Apart from all the celebrity chefs that are on the Strip
and all the restaurants that have come from New York
or Chicago or Paris to establish an outpost in Las Vegas,
you have this unlikely Thai restaurant
that established itself as a must visit destination
for anybody who's interested in food.
In a certain way, Lotus of Siam is the most famous
Las Vegas restaurant of all time.
It was a hole in the wall restaurant that just got
all of this national press
because it was so good
and people, you know, they wait in line for hours
to be there and to be part of it.
It's like you're joining this club
once you've discovered it,
and if you haven't been there yet,
then that's kind of like what are you doing?
Why haven't? That's the starting point.
A lot of people just, you know,
thought it was just a regular Thai restaurant.
Lotus of Siam is the darling restaurant of Las Vegas.
They bring quality, they bring service, they bring presentation.
It's a place to be seen and see.
The main definition for our restaurant would be family.
People from around the world come to see her.
They say that Lotus of Siam is the number one Thai restaurant in the world.
She's definitely a staple.
Lotus brought dishes that no one had ever tasted before.
The cooking is so specific and authentic
to the way that that family cooks and eats.
The menu is huge.
You got the Northern style of cooking of Thai food.
That's what she ate, what she fed her children,
that's what she's been cooking for over 50 years.
People start to understand that there's Northern food
besides the basic Bangkok South food.
It's all traditional foods and recipes that have been
handed down from her grandmother,
and her husband's grandmother for hundred years.
You don't mess up something or change it if it's perfect.
My mom, she still does everything by hand.
This is better. She wants to make sure that everything
is right to the touch.
You know machines, they can't feel it.
This is how it's supposed to be.
The way they elevate the food, the presentation,
the quality of it, the attention to detail,
the crispiness of the rice,
you'll find a lot of chefs there eating,
you know, Lotus of Siam is the best
Thai food in all of Las Vegas, and it's well deserved.
When people saw that a Thai restaurant had a wine program,
it was very intriguing because
we started off with German wines.
Lotus of Siam can be in its own category.
It has the largest wine list of Riesling.
Thai food is super spicy.
German Rieslings, especially the sweeter ones,
definitely help out with like the heat,
and that's what my dad realized, and he ran with it.
The cleanliness of the wine is like, unbelievable.
German wine is also offset the heat build up in Thai food.
They know exactly what Riesling from what region
will go with the dish that you're having.
It not only gives the restaurant a new dimension,
but introduces people to having a dining experience
they haven't had before.
There really was no Thai food scene in Las Vegas
prior to Lotus. There were a few restaurants.
It was actually mixed, of like Thai-Chinese.
Not full blown Thai.
There's different stuff besides Pad Thai and Pad See Ew.
My mom, not being able to speak much English,
what she speaks through is through her cooking.
She expected this restaurant to be an institution
to show guests that "Hey, I want you to know Thai food."
The food is so incredible because it's mom's recipe
elevated to a level that can withstand Las Vegas.
When you want to really experience what is going on
in Las Vegas, no matter where you come from,
any part of the world, everybody goes to Lotus of Siam.