Kaosamai

 

4

12

Meghan O.

Seattle, WA

Maybe I was hoping for too much. Almost everyone I work with raves about this place, but I thought it was just good.
We went for lunch. My freind asked for unsweetened regular tea, but they brought her sweet tea (maybe regular tea here just means not a Thai iced tea??)
The meal came out quickly. I had a lunch combo with the red curry and pad thai. It was fine- tasted just like other curry's I've had at other good Thai restaurants. Pad Thai was good too, but not praiseworthy.
I'd go again, but I won't recommend it as the best to all of my friends.
Tawon Thai, I still heart you best!

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0

22

Melissa D.

Seattle, WA

Didn't enjoy this place as much as Kwanjai.  My husband got the wrong dish when he ordered, which was a bit disconcerting.  They didn't take it off the bill either, even though he didn't like it at all.  My cashew chicken dish was just so-so.  Wouldn't go to again!

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Elite '08

19

70

katie s.

Seattle, WA

My asian spidey senses perked up when I stepped into this restaurant.  It was too clean, the decorations all matched, and there were no other asians seated.

The portions are really big (the phad thai with chicken could have fed my extended family) and the green curry was decent but the spicy levels were not correct - my three star phad thai was more like a one star and the service.. well, I just felt like the staff looked at me and thought - hm. typical asian chick with white male boyfriend who dresses faux sporty chic. (tangent: http://stuffwhitepeopl...)  She obviously dislikes real asian people (or why wouldn't she just eat at Kwanji) so I'm going to be surly to her, barely crack a smile and not bring chopsticks.  

boo.  I am going to go to Kwanji next time.  At least they smile AND their heat levels are more correct.

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0

20

Amanda P.

Seattle, WA

Pretty good food! For some reason they never asked us if we wanted spicy or not (maybe because our children were with us?) but nonetheless everything was good. And it was sort of nice to be able to appreciate the simple flavors of everything with no spice. We had the Pad Thai, Lava Chicken (which is just fried chicken w/ sweet chili sauce), and the Swimming Rama and they were all very good. I wish they delivered to Magnolia!

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21

28

Rachel S.

Seattle, WA

I spend a lot of time in Fremont and have probably had Thai 100 times in the last five years. Nevertheless, I've only visited this place twice. The first time I gave Kaosamai a shot, I was on an uncomfortable second date. I didn't have any real objections when it was suggested and I heard they deliver as far as Phinney. The biggest impression was the kind waitress, but not much else. Oh, and the food didn't leave a necessarily bad impression.

The second visit was earlier this year when a friend was moving away. It was our 2nd stop of the evening, post-Brouwer's. I recall it was really good, but that doesn't seem to have motivated me to visit more often. I can probably attribute it to the fact that Kwanjai and Tawon are closer to me. If I lived in the neighborhood still (I moved a couple miles away last year), I would probably order their takeout.

The service was really accommodating on both visits.

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Elite '08

90

788

Ian S.

Seattle, WA

Eh.  I tried a couple items here that I've had at lots of thai places in town.  

I'm not sure what was going on here this day, but the staff was notably annoyed to have customers.  I think it was part of the family that runs the place, so I guess it's their prerogative if they want to be dicks, but I don't have to love it.  

I can also write about it on Yelp.

So after being dumped into a table in an empty restaurant on an afternoon without a word and left to sit while the staff was out of sight off doing something else, I was able to have a sunny chat with whomever I was with at the time.  My lunch socializing was eclipsed by the annoyed service, mediocre thai, and generally unfavorable time.

I'd stick with the place across the street.  It's Kwanjai and Thai Tom for me in this town so far.

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0

55

Nobody S.

Seattle, WA

I absolutely love the food here.  It is very good and very consistant.  We have tried so many different Thai places but always seem to go back here.  
The food and delivery is great. The prices are very reasonable and they are very accomodating.  In fact one night we order some food and it arrived quickly.  But once inside and we started to plate it up we realized that everything was wrong.  We must have gotten someone elses food.  We called to tell them about it and with in about 20 minutes we had fresh food with no questions or attitude.  You know thats all I expect sometimes, if a mistake happens just fix it with no attitude.
Give it a try.

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4

51

luvtotravel J.

Seattle, WA

Fremont has so many Thai restaurants to chose from and this one is my favorite!  The people there are so nice and friendly - they remember you - talk about great neighborhood place. They always have parking and in the summers they have a great outdoor seating area.  
I suggest ordering the chicken satay with fresh cucumber salad, yellow curry or their pad thai. Their curry fried rice is also tasty.  You never have to wait long and the food is fresh.

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Elite '08

293

790

Maria C.

