Fremonsters aren’t the only ones lucky enough to nosh on the phad thai and vegetable and curry dishes of Phinney Avenue’s Kaosamai (pronounced Gow-sa-mai). Owner Doug Somerville takes his Thai restaurants to the road weekdays from 11-2:30. He parks his two trucks in Queen Anne at 3 W Nickerson and South Lake Union at 1010 Valley St. The South Lake Union location I visited is nicely nestled near the Center for Wooden Boats—if you’re not in a hurry it’s a great picnic spot.

With a $10 bill I opted for the Rama Garden ($6.50), a bed of stir-fried vegetables, white rice, and chicken dressed in a surprisingly docile peanut sauce, as well as a cup of unique bitter-but-creamy Thai iced tea ($1.50). I later learned that if you want spice, you’d better ask for it. But if you do, be prepared.

How long have you been truckin’?
[ Somerville] We started with our first one in 2005, and then we got the second one going just two years ago.

Where do you post up, and why?
The older truck goes to Nickerson on Queen Anne because it’s not a far drive from the restaurant and it’s very close to the SPU campus. The new truck we take to South Lake Union at the Center for Wooden Boats. I thought it would be a good area—if you want to buy lunch for $25 at Outback Steakhouse you can do that, but we offer some good cheap food.

Why did you choose the mobile life?
We did a lot of fairs at first, and people were telling us the food was too good for fairs. Then we decided to open the restaurant in Fremont, but we still had the vehicles so we decided to see what extra work we could pick up during the summer. Now we go all year round.

What’s the must-try item?
I would suggest the combo: We have a phad thai, curry, and spring roll combo that’s just awesome. We’ve also got a really good phad see iew and phad kee mow. Really, there’s 14 items to choose from on the menu, and it’s hard to go wrong.

OTHER POSTS IN THIS SERIES:
• If you’ve had your fill of ice cream this summer, Holly Smith and Heidi Gates have an equally sweet alternative.
• Even without the wheels, Tako Truk makes for quintessential street eatin’ culture
• Kurt Beecher Dammeier takes a love of pork to a new level
• Rodney Jones serves delicious soul food at Gert’s BBQ
• Meet Roz Edison of Marination Mobile
• Meet Adria Shimada of ice cream truck Parfait

PLUS: Map out other street carts according to their daily locations.