Finding affordable, well made Thai food for dinner in Los Angeles can be difficult. Not for a lack of options. On the contrary, there may be far too many places to choose from. A few stand out, though, and rise above the competition. Siam I Am is one of those restaurants.

I stopped by Siam I Am with my very hungry family, ready to try out a new Thai restaurant. It was late on a weekend evening so parking was relatively easy at their storefront located on the bustling Pacific Coast Highway between Garnet Street and Torrance Boulevard.

The Siam I Am Restaurant is located on PCH in Redondo Beach about five minutes away from the Redondo Beach Pier.
The Siam I Am Restaurant is located on PCH in Redondo Beach about five minutes away from the Redondo Beach Pier.

The Siam I Am dining room is small and cozy. With just ten chairs at a few tables and a waist-high counter along the wall, there isn’t much room for dining in. It does make for an experience, though, for a small group that wants to feel like they have an entire restaurant all to themselves. If you dine here with five or six friends that will most certainly be the case!

For this menu exploration, I brought along two $10 Utopia gift certificates for Siam I Am*. At first I wasn’t sure if it would be enough to cover a meal for a hungry family of four. After reviewing the menu and the prices though, I was confident that our meal wouldn’t go too far beyond the budget.

Utopia Gift Certificates offer savings at participating restaurants around the South Bay and in other cities.  Follow the links in the article for details!
Utopia Gift Certificates offer savings at participating restaurants around the South Bay and in other cities. Follow the links in the article for details!

What’s cool about the Utopia gift certs is that they are like other popular discount programs that let you purchase a higher valued certificate at a discount. These were $8.50 for a $10 certificate, offering a savings of about %15. Good enough for me!

To start our meal, we ordered the Cream Cheese Wontons ($4.95) as an appetizer. These were cute little shells, filled with the name sake ingredient and cooked to a crisp, golden brown. What I didn’t expect was a plump, sweet raisin nestled in the center of the folded wonton. It made for a nice addition of texture and flavor the what might have been an otherwise ordinary dish.

Six Cream Cheese Wontons with sweet and sour dipping sauce.
Six Cream Cheese Wontons with sweet and sour dipping sauce.
There's a suprise in the cream cheese wontons.  A plump raisin.
There’s a surprise in the cream cheese wontons. A plump raisin!

From the appetizer, the four of us branched out and ordered our own dishes (with the caveat that I had a chance to taste them all!)

Shrimp Teriyaki is lightly battered and fried shrimp served with rice and with home-made teriyaki sauce.
Shrimp Teriyaki is lightly battered and fried shrimp served with rice and with home-made teriyaki sauce.
Kang Ped, Red Curry Chicken
There were plenty of pepper and coconut flavors in the Kang Ped, Red Curry Chicken.
Pineapple Fried Rice
The Pineapple Fried Rice was a crowd favorite with something to please everyone. The yellow curry flavored rice was the highlight.
Chicken Pad Thai
Tender chicken and noodles come together in the Chicken Pad Thai.

Siam I Am makes for a nice dine in experience if seating is available and is worth the wait if not. You might also consider calling ahead for carry-out or delivery.

They’re open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 AM until 9 PM, closed on Mondays.

* Some of the items mentioned in this review were purchased with a certificate from UTOPIA, an online retail website providing gift certificates at discount rates for restaurants and businesses both local and national. Prices and menu items mentioned are subject to change without notice. This story was accurate when it was published and reflects the uninfluenced opinions of the reviewers.