Seattle, WA

When a group of Yelpers decides to try a restaurant for the first time without even checking to see what other Yelpers think - now that's some out-of-the-box, adventurous dining. And it paid off. Like Michael said, the ladies were sweet and I love that separate checks were no big deal. My King Crab Avocado curry was declicious and there was a lot of it. Lots of huge chunks of crab swimming in yellow curry with green and red peppers and onions and cool avocado slices to balance the spiciness. Ok, ok, so I only order two stars spicy, I'm a wimp, I admit it. But 2 stars here is like 3 stars in other places I've been to. In fact, it was so good I may just bump up my future star orders. Unless I go back to Kasosamai, which is highly likely on a sunny day with the lure of that enormous deck. Two stars out in the Fremont sunshine should suffice.

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Elite '08

147

666

Mitzie H.

Seattle, WA

I was part of the yelp group who came in here "yelp-blind" on Saturday.  Sometimes this can be a bad thing but thankfully it wasn't for us.  I went simple, Guay Tiow Tom Yum soup, it was tasty and had a nice flavor to it.  I asked for four stars and normally with any Thai soup it's NEVER spicy but this actually had a tiny bit of a kick to it, not four stars but at least two.  Everyone's food looked great I'll for sure be going back to try the King Crab Avocado curry, of course minus the bell peppers, it looked as delicious as it sounded.  The topper of the whole meal was the fact the server willingly did individual checks for all of us no questions asked, no bitching, no whining it was wonderful.

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Elite '08

79

70

Rebecca L.

Bellevue, WA

I went here with the m-squad (Maria, Michael and Mitzie)  and the new Ian (Ian L) and I could not have had a better time with better food!  i got the gang --- curry and the king avocado curry.  To be honest, the king avocado curry, though grandiose in name, was not that great.  It was good, but not incredible.  The gang curry, was, however, muy excillente.  One point you must consider is that before having Kaosamai, I had Theo's chocolate.  I thought that it would be impossible to eat something after Theo's because my taste buds would have been forever skewed. BUT the gang curry goodness made me realize that i could enjoy food other than chocolate.  

Also, besides them being cool and splitting the check, they also serve brown rice!!! YAY FOR BROWN RICE!! it made me feel semi-healthy.  post Theo and gang and king crab curry.  

It is def. worth every penny!!

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4

11

ian l.

Seattle, WA

As I recall, two days hence, the location was convenient; the building a refitted single-family home-style affair, and inside had the familiar budgeted pan-asian trappings, a couple steps above dime-a-dozen Pho houses and a few steps below franchised Thai.

We were seated quickly, a minute or two later given menus with a good variety of standard Thai fare along with some more exploratory dishes, and I ended up splitting the pineapple duck red curry and the avacado green crab curry with Rebecca L., accompanied with a side of jasmine rice. The former was definitely the favored dish, with a unique blend of savory, sweet and spice that was gone quickly compared the the latter, of which we ended up having a remainder boxed up. The duck curry could definitely earn a repeat order in the future.

In the green curry's defense, it was a larger portion, but the flavors just didn't cooperate the same way. It had a heterogeneity to it that wasn't displeasing, per se, but did seem somewhat unrefined by comparison. All in all, food-wise it created an experience that did not disappoint in the least.

In terms of staff, they were unobtrusive, responsive, and kept my rapidly-drained water glass refilled about 70% of the time, (which isn't easy) and also did everything expected.

To conclude, I'll say this: Kaosamai did not disappoint, but the quality of the experience was such that I'd not so much seek it as perhaps stumble upon it again, most likely as a result of attending a more memorable draw, like the Theo chocolate factory tour.

The fact that a bazillion other Thai places are within walking distance means that I'm probably more likely to continue searching for greener pastures, but as you pursue yours, Kaosamai is a worthy pit stop.

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Elite '08

13

53

Kat H.

Seattle, WA

Due to the awesomeness of the deck, the friendliness of the service, and the spiciness of the food, I will now make Kaosamai my "go-to gal" for Thai food. She's a peach. Which is what kept me away, initially. I used to drive by thinking...my god! The garish colors! Don't they know you only paint things that bright if you live in certain parts of Latin America or the Netherlands Antilles? But I got over myself after reading a bunch of Yelp reviews, and decided to give it a try. Thanks, Yelpers, for helping me keep an open mind about the paint job on my dining establishment. Because the off-putting exterior couldn't be farther from the "internal truth", which is that the Kaosamai kitchen has got it goin' on!

I went there last weekend and ordered Tom Kha soup. Not only is tofu a protein option in just about every dish, their Tom Kha tofu was three times as rich and pleasant as the soup I usually grab at another less compelling Thai location. The soup was so good that I high-tailed it back there 5 days later just itching for K-sam to show me more. Note to anyone wanting to win me over: make sure it involves coconut milk. You can put me in a trance and make me give you the deed to my car as long as coconut milk is part of the bargain. When I come out of it, I'll call you a sucker for trying to rip off such a junker. But I digress.

