Poor Service Hurts Sushi Siam
By Colleen Coffield Sachs
Daily News Columnist

DESTIN – Sushi Siam, a newcomer to Destin Commons, offers two popular cuisines.
  
One portion of the menu is devoted to Japanese specialties, including lots of sushi. The other part of the menu features Thai dishes. Some are traditional and others Asian-fusion.
  
One of the best examples of the fusion dishes, and one of the best items we tried, is the filet mignon. The filet was prepared to the requested temperature, and was served alongside chunky mashed potatoes. The fusion twist was a flavorful panang curry sauce.
  
Other fusion choices include tuna steak with pesto and coconut cream, roast duck with an orange-tamarind sauce, and salmon with a chili mango sauce.
  
Sushi Siam also has what they call Rock & Wok. Choose one of six sauces and one of seven stir-fry ingredients. Crispy duck, shrimp, chicken, scallops, tofu, beef and vegetables are the main ingredients, and are combined with sauces that include ginger, garlic, chili basil, sweet and sour, cashew or orange sauce.
  
Along the same lines as the Rock & Wok is a selection of curries. Red, panang and green curries can be ordered with chicken, beef, vegetables, shrimp, scallops and lobster tail.
  
I liked the noodle dishes at Sushi Siam. Best of the group was an excellent version of pad woon sen. Glass noodles have an interesting texture that is slippery but slightly resilient. They are sautéed with onions, carrots, baby corn and black mushrooms.
  
I ordered mine with shrimp, and had a generous amount of large, tender shrimp. Pad Thai, pad kee mao and angel hair pasta with eggplant, string beans, zucchini and curry sauce are other pasta options.
  
Other Thai dishes include excellent salads (I liked the larb gai), fried rice (including basil fried rice) and a variety of soups such as tom kha gai and tom yum.
  
There was plenty to like among the Japanese dishes as well, with the best options being sushi. The “Crazy” roll was a favorite with salmon skin, eel, asparagus, scallions and avocado. There are a number of sushi dinners served with miso soup or a house salad.
  
Desserts were exceptional. Fried apples and bananas were served with vanilla ice cream. A coconut flan with a lovely silky texture had a good caramel sauce at the bottom.
  
What I didn’t like among the Thai and Japanese dishes were the appetizers. An order of Chef’s Dumplings was bland inside and tough outside.
  
Summer rolls were also tough, and were wrapped so loosely that they couldn’t be eaten easily. They were also billed as being served with a ponzu hoisin sauce. What they came with was a thick, sweet peanut sauce.
  
That pointed to the downside of Sushi Siam. Service was sometimes inefficient and sometimes rude.
  
When we were served the wrong thing, instead of letting us know the dish as described wasn’t available, and instead of offering to replace the item, we were told that we were actually eating what was described on the menu. Significant delays between courses made a meal for two of appetizers, entrees and desserts take three hours.
  
Sushi Siam is a pretty restaurant, with only minor changes in décor from its predecessor Bog Walk. The setting is comfortable and most of the food is quite good. Poor service keeps Sushi Siam from being as good as it should be.

Sushi Siam

4236 Legendary Drive
Destin, FL 32541
(850) 650-5861

Price range

• Appetizers: $5-10
• Soups & salads: $4-10
• Entrees: $12-26
• Desserts: $3.50-6
• Lunch: $5-12

Other information

• Reservations not necessary
• Handicap accessibility
• No children’s menu
• All major credit cards accepted

Colleen Coffield Sachs is restaurant reviewer for the Daily News. She dines unannounced at area restaurants for this column. You may write to her in care of the newspaper at P.O. Box 2949, Fort Walton Beach, FL 32549.