Bayou Bros

Earlier today I made my inaugural visit to Bayou Brothers after a missed attempt last week. Their initial menu is made up of several po-boy sandwiches (including soft-shell crab and alligator) and jambalaya. Last week, during an uncharacteristically late lunch for me, I went and checked out the menu for the first time and was unexcited to see the po-boy subs only were stacked with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and mayo, whereas I otherwise was expecting something more kicked up in the dressing department. I would have gotten a soft-shell crab sandwich, but plain old mayo really turned me off, and the jambalaya was sold out. Another time .... Later that day I tweeted suggesting the need for a more interesting condiment.

Less than a week later, I was pleasantly surprised to see mayo was gone and remoulade was in! I'll take that soft-shell crab po-boy now, please! The good: the bread was fresh, light, and well suited for the sandwich, and the sliced pickles added nice crunch. The not-so-good: the batter used on the crabs wasn't very interesting, and I would hardly call the remoulade anything more than a lightly seasoned mayo...!  Gimme that with some whole grain mustard, more herbs and spices, something tart, and some heat.

At $14, the sub (+Lays chips) is the same price as the last time DCers had soft-shells being served from a truck, but the earlier one was executed substantially better and came with a high-end side. The folks running around in a sweet update to the retired Eat Wonky truck are still quite new, but don't (yet?) compare to Cajunators. 3 honks at the moment, but I'll check it out again in a month or two.

In a follow-up to Friday's post, over the weekend I was finally un-full enough (after that marathon eat-fest at Farragut Friday) to heat up and enjoy the Brazilian tomato soup from newcomer Chef Driven.  It was creamy, rich, and light all at the same time.  Totally delightful and I can't wait to try a full meal from this sweetheart trio of gentlemen.  A little birdy told me the destination and menu for Tuesday, and I think I may actually have to make the extra hike to go grab some saffron scented shrimp risotto with roasted tomatoes, bacon, and olives.  Whoa!  Rating will come when I am able to catch up with them again.

Finally, I don't think I mentioned it previously, but hopefully folks caught my premiere blog post as a contributing blogger for the Cooking Channel's Eat Street program, which airs in the US and Canada.  Next post in progress....  Stay tuned.

Fat n' Happy

I hit a personal record 5 food trucks today around Farragut Square today, and needless to say, "I'm STUFFED!"  First up was to see my friend Alex at Far East Taco grill, because he was open early and I hadn't caught up with him in a while, so I grabbed a couple of tacos to eat while I waited in several other lines.  No need to review his food because I say all the time how much I love it.  Then I my first visit to the new-ish truck Cirque Cuisine. While the menu changes all the time, today's offerings really reminded me of Jorge Pimentel's retired truck Sabor'a Street which truly used to be one of my very favorite trucks, mostly because the menu changed all the time and it was always high quality and very fresh.

So now Cirque Cuisine is making a go for some similar traits in the frequency of menu changes.  However, based on a few of the menus I've seen posted from them, I don't think they are limiting themselves to Latin flavors, despite what today's menu looked like.  I went for the banana leaf wrapped fish and almost felt like Chef Jessica was embodying Chef Jorge.  The fish was perfectly moist topped with an incredible pineapple (and more) tropical salsa, and served over fluffy coconut rice.  And, while the fish was awesome, the sweet but slightly salted plantains were just insane.  They melted in my mouth.  Cirque Cuisine can be found under 4 honks.

Next.  Yesterday Borinquen Lunch Box tweeted to "Chef Driven" something to the effect of "nice to meet you today and good luck" so I asked, "Who's Chef Driven?"  (More on that later, but) during the brief Twitter discussion, Enrique informed me they would have crab empanadas on the menu for today.  Of course that meant I had to therefore make a stop at his truck today.  I found them to be light and crispy with an appropriate blend of flavorful crab meat and red peppers. 

After a quick stop to grab some sweet potato tots from DC Slices for afternoon noshing, (woot ... they're back...!) I started heading back to my office and stumbled upon, none other than, Chef Driven!  He was parked off the Square and looked pretty lonely compared to all the activity only a couple hundred feet away.

After a gander at the menu and a quick chat with the owners to explain I actually knew who they were because of my random Twitter conversation yesterday, I further explained I had already stuffed myself silly.

