~Tidbits of Food & Life~: Afternoon in West Seattle!

Last Friday I had the day off from work as did my girlfriend and we decided to spend the afternoon out in West Seattle for some lunch and walking along Alki Beach. We had both heard about a good Thai restaurant in West Seattle called Buddha Ruksa and wanted to try it out. It was a little confusing getting there, but we found it finally after one wrong turn on the corner of Genesse street. It was a cute restaurant both from the outside and inside.

Yum!

Walking in during the latter part of the lunch hour, there were quite a few other customers there as well, but the service was great and we were able to get a table for two by the window. Our orders were taken soon after we arrived. The lunch came with a complimentary soup which we didn't know the name of but tasted like the typical hot and sour soup, however with lots of vegetables like bamboo shoots in it which we enjoyed.

Menu and complimentary soup

For our main lunch, we decided to order the green curry with chicken,eggplant, bell pepper and sweet basil as well as the phad kee maw which had stir- fried fresh wide rice noodles plus beef, egg, onion, broccoli, bell pepper, tomato and sweet basil with special chili sauce. The spiciness level ranged from 1-4 with 4 being the spiciest so we went with 3 because we are daring and like spicy. The dishes also came with a bowl of rice. I must say that the food here is delicious! We enjoyed the noodles and the curry and could not stop eating. The heat, flavor, and intensity of the spices were great. I appreciated that there was a lot of vegetables in both the noodle dish and the curry and eaten with the rice, there was the right amount of balance to everything. The only thing that could have been better was that the meats in both dishes, both chicken and beef were a bit tough and tasted like they were not fresh, but frozen and defrosted. Other than that the dishes were fantastic! The ambiance of the restaurant was also very nice with a dark wood theme to the place and plenty of large windows. Prices were reasonable as well. I would definitely recommend coming here if you happen to be in the West Seattle area and need something to whet your appetite.

Green Curry

(Green curry cooked with coconut milk, eggplant, bell pepper and
sweet basil. Your choice of chicken, pork, beef or tofu.)

Phad Kee Mao
(Stir- fried fresh wide rice noodles plus egg, onion, broccoli, bell
pepper, tomato, beef and sweet basil with special chili sauce)

After lunch we drove down to Alki Beach and walked off the huge meal we ate. No sooner had we started walking, maybe about 5 or 8 minutes, we saw a big blue truck..... it was the Molly Moon truck!!! I had heard that the local ice cream shop had an ice cream truck but I never saw it until this past Friday! What an exciting sight! We went over, perused the menu, sampled a few, and then of course I needed to get one. How can you be at the beach on a sunny day and not want an ice cream cone from Molly Moon?? Everything is made local and fresh and their flavors are pretty unique. I decided to go with the balsamic strawberry, yum!