A High-Five For Kaosamai Thai

The Truck: Kaosamai Thai, found in truck form Monday through Friday at 527 Fairview Ave. N., and Wednesdays at Starbucks headquarters.

The Fare: Noodles and curry galore

The Stop: It's hard to miss Kaosamai's truck, parked near Fairview and Mercer every week day: it's bright orange (like its mothership restaurant in Fremont). Set against a backdrop of the tired-looking parking lot of the Four Corner's furniture store, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

I stumbled upon this sore thumb on a rainy Monday, cold and pissy because I forgot my rain jacket at home. I mean, what type of Seattleite does that? I wound up getting to the truck just as they were setting up, and was waved away by a flustered guy who popped his head out of the window and told me to come back in ten minutes.

So I meandered into the nearby furniture store and sat on a love seat, pretending to be debating about which throw pillow to buy, when I could only think about phad thai. I could almost smell the peanut sauce and basil.

"So, er, what do you have on your menu?" I asked the same Kaosamai guy while -- Amazon employees, most likely -- sauntered up to the menu-less truck, asking for their chicken phad thais or panang curries, paying with exact change.

Upon Mr. Truck Guy's recommendation, I ordered the generously-portioned red curry combo, which comes with red curry, rice, pad thai, and egg rolls -- all for $8.50.

Maybe he'd forgotten to write the menu on the board, or maybe that's just the way this truck rolls, which could be an indication that they've built their truck business on serving regulars.

Either way, this truck's food is the type that would pull in regulars: hearty, decently priced, and most importantly, delicious.

Tiny slivers of bamboo bobbed along in the curry, swimming among bits of chicken and slices of red pepper. The curry itself was a delight, with a gentle kick of coconut milk and heat. Tangy, spicy, and creamy, and fantastic to soak up with rice. I could've drank it as a soup, and would have, if I had thought to grab a spoon.

The pad thai was dressed with a peanut sauce that was more subtle than anything else; unlike the curry, I would not have drank this flavor, so to speak. Still, though, there was a generous and attractive splay of green onions and diced peanuts resting on the heap of stir-fried rice noodles that added a crunch to each bite.

The vegetable egg rolls were miniature, baby carrot-sized cylinders that I could snack on them all day, if only my arteries could handle that.

These three items can be ordered on their own. Also on the menu is phad see iew, cashew chicken with rice, phad kee mao, panang curry, and even Thai iced tea.

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