ENTERTAINMENT

‘Watts for Dinner’: Siam offers quality food, friendly faces

Will Watts
Correspondent

The next stop on our dining adventure was Siam Thai & Sushi Naples, a quiet, unassuming and friendly restaurant near downtown. We are always greeted with a smile; and I’m amazed at how much our waitress remembers about what we like to eat and when we stray from the norm.

She’s got a great memory, or she fakes it better than most.

Things got off to an appetizing start with the Siam tofu ($6.95): Deep fried crispy tofu, stuffed with potato, onions and carrots. The dish comes out looking like finger sandwiches; and you dip those into a nutty sweet and sour sauce.

Siam tofu, deep fried crispy tofu, stuffed with potato, onions and carrots, from Siam Thai & Sushi Naples.

This dish is as pleasing to the eyes as it is to the taste buds.  

For my main entrée, I chose the red curry ($14.95-$16.95 depending on your meat selection). I picked the chicken, which was swimming in a soupy concoction consisting of red curry paste, coconut milk, bamboo shoots, bell pepper, zucchini and basil leaves. It’s served with a heaping porting of rice.

Typically, when I come to Siam, I’m all about the spicy or pineapple fried rice. Siam has some of the most pleasing fried rice dishes in Naples. But knowing this, I veered in a different direction.

Siam basil from Siam Thai & Sushi Naples.

What I love about the red curry dish is the symphony of flavors and textures; like the crunch of the bell peppers; the comfort-food appeal of the zucchini or how I pretend the bamboo shoots are pasta – every time I eat this dish I think, ‘I’m going to cook up some bamboo shoots, meat sauce and say goodbye to tradition calorie-laden pasta forever.’ It hasn’t happened yet.

My partner in dine chose the Siam basil ($13.95-$15.95 depending on your meat selection). The dish is sautéed with fresh chili, garlic, snow peas, bell pepper, onion and zucchini; and he also picked the chicken. This is a solid entry as well; but both of us agreed it would be better served with the addition of bamboo shoots. What can I say, we are pro-bamboo diners.

The red curry chicken from Siam Thai & Sushi Naples.

Siam Thai & Sushi Naples is quality food; and the staff is always happy to serve any dish mild, medium or the way most Thai people eat it – Hot! Hot! Hot!

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If you go

Siam Thai & Sushi Naples

  • 81 9th St S, Naples
  • 239-649-5111
  • www.thaiandsushinaples.com