Kaosamai Thai Mobile Kitchen

After reading some of the great reviews on this site, I really wanted to like this food truck. Unfortunately, this was one of the most disappointing thai food spots I’ve been to. Not only was their food lacking some depth of flavour, their service was so slow and unapologetic that I couldn’t possibly consider coming back to give them another shot.
My fiancé wanted an order of their spring rolls, and the lady told us we couldn’t have them unless we ordered a combo. Um. Okay? That is the first I’ve heard of such a rule. We proceeded to order other noodle dishes and she then impatiently told us that we were not allowed to have the spring rolls with those dishes! So we asked what we could have with the spring rolls and she told us to order this beef dish they had that day.
In the end, we got a pad see ew, which took over 20 minutes to receive. For that long of a wait, it better be the best pad see ew we’ve ever had. Nope. We ended up giving away to someone in the office. I don’t know if that lady was having a bad day or what else we could’ve done to have her deny us the spring rolls we really wanted, but my goodness… If you have the spring rolls anyway, would you not prefer to sell them?

I always enjoy my meal at Kaosamai, especially a dish as simple as fried rice ($ 9). It’s dry enough and not as oily as what you get at other restaurants that reminds me of the fried rice I had at home in Thailand.
I also especially like that the restaurant is run by Thai people, from cashier to the cook. They are nice and polite and it reminds me of the great hospitality of Thai people back at home.
Overall, a great place to grab your lunch. They cook every order to order, so the wait may be a little long. However, the taste and the very reasonable portion you get from Kaosamai is well worth the wait!

In my opinion the best Thai food truck in South Lake Union.
I love thai and have tried them all. the panang curry combo with some pad thai is awesome.
great flavor, healthy (but not toooo big) portions. delish!

While I usually avoid the food trucks in SLU due to the amazon lunch rush, Kaomasai Thai was set up just a couple blocks from my work and didn’t seem to have too much of a line, so I gave it a shot. The prices were decent for SLU, I didn’t wait for too long for my food, the woman who took my order was very friendly, and I really appreciate that they allow you to add your own spice – no more guessing about how many stars you want. My pad kee mao was really tasty, had a lot of different kinds of vegetables, and was a really satisfying portion. None of that «tiny portion of noodles with a ton of rice» stuff that I’ve seen at other Thai restaurants. They are really generous with the food and I was impressed at how much meat and veg was in my order. If I find myself braving the SLU lunch crowds again, I’ll definitely head back to Kaomasai.

my first experience here and there was a curly hair in my food… then my coworker told me that she’s been here twice and had hair in her food both times. gross!

If I wanted to wait half an hour for a meal from a food truck… well come to think of it I have never been in a position where I would willingly wait a full 30 minutes for food from a truck. The length of time it takes these folks to make an otherwise simple Thai dish is baffling… I could drive to Capitol Hill, sit down at a Thai restaurant, order and have my appetizer finished and entrée in front of me in the time I spent standing around this truck waiting for my kee mao.
This concept utterly fails as a food truck. The food is only so-​so and I am still wondering how this truck can possibly make a profit given the wait.
There are two others parked right nearby… so I’ll be taking my business elsewhere and hoping their spot is taken by a different truck.

Found a screw in my pad Thai. Putting aside hygiene, I could’ve broke one of my teeth! Tried calling them but it’s just a voicemail. Be Careful.

I eat at lot of the SLU food trucks and I am partial to asian food (which is good because there is a lot of it down here). I’ve eaten Kaosamai a couple of times and there are pluses and minuses. On the plus side their food is a dollar or two cheaper than their competition. $ 7-​$ 8 for a full lunch meal. The food is pretty higher quality for a Thai food truck. Also, you get a pretty healthy portion. The downsides are it seems to take them a few minutes longer to prepare the food and if you get there during the lunch rush, you might have to wait 10 – 15 minutes to get the food you ordered. Also, they only take cash which I don’t always have on me. I’ll definitely be eating here soon…

Let me start off by saying this used to be a pretty good food truck, and I would go every week. It was never GREAT, but it was decent. Then, let me also say that at $ 8 per entrée, their prices are still pretty reasonable, compared to other trucks.
Now, let me call out the reasons why I’ll not be eating here again.
1) they stopped adding spiciness to their dishes. You used to be able to say «4 stars» or «2 stars» and get a plate made to your liking. Now, you get a bland, flavorless dish that you have to add spice to… how the heck am I supposed to know how much to add to get it to 4 stars and not accidentally overload it? This might be acceptable if it sped up the time it took to get your order, as they could prepare in bulk, but…
2) it took over 25 minutes for me to get my phad see ew, which has to be one of the more common dishes they serve. There was no line when I got there, but I was definitely not the first customer of the day, as there were several people standing around waiting, so it’s not like the wok wasn’t warmed up.
3) it’s like they stopped trying to make the food desirable any more. The noodles, instead of being chopped into manageable sized sections, were largely whole — as in 6 inch squares. How you can eat these with chopsticks and no knife is beyond me. They added a bunch more semi-​cooked vegetables, and not the good kinds. Big-​*** hunks of carrots and cabbage, and about 2 pieces of chicken.
I don’t know if they changed management, or chefs, or they just lost their mojo, but this is not even close to the same as it was a year or two ago. Pass on this truck.

