It was Wednesday evening, we didn't have a dinner plan and tonight, Valentines Day, I have to go to Bainbridge for a school meeting. Why not try Budda Ruksa again? It was still early.
We got there about 5 pm. Plenty of street parking available. We were immediately seated, I mean, we weren't even in the door yet when the Host was asking us how many and leading us to our seats. That set the tone for the rest of the night.
We were seated in a two person table by the window. The place was maybe half full. The server gave us three menus. A drink menu, a bar menu and a dinner menu. I passed the drink menu to B, and scanned the bar menu. The menu was an 8X11 laminated sheet, white background with busy Thai patterns on it. It was a little hard to read, especially in the dim lighting. It wasn't that interesting of a bar menu.
I grabbed the dinner menu and opened it. It started out with appetizers. Calamari, Crab Rangoo, the usual Tha apps. The last thing on the menu, hard to read because the menu has a gradient background that starts white at top and blends to a dark red at the bottom. The last thing on the menu was fried bananas. Cool! I don't even like bananas much but this was fun to see.
The entree menu was equally impressive. An amazing collection of dishes. Lots of seafood. Lots of everything. It was a very expansive menu. I read it all, every page with great scrutiny. Everything sounded fantastic. I knew before I walked in I was getting Phad Tha with Tofu. It is my barometer of a Thai Restaurant. If it's good, I'll come back and try something a bit more exciting.
We ordered beverages and Salad Rolls. The appetizers came before the server even left the table! Ok, exxageration, but not by much. I swear we had three servers, all filling things and bringing things. Practically hovering. It was impressive, borderline over the top, but they were all very nice and sincere. They truly wanted us to have a good dining experience.
The salad rolls were fine. What can you do with a Salad roll? Everytyhing was very fresh.
Dinner came minutes after we ordered it. My Phad Thai was simply amazing. It may very well be the best I have ever had. Not too orangy, like so many places do, cheating with Orange Juice concentrate. The closest I could compare it to was Thai Simple Curry. Not over the top on seasoning, just right. Three stars was a little mild, but that is what chili sauce is for. I actually used all of the sauce. I left the jar out on the table, so they could fill it for the next table, before I took my hand off of it, a server grabbed it and refilled it! Wow. How did they see that? Oh, and the Tofu. Did they make it fresh to order? I have never had such fresh Tofu before. It tasted really good.
B had the Crispy Garlic Chicken, the fan favorite. Everyone I have heard talk about this place has said to get the Garlic Chicken. She loved it, couldn't stop eating it.
We will definately come back here again!
http://www.buddharuksa.com/
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Friday, February 8, 2013
I need some decent Phad Thai!!!!
Back in early January, I went to a wedding reception at Phayathai on Lake City Way. http://www.phayathaiseattle.com. It was really good, great Phad Thai. I have been craving more ever since, but don't want to go to Lake City to get it.
We went to the Thai Landing on Alki. The place has changed names a few times in the little over a year I have lived here. Its not good. In fact, its really really bad. It has a view and free wi fi though.
I've heard people speak of a really good Thai Place near the Taco Time on Fauntleroy and 35th SW. I have looked and looked and looked, and have never found it. Last week I heard someone talking about the place, and got the name. Buddha Ruksa. http://www.buddharuksa.com/. I googled it, found the location. It is N of Taco Time, on the corner of Genessee and 36th. A residential street and nearly impossible to see from the arterial.
We set out to eat, late due to afternoon appointments. We are never out this late, 7 pm. So much traffic, its still dark and so many people. I don't like going out at this hour! The place has no parking, we parked a few blocks away and were under dressed for the walk. It was cold and windy.
The place was PACKED. Its not that big, and it was overflow this evening. We managed to get to the host and where told it would be at least 30 min. We left. We will come again at 4 pm.
