Siam Marina

Chicken Satay

We went to dinner at Siam Marina in Calumet City.  It is halfway between where both of us work so it was a good place to meet.  We have seen it featured both on Check Please and Chicago's Best.  Also Natalie had been there for lunch a couple of years ago. Right now the restaurant is located in Calumet City by the River Oaks Mall but will be closing this location at the end of February 2013 and moving to Tinley Park in the future.  Another interesting fact is that the owner formerly worked at Arun's Thai - the super fancy Thai restaurant we went to last summer and loved.

Tom kha kai shrimp soup

We purposefully ordered a lot of food knowing we would take a lot home and knowing how much we had loved the food at Aruns.

Chicken Satay - chicken marinated in coconut milk and curry, served with peanut sauce and cucumber salad.  This is one of Nick's favorites -  nice large strips of chicken draped in warm sweet peanut sauce.  The sauce was a little creamier than peanut butter but not as sweet.

Tom kha kai shrimp soup - spicy savory broth of coconut milk, galanga, lemongrass, bell peppers and mushrooms. One of Nick's sisters' favorite dishes from when she was in Thailand so she told Nick to order it whenever he found it on a menu. This was a very large portion, much bigger than we thought.  The coconut and lemongrass was great, sweet and tangy.

Ceramic duck for duck curry

Thai banana curry duck - red curry duck thickened in coconut milk, tomatoes, Thai greenery and basil.  We heard about this dish from the bit on Check Please and it looked fun. The presentation is amazing - it is served at the table in a ceramic duck.  The curry was a bit spicier than we anticipated but this was cut by the sweet components and the slices of banana.  

Thai banana curry duck

Chicken pad thai - stir fried rice noodles with bean sprouts, scrambled eggs, cabbage, and peanuts in a light sweet and sour tamarind sauce.  We had to try the Thai food main stay.  It was presented almost like a cobb salad would be with all the components in their own little sections. It was our least favorite dish of the night - but that was only because everything else was so exceptional.

Mussaman curry with beef, potatoes, red onions, pineapple and roasted nuts.  This was Natalie's favorite - not too much spice and all of the flavors worked very nicely together.

Now this was a lot of food we ordered.  We hadn't had Thai food in a while and wanted to sample a bunch of different things.  Don't worry we took a lot home to be consumed over several more meals


Mussaman Curry with beef

Final thoughts on Siam Marina:
Food - great Thai food. We ordered the Tom kha kai soup because it is not found on all Thai restaurant menus.  We are sad that we it won't be at this location very much longer because we would totally go back to meet after work again.

Chicken Pad Thai

Service - well we both met each other here right after work so the dinner rush really hadn't started yet.  They were friendly and the food came out very quickly.

Atmosphere - definitely a bit more refined than a neighborhood Thai restaurant.  Nice decore and tablecloths on all of the tables.