Lamaii

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

Thai Food Taken Seriously

Lamaii opened in Las Vegas Chinatown in 2019 with a conviction that doesn't waver: Thai food, at its best, belongs in the same conversation as any great cuisine in the world — not as a curiosity, not as a budget option, but as itself. Complex, regional, and worth taking seriously. That belief has since expanded to a second location in Henderson, but the kitchen philosophy remains unchanged.

The People Behind It

Chef-Owner Bia Hawang runs the kitchen — bold, precise, rooted in Thai tradition and reshaped by her own experience. Sommelier-Owner Bon Atcharawan built the cellar to match: volcanic wines, skin-contact rarities, and cult producers chosen to meet the food where it lives rather than where convention dictates wine should go. "The best bottle on the list isn't the most expensive one," Bon has said. "It's the one that makes the food taste like itself." That approach earned Lamaii Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence in 2024 — a rare distinction for a Thai restaurant anywhere, let alone in Las Vegas.

What's on the Table

The menu changes with the seasons, but certain dishes have earned a permanent place. Master of Sommeliers Will Costello singles out the duck panang and the crispy prawns as not-to-be-missed. The Panang Crispy Duck — roasted duck in panang curry sauce — and the Mun Pu Fried Rice, stir-fried in crab fat with jumbo crab lumps, represent the kitchen's willingness to go somewhere most Thai restaurants don't. Starters like the Salmon Noir, dressed in Thai seafood dressing with truffle oil and crispy garlic, and the spicy crab curry with vermicelli (Gang Pu) show the same range.

LA Times critic Bill Addison has written about disappearing into a bottle of 1990 German Riesling Auslese alongside Lamaii's gaeng rawaeng and crab curry — the kind of pairing that only works when both the food and the wine are doing something real.

The Room

Low light, good wine, food that asks something of you. Lamaii is designed for dinners that linger. The setting has been described as upscale with a touch of romance, and the bar program — cocktails worth ordering twice, per the restaurant's own description — means the evening doesn't have to end with dessert.