Totally appreciating my dilemma (although having zero idea I would be blogging about them later,) they offered a sample.  OMG!  Look what I was handed a minute later:

It's beautiful!  And ridiculously good.  Typically I don't care for tomato soup unless something else is going on with it (like beans, pasta, etc,) and this Brazilian variety totally satisfied.  I've only had a couple of spoonfuls so far, but will totally devour the tomato-coconut-rice concoction later.  With only a taste, I don't feel right awarding a rating, but I'm feeling like this will be a 4 honker.  I anxiously await the next visit to anywhere in a 4-block radius of 19th & I so I can chow down on a whole meal.  (HINT, HINT!)

Earlier this week, I made a return to Flavors of India where my biggest complaint after my first visit was with the naan; it was much improved this time, and I continue to be happy with what is being served off the white bus.  I also caught Pepe for a second try, and while I of course HAD to get the Ibérico again, I figured I should try something else too.  The Butifarra "Burger" would earn 3.5 honks on its own (but average 4 & 3.5, you still get 4) for the combination of aioli and "brava" sauce -- A party!  And a nice complement to the juicy, uncased, flat sausage.

Happy Easter everyone!

Mojo wins with Tapas

To date I still haven't been to the Mojo truck as the 'Chivitos' don't appeal to me personally, but last Friday the same team of people officially launched a second truck, this time with a tapas concept.  At the moment, they offer 4 savory options (2 for $8 or 3 for $9,) plus flan for dessert ($3.)  All tapas plates are served with potatoes provencal, a.k.a. seasoned french fries.  The result is $9 will get you a ton of food.

Starting at 12-o'clock, we have spicy, garlic sauteed shrimp over a piece of french bread.  Of the three tapas today, this was by far my favorite as a whole, and to me was the most appropriate tapa "size".  It is just as it sounds, but the juice from the saute pan get soaked up deliciously by the bread when the small shrimp are poured over for serving.  

Next I had the sausage shown on the left which, billed as chorizo, didn't come off that way.  I was expecting some good heat but this was quite mild.  As far as format is concerned, I had Jaleo's chorizo tapas in my head, which has 5 little sausages, about the size and shape of Vienna Sausages (not taste or texture, obviously.)  Thus, my (unfair) expectation was different than what I received, yet I personally wouldn't call a single, large link like this a tapa.  Having said all that, the quinoa salad it was served on with dried cranberries, lentils, herbs and more was the single best thing on the plate -- I'd order a bowl of that on it's own.

Finally, the potato croquette, stuffed with (a little) bacon and provolone cheese...  Despite being creamy, well flavored, and perfectly fried, it was dry.  I found myself trying to rub each bite in the well of the container which held the shrimp for a little moisture.  It would be well suited to be served with some sort of sauce.

Tapas Truck is serving something different than what other trucks presently offer, and notwithstanding the fact it is served in a styrofoam container, there is a pleasant, slightly more "refined" feel to the plate.  3.5 honks.

Revisiting Kraving Kabob

Lunchtime today presented an opportunity for another visit to try Kraving Kabob again.  The last time there were issues with my order for no apparent reason, but when I tweeted the blog post, they did reply to offer a freebie on my next visit.  And with this visit (sans freebie) it was clear they genuinely want to try and please their customers.  I ordered something off-menu knowing the ingredients were on-board, although not at all to test them.  Kraving Kabob offers a couple of chicken options and also a steak & cheese, so I asked if they could do a chicken-steak and cheese.  "No problem, we want you to be happy" was the cheerful reply.  While I ended up taking all the filling and eating it on 1/2 the sub roll, I think this may be a sandwich they should consider adding to the menu.  I was grateful it came with the same flavorful green sauce without having to ask, as I had forgotten about it from last time.  It was otherwise about what you'd expect: chopped chicken kabob and cheese on a long roll.

Since my November visit, they've changed the brand they use for french fries, plus they are now served loosely wrapped in aluminum foil which wasn't completely closed so the steaming problem has gone away ... major improvements for both points.  I'd like to see some sauces available to the customers on the counter for adding to sandwiches or for fry dipping, but when I asked for white sauce for my fries, it didn't seem to be too big a deal other than it took attention away from the person trying to order from the same guy.

One no-no that I called Goode's out on back in October is the surcharge on credit cards, but was more egregious at Kraving Kabob.  My order was $8 and I handed over my credit card.  In this case I was told about the $.50 surcharge after the card was scanned, to which I replied "I would have paid cash then, had I known."  Apparently Kraving Kabob makes two trucks (that I know of) which charge to take credit, to my point related to Goode's Mobile Kitchen:

"...although I did find the $.50 charge to use credit off-putting.  No other truck charges for credit, or they take cash only.  Especially when the charge from Square (for example) is $.22-.27 on Goode's average order, how come $.50? ... so I'd reconsider the substantial up-charge on the credit payments."

