text: There are a few basic Thai dishes that I use as a barometer for how a kitchens output aligns with my palate and I had two of those bellwether dishes at Pin KaownnI really wanted to like this place given how relatively close it is to my house in BFE southwest Vegas but meh This was my second visit and it was mediocre at best againnnChili fried rice is a staple of my Thai diet a capsaicinloaded serving of wintertime comfort food And I amp up the spice level on every Thai dish I order As Pin Kaow uses a scale I emphasized in my order that I wanted it a as spicy as possible again and again trying to avoid the dreaded gringo nnUnfortunately the spice level of my chili fried rice would have maybe been a or tops at Lotus of Siam There were no dried red chilis There were no green orange and red birdseye chilis What was their idea of out of spicy Crushed red pepper I can get that at Pizza Hut I order Thai food to get a spice rush and this gave me nothingnnEven worse the dish was seasoned awkwardly dominated by egg what is this Chinese food and overwhelmingly by fish sauce Balance is an essential part of Thai cuisine and this dish missed by a milennUnfortunately my second goto panang curry with chicken was no better Again I ordered a outof spicy and what I was served was no spicier than a liberally seasoned pizza There were no discernible flavors whatsoever in the curry The vegetables were fresh and the chicken was cooked just right but the curry itself was simply tastelessnnWhen I checked in on Foursquare here I noted that my presence was only by virtue of Lotus of Siam being closed for weekend lunch In the future I will just wait for dinnertime