Siam Garden Thai — Restaurant in Saint Petersburg

I am sure that in Siam Garden's heyday, the gardens would have looked awesome. Now neglected and having to pass the "gardens" to the entrance certainly not a good sign for new guests with a name like Siam Gardens. Having eaten there three times raving about their brown sauce on the Crispy Duck, I brought along a critical chef with me. Of course, his first comment was, "If it looks this bad outside, imagine what the kitchen looks like!" I knew to take him into the larger dining room instead of the smaller DR having with greater visual appeal.

Food: When a restaurant is stingy with food, I will lower the rating by one point. Usually in Thai restaurants, an Orchid bloom is placed atop each Thai dish, not here.. Nor do they serve the traditional soup and spring rolls with lunches. They are also the only Thai restaurant I've been to that still doesn't offer the Spice Tray in the beautiful Thai ceramic dishes. Having had stopped the spice tray from Covid. Instead, the server brought to the table THREE tiny plastic to go containers per person. Missing the imperative chopped birds eye chilis in fish sauce of which EVERY Thai restaurant that I have reviewed in the past 3 yrs that have not brought back the ceramic dishes filled with FOUR types of hot chilis to include red pepper flakes, chili sauce, chrushed peppers and Birds eye chilis. NOT Three types of chilis and NEVER American pickled sliced Jalepenos that Siam Garden serves. STINGY!

The seafood sampler platter is a must! Ample for two guests. The fried shrimp and squid wasn't greasy at all. The curry puffs included in the platter are better than most Thai restaurants excluding the Orchid.

The Papaya Salad was average, but I appreciated using Hericot Verts instead of American green beans. No Thai basil or cilantro in the salad and no orchid.

The crispy duck was served with the best brown sauce I've had in Tpa Bay. Fresh ginger and lemongrass in the sauce makes for a fresh, lively sauce compared to the Black pepper or Garlic sauces. The sliced Duck breast is served atop a generous mixture of vegetables. Zucchini, carrots, onions, and cabbage, more vegetables than most Thai restaurants.

The crispy duck is the star. However, that cutely cut bunny eared lemon served on the lip of the ice tea glass may beg to differ who's...

If you read my reviews, you’ll see I always try to give 5 stars when possible. Even if there are occasional mistakes from the server, cook, or staff, I believe you can still have a great overall experience. That said, my Thai wife kept encouraging me to visit this restaurant because of its long-standing reputation in Tampa Bay and its promise of authentic Thai cuisine.

When we arrived, it wasn’t busy, but the service was noticeably slow. It took a while for someone to take our order, and our server didn’t check in as often as she should have. However, another staff member did drop off our food and asked if we needed anything in passing—nice teamwork on her part.

I ordered the Tom Kha Chicken soup, which unfortunately didn’t live up to my expectations. The coconut milk flavor was overpowering, and it lacked the balance of sweetness and tang that I’ve enjoyed at over 20 other Thai restaurants. They were out of chicken satay, but the pork satay was excellent—especially with the cucumber sauce. The peanut sauce, however, was thin and watery.

My wife and our guest had duck entrées, which were both delicious. I ordered the whole snapper for $37. While the presentation was beautiful and the fish itself was the largest I’ve ever been served at a restaurant, the basil sauce was bland and in short supply.

I do want to compliment the cleanliness of the kitchen staff—everyone wore hairnets and masks, which I appreciated. The ambiance was pleasant as well.

Would we return? Yes—we believe everyone deserves a second chance, and I’d love to update this to a 5-star review in the future. Hopefully, the next visit will be a better reflection of the...

Tonight was our 3rd time eating here. 2nd time dining in (we did take out once also) We Would always drive past this little treasure, and we wish we'd stopped here sooner! Now it's quickly becoming our favorite spot.

Anything we've ordered here has not only been fresh and flavorful, but always quite consistent and well made.

The Tom Yum soup is delicious! The spring rolls are perfection as well, and we absolutely love the Thai Tea! The Tea is not way too sweet like some others, though not too bitter. The Cashew Chicken is wonderful, as well. (I'd suggest also the Satay and Thai soup)

One thing I personally find to be absolutely amazing about this place is how charming and cozy the restaurant is, and how sweet and warm the staff seems to be; Our increadibly kind, wonderful waitress remembered us from previous visits (both dining in and what we picked up for take out), and even remembered what we had ordered those times! She even took time talking to our 7yr old each visit. Tonight especially she engaged in wonderful conversation with our 7yr old. Not just her, but most everyone seemed happy to talk with our kiddo, and even delighted our 7yr old by recognizing and asking about her BTS toy and book she'd brought with her (Very exciting for our little one because she was thrilled to talk about it).

All in all, don't be like us and drive past this little gem. Stop and eat! It's...