My next foray into Kaosamai cuisine involved some phad see iew and a green curry. Not only did the curry contain a vegetable that I only vaguely recognized and could not name (which totally impressed me...and maybe you'll think I'm a dolt, but it turned out to be Thai eggplant), but the wide rice noodles in the phad see iew kicked some rice noodle ass. They were clingy and savory and tasted like they had just had a hot 'n heavy makeout sesh with some wok smoke right before they were plated for me (and that's a good thing). They had more than just the usual broccoli involved--there were carrots present, too. And they were so darn good that we ate the whole thing.

It's not often that I go home from a Thai restaurant without leftovers. The portions here were as typical as anywhere (except, perhaps, Tup Tim, which is not nearly as good but certainly more voluminous). We just licked the plates clean, that's all. And there was no shame involved. Thanks to the kickass deck, this place is the new El Chupacabra. Except the servers are eager to please. And the food actually tastes the way it's supposed to. And there is no bitchy attitude or long wait. Wait a second, it's nothing like El Chupacabra at all...it's actually GOOD! So run, don't walk, to Kaosamai the next time you're jonesin' for a little fish sauce spring in your step. And p.s.: the veggie spring rolls & dipping sauce are dee-lish. I can't wait to go back for more.

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0

3

Seth V.

Seattle, WA

Their big patio is what sold me.  Lots of seating outside and even though we had 8:30 reservations (on a Friday) for outside seating, we showed up at 8 and had no problem getting a table.

I had the drunken noodles (Lard Na) with Tofu, 2 stars spicey and thought it was very good.  A little white rice under  the noodles on the plate and it filled me up.  GF had some ginger dish and thought that it didn't have any ginger falvoring, so she wasn't really a fan of Kaosamai.

The service wasn't really the best, which is why I gave them only 3 stars.  While they were very friendly, they didn't check on the table very often.  After seating us, it took about 10 min till they returned and we ordered.  I had a beer with my meal and would have had a couple more had they returned to the table after bringing out food out.  I finished my first beer about half way through my main course.

Overall, a nice spot on the main drag in Fremont where the food is good and there is plenty to take in (nectar next door or the bikes riding by trying to impress everyone)

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2

6

Rebecca B.

Seattle, WA

Fantastic Thai Restaurant full of helpful people. Though the food was a tad spicy, it was delicious! I'll be back!

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Elite '08

15

89

Megan M.

Seattle, WA

This is my favorite Thai restaurant.  I've tried some other places where the food seems to have been sitting around for awhile in grease.  But every time I get food from Kaosamai, it's delicious!  It somehow seems healthier too, maybe because of the fact that they use less oil or something.  

My favorite menu item is the fresh spring rolls with prawns.  They are so delicious!  They come with a peanut dipping sauce that is delectable.  I also love the pineapple curry and the cashew chicken entree.  They also offer brown rice which I usually get, and they DELIVER!  So awesome!  There's a nice deck at the actual restaurant which is nice in the summer.

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0

8

john g.

Seattle, WA

get the volcano chicken!
this place rocks and definitely stands out in a seattle-sea of thai restaurants.

I go here about once a month, and when its nice out it is fun to sit on the patio and people watch (always fun in fremont).  Some places get too comfortable with the seattle reputation for thai food and many places use a ketchup mixture instead of real thai sauces.  not this place.

i like it.

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Elite '08

46

88

Amani E.

Seattle, WA

they deliver. This is what drew me to Kaosamai. It surely wasn't the dearth of Thai restaurants here in little Bangkok, aka Fremont.
It also wasn't the peach colored house with the chain link fence around the deck that drew me in.
Once I found their website, kaosamai.com, I looked over the menu- pretty standard thai fare- I decided on my standard order- pad see ew and spring rolls.
The cutie who arrived at my door within half an hour (Don't count on this, I just live around the corner (I know, how lazy??) ) handed me my food and smiled wide.  He knew his goods were, well, good.
WOW. Delicious, full of flavor, not too greasy, fresh and abundant veggies and tofu in the noodles! Some places use the broccoli as a garnish, rather than as a feature of the dish, and I love broccoli and want lots of it! There was plenty. The food was hot, relatively cheap, and the dishes were HUGE! Definitely leftovers for lunch the next day.
Kaosamai gets my vote as my second favorite thai restaurant, second only to Kwanjai, who has my loyalty from nine years of living around the corner from them.

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25

416

Rick L.

Seattle, WA

I just had the best spring rolls (the fried ones are only 6 dollars and you get a bunch of mini ones, TONS) here the other night. The waitresses were extremely nice and we talked for a little while about some of the recipies they have as specialities. The prices are quite fair, and I totally had to take half of what we ordered home - there was so much! UPDATE: Having gone to this restaurant for over two years, I'm very confident in saying this is the best Thai restaurant in town. It's constant great quality, the strong customer service, the selection, and most importantly their cost-vs-quality ratio is amazing. I've now become friends with the owner's niece who managed the store (mostly by herself), while the owner was in the hospital. Make sure to tip well, as this place definitly deserves your patronage.

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4

72

ian l.

Seattle, WA

another good one

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