During my days of living in Hyde Park, I became rather acquainted with three Thai restaurants on the E. 55th Street stretch between Lake Park and Hyde Park Blvd. There were Thai Snail, Thai 55th, and Siam Thai Cuisine. Thai Snail was where I learned a few phrases in Thai. Thai 55th was where I practiced speaking Thai. Siam Thai Cuisine was where I became more conversational. Having been gone from Hyde Park for seven years, I found myself in the area checking out the new edition to 53rd Street. But for lunch, I went to Siam Thai Cuisine at 1641 E. 55th Street.

Thai Iced Tea

The manager still remembered me, not that I changed that much, except for a full, grey beard. After greetings and pleasantries in Thai, the manager said that I should order “my usual.” I was not going to argue with him about that. I had a glass of Thai iced tea, which is my favourite kind of iced tea. There is something about the smokiness in the tea that beats any pitcher of sun tea brewed below the Mason-Dixon Line. And when there is a plate of potstickers served with it, even the chilly temperatures that we have been having were tolerable. Soy sauce accented with sesame seeds came with the potstickers that were lightly fried, so the texture was not al dente like boiled dumplings. These were my favourite appetizer.

Potstickers

Having made a conscious and disciplined decision to remove beef and pork from my diet, I was certain that I was going to have panang chicken come to the table. Ah, but I forgot. My favourite entrée was yellow curry shrimp. Hearty like a gravy instead of a thin base, this is still my favourite. Filled with plump shrimp, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, and cubes of potatoes, and served with jasmine rice, I was rather glad that the manager remembered how much I loved the dish years ago.

Yellow Curry Shrimp and Rice

Siam Thai Cuisine still has a bit of a hole in the wall charm to it. The manager was an absolute great individual, very much the same outstanding person, just with more grey hair now. I went to Siam Thai Cuisine at least once a week during my Hyde Park days, either for dining in or for take-away. After this most recent visit and the temperatures warming up soon, consistently — I hope — I may have to bring myself to be okay taking the bus ride from Logan Square to Hyde Park weekly. When your Thai food is “that” aroy, you’ll understand.