Diho Siam
27001 La Paz Road #100
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
We tried Thai food with good results earlier this month and wanted to see if we could continue the trend. Our second foray into Thai cuisine takes us to Diho Siam. Located on the corner of La Paz and Marguerite, this restaurant was recommended by my friend CJ. We arrived at about 7:30 on a busy Friday night and had about a fifteen-minute wait at the small eatery.
Diho Siam has been around for as long as I have lived in south county. The Mission Viejo location is one of six locations, the other OC locations are, Ladera Ranch, Costa Mesa, Lake Forest, and Fountain Valley. The Diho Siam website proclaims that they were voted one of the top 100 Thai restaurants in the USA in 2007. There was no link to the full list, so I guess we will have to take their word for it, or we could judge them by the food they served this night. Let's take a look at it.
I was absolutely famished when we sat down, so I wanted to try their Hors D'oeuvres Plate. This plate featured Pun Krib, Spring Rolls, Chicken Satay, and Wonton Wrapped Shrimp, all served with honey plum and a peanut sauce. All of these appetizers were just average. The part about this plate that sticks out was the peanut sauce. Great flavor, and when I added this to any of the items on this plate, it made them instantly better. Other than the sauce though, there were no standouts on this.
On my first trip to a Thai restaurant I got the Red Curry Beef, and I wanted to try the same dish here. This one was very good. Made with spicy red curry, coconut milk, bamboo shoots, and Thai basil, this was a very satisfying meal. The coconut milk killed some of the spice, and the meat was pretty tender, but I would have liked a little more of it. I would definitely get this again.
Not wanting to try just one meal at Diho Siam, I also ordered the Spicy Cat Fish. Deep-fried catfish topped with a chili garlic sauce, eggplant and Thai basil made up this meal, which the menu states are a Thai favorite. I liked the sauce that came on this, and it was served scalding hot. The problem with this was that the fish came with many tiny bones. I have no problem with bones in food, but I was not expecting so many, and it was like I had to pick through my food to avoid choking. Other than that, this was a decent dish.
Katie loves Pad Thai, so it was no surprise that she got this dish. This pad thai came with chicken, shrimp, eggs, ground peanuts, bean sprouts, and green onions. About halfway through the meal, I noticed that Katie was not eating her shrimp. It was because they were not deveined. If you click on the above picture you can check them out for yourself. I am sure this was not on purpose, and they were just busy in the kitchen, but I would not touch these shrimp either. Should have sent this back, but she just ate the rest of the meal, which she was not so excited about. Our friend Mark, who was also eating with us had the same dish as Katie, but his shrimp were fine. He thought that this pad thai was okay, but a little too sweet for his taste.
Obviously, we had some mixed reviews about Diho Siam. I liked my meal, but they definitely had some preparation issues in the kitchen. The ingredients seemed fresh, and the service was good, but it will be hard trying to get Katie to come back here for Thai food. She has agreed to eat here again but will stick to the Chinese side of the menu. I would eat here again but might choose a slower night when they are less prone to making mistakes in the kitchen.
Out of five kites, (because kite flying is one of the pastimes for many people in Thailand), five being best to zero being worst, Diho Siam gets 2.5 kites.
For more information on Diho Siam click here: http://www.diho-siam.com/
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