With last month’s opening of Ploy Siam Thai Cuisine, the Hamilton end of the Foxmoor shopping plaza has once again become a restaurant row.
Ploy Siam joins Massimo’s and Friendly’s as a dining possibility, and an uncommon one at that: while Thai food has been popular in the U.S. for more than a decade, Ploy Siam is one of just a few in Mercer County. Ploy is Thai for gemstone, and Siam is the former name of Thailand.
The spacious, custom-designed and built interior of the restaurant belies its strip mall location. Many of the decorations have been imported from Thailand. At the center of it all is a gently flowing, 20-foot-long waterfall and pool.
“I want people to come here, sit, relax, and feel like they are at home,” said Worawut Chantomuk, Ploy Siam’s chef-manager. The restaurant seats 125, including an area that can be used for private parties. The staff at Ploy Siam also includes hostess Kannika Hurley and general manager William Hurley.
“I think the timing is just right,” William Hurley said of the decision to open the restaurant in Robbinsville. “[Thai food] is where Chinese food was maybe 25 years ago. It’s exciting, exotic, maybe something different.”
The extensive menu features appetizers, soups and salads, noodle and rice dishes, curries, as well as fish and seafood entrees and duck and lamb entrees. Chantomuk said all dishes are made on the premises.
While staples such as Pad Thai and green and red curries are on offer, Ploy Siam also serves up less routine dishes such as Hor Mok, which is sauteed salmon with house curry paste, coconut milk, vegetables and Thai basil ($12.95 for dinner).
Other entrees include Pra Lad Prik, a deep-fried whole fish with Thai chili house sauce (market price), and Orange Duck, which is a crispy deboned half duck with orange sauce ($18.95 for dinner).
Many of Ploy Siam’s dishes are available as $9.95 lunch specials. Chantomuk said the curries are popular lunch special choices, as is pad kra pow, a stir-fried choice of chicken, beef, seafood or vegetable with fresh chili, garlic and Thai basil. Lunch specials include soup or salad.
Thai cuisine is known for the spicy heat of its offerings, but diners at Ploy Siam have options. All items on the menu can be ordered on a scale of one to five chili peppers, with five bringing the most heat.
For dessert, Ploy Siam offers dishes like mango sticky rice and Thai custard, which is made with steamed pumpkin and served with ice cream. And of course, the restaurant serves popular Thai coffee and Thai iced tea.
So far, Ploy Siam’s customers have generally been familiar with Thai food, but customers will find options no matter what their familiarity with the cuisine, William Hurley said.
Ploy Siam is located at 1041 Washington Boulevard, Robbinsville in the Foxmoor Shopping Center. Open for lunch Monday-Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Open for dinner Sunday through Thursday from 5 to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 to 10:30 p.m. and Sunday from 5 to 10 p.m. On the Web: ploysiamthaicuisine.com. Phone: (609) 371-9600.