At least Goode's told me up-front and didn't swipe my card before advising of the charge.

Now for some math

If 1/2 the Indian trucks serve kabobs, and if 1/2 the kabob trucks serve halal, and then if 1/2 the halal trucks serve gyros, and moreover if 1/2 the gyro trucks serve shawarmas, that equals how many of such trucks are out in DC right now?  17!  With that rough count, it's nearly 20% of trucks, not including carts.  Now I know they're not all the same, but I think you can see my thought process in this case, and now it's time to add one more!  Mayur Kabob House Curry & Kabobs.

 

According to the owner, they've been out for about a week, but another one without Twitter, so it's hard to know when and where.  (He did say he was hoping to be @TandooriTime by tomorrow ... we'll see.)  This is also the next in the growing line of brick-and-mortar shops to go mobile.  While I have an Indian friend who swears by the restaurant, I have another Indian friend who would prefer the food from the truck be more spicy.  (I tried to explain the truck is probably stuck trying to appeal to a broader audience by not kicking up the heat too much.)  3 honks with good potential to move up:

Mayur Kabob House (No Twitter yet, but hoping to become @TandooriTime) -- I was all set to slot the newest addition to the Indian food truckers (and friends, etc) in at 3.5 honks but thought better of it when I looked at what other trucks are in at 3 & 3.5 respectively.  However, this one has distinct possibilities to move up because I loved the flavors of everything.  The issues I had were with execution of 3 of the 6 items I ate.  First of all, I really enjoyed both the dal and the channa ... no concerns with either.  The naan was also better than Flavors of India in that it wasn't as dense.  But when I got to both the Seekh kabob and the buttered chicken, despite the pleasing tastes, the dry meat couldn't be overcome in either case.  Then the last challenge was with the rice.  While it was light and properly cooked, it was quite watery.  (No joke; I was shocked.)  I'll for sure try them again to see if the problems relate to opening-week jitters.  

Ice Cream Treat Season Has Begun!

After a mild winter, the cold treat trucks are beginning to come back out of the woodwork, starting with Scoops2U who's joined in the food truck party quite a bit as of late.  At the end of last season they were just starting out and you could occasionally find them randomly offering free 1/2 chipwiches at DCs usual truck locations.  With the recent warm weather, you can now regularly get whole sandwiches and cones (including in "specialty" flavors like pretzel and chocolate chip cookie cones) are available for $3.  That makes Scoops one of the best deals in DC.  

Look at it this way -- can you walk out of a 7-Eleven and get a mass-produced, probably freezer-burned chipwich for less than $2?  Unlikely.  For a buck more than that, this one is made on the spot with fresh baked cookies (or brownies, etc) and homemade ice cream.  Go early in the day rather than later because the cookies are softer, making the whole package substantially easier to eat.  Trust me on that one... I had one last week late in the day, and while delicious, the slightly harder cookie made taking a bite quite difficult as much of the ice cream just got squeezed out the back.

It also sounds like Sinplicity will come out to play again pretty soon, starting with weekend farmers markets and hopefully the truck soon after.  (CAN'T WAIT!!!)  I haven't heard anything from the Orange Cow or Pleasant Pops, but I have no doubt they both are making plans for 2012 launches.  Plus Goodies will be launching soon, which I am very much looking forward to.

As it turned out, this became a week of catching up with a couple old friends after hitting up Hula Girl, and today Far East Taco Grill.  I hadn't seen either Mikala or Alex in quite a while as I continually try to keep up with the new trucks and spread the love (...a near impossible task...) but it's always nice to return to old standbys that always deliver.  Thanks M & A, as always.  Happy weekend!

More Indian Food

Well, it was my first stumble across the latest Indian food truck to hit DC's streets earlier today, but the owners of Kebatik said they've been out and around for a couple of weeks.  The nondescript red truck with no name has 4 menu items:

 

Standing outside the window, you can see the chicken shawarma roasting on it's spit, and it looked awesome, though I opted to try the chicken biryani instead.  While the rice was well cooked and nicely flavored as rice, there were some really large pieces of several spices which were unpleasant to bite in to ... chunks of hard cinnamon and whole, pretty aggressive caraway seeds.  Right or wrong from traditional biryani, I was also expecting "chunks" of chicken running through the rice, more cubed or shredded, but this was two roasted chicken legs with the rice piled on top.  A well of "gravy" was served in one of the smaller pockets of the takeout container, which, when coupled with the mint and hot sauces also served on the side, summed up everything to make a pretty decent dish.  (The gravy had a stray shrimp, presumably from the curry; let's just say I am unlikely to be ordering that in the future.)

