Siam | Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

I moved to Pittsburgh in 2016 and started working downtown. I've ordered hundreds of times in the 7 years I've lived here, because it's the best Thai place I've had, for one particular reason: spice

I've eaten from so many Thai restaurants since I got here (that probably includes the one you're thinking of right now), and most places have a pretty mild "10", and even then the spice is just fine. At Siam Thai I usually hover around a 7 or an 8, and that's much hotter than most places top out at. But it's not just heat, it adds a depth to the flavor as well. I have no clue what they do differently, but it works big time.

They also tend to be very consistent, but I can tell when someone is filling in for the main cook. There was recently a 3 month span of subpar Siam Thai. Now keep in mind, Siam Thai off its game is still better than 90% of the Thai restaurants out there. But tonight they delivered one of the best meals I've had in a while. Everything was cooked so well, and the spice was HOT. Definitely a level or two higher than expected, but me and my wife were happy to enjoy the burn. Side note: Thai food is great if you're sensitive to gluten.

They're a small place of Smithfield downtown, and sometimes only a single person will be running it, and they're in the back cooking. They did indoor seating before the pandemic, but only pickup now. I'm also assuming they're family run, because sometimes they'll close for weeks/a month with a note left on the door.

TL;DR This is my favorite Thai in Pittsburgh, it's a small local business, and you should definitely eat here. And probably choose a spice level a little lower than you...

An incredible introduction to Thai food for me. While I have had food from a trendy, reservation based restaurant that provided Thai food in the past, this felt like a far more culturally rich and approachable experience. And one that knocked the ball out of the park!

I got the Pad Kee Mow, Green Curry, and Crab Rangoon. For the spice level options on both, I went the middle of the road at 5/10.

The Crab Rangoon did not have such an option, as it came with a sweet sauce (unexpected), but it was probably among the best I'd ever had. Really! Get the Crab Rangoon here, even if you don't think you like it! This stuff was gold.

The Pad Kee Mow at spice 5/10 was excellent. I'm not a spicy food daredevil, but I can handle some spice. This had my face watering, but it was a very comfortable heat. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this, and I'm sure the Pad Thai is just as good as a more conventional name.

The Green Curry at 5/10 spice was a tougher beast to tackle. While hot, it was defeating me handily. It was delicious, but I didn't end up finishing it until the next day, when I pulled it out of the fridge. It was still delicious, but it was still fighting me on the way down. Pretty hot, but still delicious.

All in all, I hope to order again soon, even though I'm trying to spread out my food options and try lots of different places. Still, this one left a very positive,...

Someone needs to take control over spicy levels at this restaurant!! You can’t give people level 10 when they order level 1! This is dangerous! I wasn’t able to eat the food I ordered through Seamless (Grubhub) because if I did I’d end up in an emergency room with serious pancreatitis attack. Guess who’d be carrying a law suit in that case? This is no joke and their management needs to instruct the staff on that matter! This is the closest Thai restaurant to me so it’d be convenient to get my dinners from here but if I pay my $50 for something I have to throw away then no thanks! I’d strongly recommend the owner to investigate and take action! Order for Tatiana 10/19/23 Other than Chicken Curry and Beef garlic Pepper that went straight to the garbage bin Tom Yum and Thai Iced...