Lots of food, especially for the price (~$ 9 for pad thai). Great place to go for the frequent need to stress eat at lunch in South Lake Union. You don’t have to choose «stars» because they let you put in your own spices.
The Thai Iced tea is pretty good too. Very sweet, but the creaminess offsets the spice I put in.
They only take cash — not a huge deal for me, but worth mentioning.
Like any place else in the area, always great to get there between 11 and 11:30, to avoid a long wait.

Where did the truck go? It used to disappear for a couple of days at a time … now it is gone forever. I saw where they had moved it to the Mercer Mess /​SLU area, which sadly doesn’t work for me.

Their pad see ew here is really good. The portion size is decent for $ 8 and they give you a lot of veggies too. I’ve had some of their curries too but sometimes they can be watery and sometimes they are good.
They are quite slow for a food truck though. I have definitely stood outside in the cold for like 15 – 20 minutes before waiting for food. It was not very fun.
Cash only.

We went here for dinner on a friday night and it was empty except for one other table. That kinda speaks a lot.
We tried the fresh rolls with shrimp which were not bad although the rice paper was a little too thick and stuck to the mouth. The peanut sauce with it was fantastic.
The phad-​kee-​mao was pretty good.
I really wish they had better service. I’m eager to try the food truck for lunch since I hear it’s quick, fresh and affordable.

Had the tofu drunken noodles and Thai iced tea here (they are under a Thai name on the menu). This is typical Seattle Thai food. It’s priced ($ 8) at about what you expect on on the Ave and quality is about that. It satisfies me and is flavorful. The portions are a good size and bonus points for making a pretty good Thai iced tea.
Cash only.

There isn’t a single great Thai place to be found around the SLU area… solution? Drive one in!
I’ve only tried the fried rice so far, but it was great. Recommend it 100%.

I am giving Kaosamai 3 stars just because the Pad Thai I’ve had from them is not very good, it was dry and a bit ketchupy tasting, not what Pad Thai should be like! For a Thai Food Truck, I would have expected a better version of Pad Thai, especially since their Pad Kee Mao is delicious!
Now for my favorite part: Pad Kee Mao! It is one of my favorite Pad Kee Mao’s that I have had the opportunity to try– I love that they add bamboo shoots because they are almost the only place that does (unless I specially ask for it at other joints). The noodles are perfectly moist and I love the variety of veggies. The only thing is, when you go later in the day, you run into the possibility of them running out of noodles (they can only carry so much in a truck that they run out of ingredients).
I also get the Thai Iced Tea because it is amazing!
Once they fix the Pad Thai I will think about upping their star count, for now it’s just okay.

YAM!

I got the Red Curry Chicken ($ 8): sliced chicken in red curry with coconut milk, bamboo shoots, bell peppers, and basil, served with white Jasmine rice.
A very nice red curry here. The professionally cut bamboo shoots and bell peppers retained their texture and contrasted nicely with the moist, tender chicken. The creamy red coconut curry pleasantly coated my palate. The rice was also perfectly cooked. I would have liked the curry a bit richer and thicker, but that’s just me. If one wants to add more heat to their meal, Kaosamai will have some red chili pepper flakes and sriracha at their condiment table. Likely because I added more spices after receiving my order, I got a pleasant kick of heat in the back of my throat (nothing major here).
The wonderful people running Kaosamai’s food truck also serve Pad Thai, Pad See Ew (wide rice noodle dish), spring rolls, cashew chicken, and beef panang curry. The spring rolls are $ 5, while all other non-​combo items are $ 8. Very reasonable prices here!

I foresee a weekly visit to the Kaosamai truck in my future.
I always thought they were too far away from my office to want to go here, this shows how directionally challenged i am! They’re right around the corner!
I’ve only had the Cashew Chicken both times i’ve been here but it’s so yummy, i forget to order anything else. I swear next time I’ll try the panang curry.
the portion size is perfect for the price. I feel stuffed after lunch but not feeling guilty. I’m just happy to get some veggies in diet :)

SLU lunch spot and it is a food truck! With Thai food… Bonus! What an innovative idea. Admittedly, I expect especially tasty stuff from a food truck, but this is still good food.
I ordered the combo with spring rolls, phad thai, and chicken red curry with rice. Just a little disappointed that they didn’t offer brown rice, but I’ll forgive them for that. The phad thai wasn’t very good. I agree with other helpers that it is too keychuppy. It could be a fatal flaw in the Thai Truck. I really enjoyed the red curry with chicken. It had a good amount of veggies and just the right amount of spice. Spring rolls were a very nice addition. It even came with excellent dipping sauce.
As I’m writing this review, I’m wondering if this place should reduce the menu items to 3 – 4 dishes. Offering fewer menu items may allow them to focus operationally on how to deliver food that is just a little better and more efficiently delivered. Unilocalers thoughts??? I’m also interested to hear what other Unilocalers think about whether or not a food truck should be expected to have better-​tasting food than restaurants. Is they bar higher for food trucks?
Pros: Thai truck in SLU! Combo.
Cons: phad thai – gotta get this right guys
Tip: Call order ahead and save yourself 45 minutes!