Well, we still needed dinner. I really didn't want to sell out and just go to Taco Time. But it was tempting. Then I remember the same person who was last speaking of Buddha Ruska was also saying how he finally tried Bang Bar on California Ave. and thought it was even better. So, we decided to check it out. http://bangbarthai.com
Who says the economy is bad? So many people. We again had to park several blocks away. We passed the Irish place, packed. Bang Bar had one other couple waiting for a table. We waited.
The host seemed frazzled. He came up to us after 5 minutes or so and offered us a table. I looked that the couple who was there before us. They were staring at us in disbelief. I told them to take the table, they were there first. They were pleased and went and sat down at the table.
Two more parties came in and seemed to have been seated right away. I noticed that a table had opened up in the bar and they snatched it. Later the Host came and started complaining about a table who had paid 30 minutes ago and wouldnt leave! He asked us if we wanted to sit at the bar. We took it. It was getting late.
The Menu was pretty good, but I wanted Phad Thai. Bronwen took her time reading the menu and settled on the Bang Bar noodles. Wide rice noodles with Chicken. She loved it. My Phad Thai was good, not great. Half way thought I noticed tiny chunks that resembled pork in my dish. I pulled one out and fed it to B. Tofu. So, they have big fresh fried chunks of Tofu AND small diced pieces of Tofu. Ok.
The Bartender was very attentive to us, he was good. The place never settled down by the time we left. Good dinner, I was pleased, despite the crowds and parking! I look forward to trying Buddha Ruska soon. Thai Simple Curry still remains my favorite, followed by Sawaday on Bainbridge, but this was good enough to return to.
We went to the Thai Landing on Alki. The place has changed names a few times in the little over a year I have lived here. Its not good. In fact, its really really bad. It has a view and free wi fi though.
I've heard people speak of a really good Thai Place near the Taco Time on Fauntleroy and 35th SW. I have looked and looked and looked, and have never found it. Last week I heard someone talking about the place, and got the name. Buddha Ruksa. http://www.buddharuksa.com/. I googled it, found the location. It is N of Taco Time, on the corner of Genessee and 36th. A residential street and nearly impossible to see from the arterial.
We set out to eat, late due to afternoon appointments. We are never out this late, 7 pm. So much traffic, its still dark and so many people. I don't like going out at this hour! The place has no parking, we parked a few blocks away and were under dressed for the walk. It was cold and windy.
The place was PACKED. Its not that big, and it was overflow this evening. We managed to get to the host and where told it would be at least 30 min. We left. We will come again at 4 pm.
Well, we still needed dinner. I really didn't want to sell out and just go to Taco Time. But it was tempting. Then I remember the same person who was last speaking of Buddha Ruska was also saying how he finally tried Bang Bar on California Ave. and thought it was even better. So, we decided to check it out. http://bangbarthai.com
Who says the economy is bad? So many people. We again had to park several blocks away. We passed the Irish place, packed. Bang Bar had one other couple waiting for a table. We waited.
The host seemed frazzled. He came up to us after 5 minutes or so and offered us a table. I looked that the couple who was there before us. They were staring at us in disbelief. I told them to take the table, they were there first. They were pleased and went and sat down at the table.
Two more parties came in and seemed to have been seated right away. I noticed that a table had opened up in the bar and they snatched it. Later the Host came and started complaining about a table who had paid 30 minutes ago and wouldnt leave! He asked us if we wanted to sit at the bar. We took it. It was getting late.
The Menu was pretty good, but I wanted Phad Thai. Bronwen took her time reading the menu and settled on the Bang Bar noodles. Wide rice noodles with Chicken. She loved it. My Phad Thai was good, not great. Half way thought I noticed tiny chunks that resembled pork in my dish. I pulled one out and fed it to B. Tofu. So, they have big fresh fried chunks of Tofu AND small diced pieces of Tofu. Ok.
The Bartender was very attentive to us, he was good. The place never settled down by the time we left. Good dinner, I was pleased, despite the crowds and parking! I look forward to trying Buddha Ruska soon. Thai Simple Curry still remains my favorite, followed by Sawaday on Bainbridge, but this was good enough to return to.
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