nsxtasy wrote:Beware. I've found that Ruby of Siam is highly inconsistent. You can order the same dish on multiple visits, and one time it will be great, another time the spicy level is totally different (in either direction), yet another time the dish arrives with a puddle of grease on top. This is based on numerous visits to the Evanston location, only one or two to the one in Skokie.

This doesn't line up with my experience at all. I've found it remarkably consistent over the past 2 years or so -- probably about 2-dozen visits. Their food is delicious, authentic and carefully prepared to order. They also do a very nice job of accomodating requests on heat level. I've never had a greasy dish there, either. I've never been to the Evanston location but Skokie is gold, IMO.

=R=

Well, we finally found a place that brings on the heat. Siam Country does indeed take my husband at his word when he requests "Thai spicy," serving up plates of food that are too hot for me to even sniff, but which send him into transports of ecstasy. Unfortunately, while the really hot stuff is apparently very good (I wouldn't know) everything else is just meh. The menu is full of standard, unexciting Thai dishes in small, expensive portions, served with a saddening choice of either undercooked rice or flabby, overcooked noodles.

And we haven't been back to Sticky Rice or TAC Quick since this discovery was made, because those otherwise superior-in-every-way establishments simply would not turn up the heat, no matter how they were entreated. I have been fantasizing about finding a Thai speaker to write a note stating that the bearer of said note is really not kidding about the heat thing, but short of that, I guess I'm stuck with our sad little Siam Country meals

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:. . . I guess I'm stuck with our sad little Siam Country meals

Have you been to Thai Aree (3592 N Milwaukee), mentioned earlier in this thread, yet? It's been quite a while since I've visited but I remember them being able to match anyone's request for heat. I'd suggest starting with a salad, perhaps som tum or a larb, ordered as hot as you dare. Then, when ordering the rest of the meal, ask them for even hotter. When they see you're serious, they'll get serious too. Summer is a good time to go because the owner grows his own chilis and herbs in a backyard garden.

No, we haven't been there, but I will apply myself to convincing him that we need to branch out. The promise of a post-meal homemade chocolate stout cake might do the trick....

I recently went to the Thai Aroma on Broadway (it's across the street from the National Pastime, where we were seeing a play). My GF the Chili Queen had tofu in red curry, and ordered it at level "6," the hottest available. The waitress repeated the order with an "Are you sure?" expression on her face. We assured her that we were. We're talking about a woman who likes it when her food's so hot it makes her sweat, and doesn't think "painful" is a bad thing, necessarily. Her comment was that this was possibly the first time she was served food in a restaurant that was sufficiently picante without adding any condiments.

I know others have said Aroma is bland, but this one was most assuredly not. Perhaps it varies from location to location.

Thai Aroma
4142 N.Broadway
Chicago, IL 60613
(773) 404-7777