was not breast meat and the beef was dog food quality- so I gave it to our dog. The rice was WHITE as if brown rice is an impossible request. I asked for hot spice level and am convinced the cooks took the contents of the chili powder container and turned it upside down over both dishes before packing them. The following experience is LITERAL: the entire of my mouth and the entire of my tongue were on raging fire; I tried red wine, milk, coconut cream - none of which toned down the most unpleasant experience occurring orally. I was fuming! (Excuse the pun) It was Friday night, dinner treat night following the work week and it was terrible having to go through this at the beginning of the weekend.

In conclusion, the phone conversation was hard slog: the effort to understand the rude uncaring person taking the order; the super-limited menu reminiscent of my visit to Czechslovakia during the Communist era. Admittedly, I became quite frustrated at the situation as my level of patience diminished fast. Yet that is no justification for the culinary staff to fully coat a customer's food in hot pepper powder.

It is so sad that this was my experience after many fond memories of the place. I will endeavor to attempt the eat-in experience to find out if this restaurant has seriously gone rapidly downhill over these years. I may try a chicken dish if it is white meat but no more scraggly, chewy duck or beef for me, thank you very much. Perhaps I will bring my own brown rice.

As a restaurant member you are willing to serve, to forget that is a big mistake. ...

The review and the local food critics said it was the Best Thai food of 2015, and so I went with some hope. And that's all it was, just hope.

While waiting for our food, I looked over to other tables to see what people ordered. Just seeing how their noodles looked told me this was westernize Thai food. In other words, these locals don't know they're getting something far from authentic thai.

Our food came. We ordered cashew chicken for the kids and panaeng curry for us. Both dishes looked good and the portions were pleasantly family size. The price was about $12 a dish. This is pricey although not outrageous.

Now the taste test...cashew chicken was good enough to order again. It had a good taste and again the portion allowed all of us to share. The chicken pieces were large and cut like how I've had it in Thailand. There were also plenty of cashews unlike other places that put a few so they claim it's a cashew dish. The dish was a bit runny but again the taste was good and the sauce went well over the rice.

The panaeng curry is still the illusive dish of all the Thai dishes I've ever ordered. Unfortunately this place didn't prove me wrong even though the lady was clearly thai. She even looks and acts like my mom - both unapologetically brash.

Though the menu described the curry as thick, it was not. It lacked punch; bland for the Asian tongue bit perhaps good enough for the small town American tongues. The chicken pieces were large and they weren't shy with them.

Here's the reason why I think the owner doesn’t care that it's not Siam thia food quality which the name claims to be....the rice! No respectable thai restaurant would serve rice that is a bit dry and looks nothing like jasmine rice. Many Americans I've met do not like rice precisely because of this...they aren't eating really good quality rice. They're never had what rice should look and taste like. So sad.

Overall, go for it if you're in the middle of nowhere like this place finds itself. You won't be disappointed but you won't be raving...