Arawan Thai Bistro and Dessert — Restaurant in Winchester

Las Vegas is a special place. Tons of lights, loud music, beautiful people, and wonderful food. After spending $27 each on a red bull vodka the night before my group of 12 needed something special, to be reminded of what Vegas has to offer, off-strip. That's when we ventured to Arawan Thai, a small, unassuming Thai restaurant that punches way above its weight (also way cheaper than the strip!!!)

A few highlights from our marvelous meal:

The ahi tuna larb is an incredible spin on the traditional Thai larb salad, made with wonderfully fresh tuna, bright lime and cilantro, and fresh onions and mint. Definitely recommend.

All of the curry dishes were spectacular. Massaman curry was sweet and not too spicy and the fatty short rib was a great complement to the curry. The green curry was spicier, less sweet but full of veggies. The yellow curry was on point too -- not too spicy not too sweet.

The Arawan pad Thai was special -- sweet and savory, fish sauce, lime juice, tender pieces of chicken and shrimp. The egg lattice on top was a great addition as well.

OMG that Thai steak salad with fresh mint 😩 it was so fresh, zingy and bright. The dressing cut straight through the steak's fat with was perfectly medium rare. Get this please.

If you're wondering whether it's worth getting the whole that catfish...do yourself a favor and do it. The outside was insanely crispy but the inside was so soft and tender. None of the slimey taste that sometimes accompanies poorly cooked catfish. The empty plate shows that we really enjoyed that fish...

This was a lot of food! You'd expect us to have been done right? WRONG! We also got all of the desserts on the menu and honestly, that was a wonderful decision. The coconut ice cream, outstanding. The banana crepe was shockingly complex, gooey, soft, sweet, crispy and complemented by the Thai iced tea ice cream. The coconut rice and mango was not too sweet, and absolutely wonderful. The mango ice cream was absolutely the best sorbet that I've ever had. This is NOT an exaggeration.

After getting our check (and ceremoniously clapping for and celebrating the chefs), we got four FREE freshly made panna cotta with mango sauce. The pastry chef was literally just testing a new dessert, and it was absolutely perfect. The Panna Cotta was not too sweet and stood up well to the tart mango sauce.

If you are visiting Vegas, you MUST try this place. You will NOT be disappointed. Our trip involved laughs, hugs, smiles, tears, and lifelong memories. Don't settle for bad food, especially when places like Arawan exist to make incredible food experiences available, just off the Vegas strip....

A great restaurant not too far off the tourist beaten path of Vegas. We initially found this place on the internet and had to try it because of the great reviews and our taste for Asian food that isn't General Tso's chicken.

The location in a strip mall which may not seem too inviting on the outside, but once inside everyone is very welcoming and the restaurant is very well decorated on the inside.

The hardest part of the whole experience was deciding what to order. There are several choices, all of which sound great.

In our group of four we ordered the pad thai topped with prawns, the ribeye, the duck drunken noodles, and I order the unique sounding squid ink drunken noodles. We also ordered a shrimp roll (I think is what it's called) and a sort of ahi ceviche for appetizers.

Both appetizers had great flavor. They were not heavy and did not spoil our entrees.

My squid ink drunken noodles were fantastic. Being my first time having something flavored with squid ink, I was a little nervous, but rest assured it was the best meal I had on this trip. The ribeye was also very tasty. As our server described, it's a Thai recipe for those who just want meat and greens. The duck drunken noodles were also great. The prawn topped pad thai had the best presentation of the four entrees. My wife with a hospitality background along with the other two in my party were all scratching their heads at this one. The egg was formed into a sort of basket with a "weave" look covering the filling and such. We don't know how the chef did this, but it was very impressive.

The desserts were great as well. I am not typically a sweets person, but the mango sorbet dish with sweet rice served in a wine glass was really really good. Highly recommend.

All in all it was a great dinner, and we highly...

The most famous Thai restaurant in Las Vegas is Lotus of Siam. But in my humble opinion, a Thai restaurant in the same shopping center serves even better food in much more elegant surroundings. That restaurant is Arawan Thai Bistro. It's called Arawan Thai Bistro and Dessert because this Thai restaurant actually has its own pastry chef. Yep, you read that right. And this woman has skills. She even will bake wedding cakes! The eatery has a full dessert menu, Forget the yummy pad Thai. Bring on the affogato or the chocolate mouse cake! Each lunch meal comes with a freshly baked banana nut muffin. Some muffins are dense but this one is light and airy. The bananas can speak to you because the muffin is NOT sweet. 5 stars for muffins! The pad Thai comes in a mound of noodles. You get to pick the choice of meat. The shrimp on top of ours looked like lobster! A slice of fresh lime added a dash of tartness. The house specialty is drunken noodles. These are flat noodles the chef stir fries, then mixes with fresh Thai basil, green peppercorns, green onion and mushrooms. I always have mine with tofu. Chunky triangles of tofu artfully fried grace the edges of the noodles. The spice level is up to you. Pick a number from 1-10. You literally have your entree YOUR way. There are many vegan selections. The restaurant also has an extensive tea selection. Many were so exotic I had never head of them. It was fun to experiment. I sampled the glorious paradise blossoming tea. It is a green tea infused with peach and jasmine. The food is reasonable but not inexpensive...except for lunch. Soup, entree and the muffin can be had for $9.95....