The simple salad on the side left a lot to be desired, however.  I think the greens were washed and then sat heavy for quite a while as they had a texture and taste that really failed.

Next time I'll probably ask if I can have the shawarma chicken in biryani rice, and I think that will be a real winner.  Nice, engaging folks, but only 3 honks for my first time. 

I also gave Fojol Brothers of Volathai another try, ordering a dingo bite of Beef Massaman.  It's a coconut-based curry, a little similar to Panang, with beef and potatoes.  While I wasn't in love with my first visit, I'm much more optimistic after this experience.  The massaman will be my Thai "BB Gun" -- with the Fojols, that's a double buttered chicken from Merlindia, a double beef berbere from Benethopia, and now will be a double beef massaman from Volathai.  (While I can actually order that way at the first two, we'll have to see if the same will work at here...)

Sang has returned west of 14th Street

It seems like forever since Sang has been on this side of 14th Street NW, particularly considering at one point GWU was visited at least two days a week.  But today she popped her Farragut cherry for the first time... on a day that almost felt like a Farragut Friday given the volume of mobile eateries lining the square.  For me personally, it's been probably a year since I've had the chance to have some BBQ meatballs with noodles.  In that time, the prices seem to have remained about the same, yet you can see from the photos on the Ratings page 1/2 as many meatballs are being served with the combo.  Instead, since there are huge pieces of tofu and vegetables mixed in with the Drunken Noodles, so if those are your sort of thing, no problem because plenty of both comes with the noted side.  I will say however, the lamb meatballs were the best I've had from Sang with great flavor and juicy goodness.  (...just wish there were more than 2...)

For the first time, I also ordered an egg roll with my combo, and I was pleasantly surprised by the pork & veg crispy treat, made even better with the sauce which is ladled on just as you are passed your order.  $10 for the 2 meatballs, noodles, and an egg roll.

A bit after lunch, I was finally able to catch up with Stella's PopKern for an afternoon snack.  Having seen the menu a couple of times, it seems like the usual suspects are a large variety of cheese and/or caramel flavored popcorns, along with a french chocolate and salt mixed blend.  And then a couple options for olive oil & some-other-seasoning blend which seem to change regularly.  For example, last week one could have ordered basil olive oil with Thai ginger salt or Tuscan herb olive oil with rosemary sea salt.  Then yesterday the choices were lemon olive oil with salt & cracked pepper or roasted chili olive oil with lime fresco sea salt.  I went for the second option and found it to be light, both in flavor and in that it didn't "weigh me down".  It might be nice for a bit more seasoning, but will say my enjoyment increased the further I made it through the bag.  Prices range from $2.75-5 for a small (think small brown lunch bag sized) and $5.25-9.50 for a large.

No Heart Attack for Me!

Because that greasy but heavenly fat on the most expensive single thing you can presently buy from a DC food truck is apparently (maybe) good for you!!!  Let me 'splain....

I arrived early to visit the new Pepe truck from James Beard award winning chef, José Andrés, just as they were pulling up.  Since all the flautas (sandwiches) seem to be "pre-stacked" it only took them about 5 minutes to get ready and begin serving.  Up to the window and I ordered "the gold standard" figuring the order taker would know what I meant given the small fortune for the (already) most famous item on the menu.  After he chuckled at my lame joke, I went on to indicate I had heard it was "that good" and gently asked his opinion.  He said it totally was and that people "just didn't understand what Ibérico pork really (is.)"  Gee, I guess I didn't really either, so I took it upon myself to immediately be educated while I chowed down on my stacked pork, Serrano ham, caramelized onions, roasted green peppers, and alioli on a thin fresh baked (kind of) torpedo-style bread.  This is known as the Pepito de Ibérico.

When I first opened the neatly wrapped package, my first reaction was "I'm going to drop dead of a heart attack the second I'm done eating this insane-smelling concoction" as I saw pork fat oozing out the sides.  Then I begin reading... You've gotta love any yummy-like-butter description which reads:

"...A good ibérico ham has regular flecks of intramuscular fat (marbling). Because of the pig's diet of acorns, much of the fat is oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid that has been shown to lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol..."

Healthy, right?  Sure!  That's all I needed to devour my lunch without hesitation and, man was it good.  AND totally worth every penny of the $20, particularly now I've actually done the research to learn how fine the primary product is.  I don't even usually care for green peppers, but the aggregate really made for an unexpectedly smooth but rich, delicious bite (after bite, after bite.)

Ya think I'm gonna give this 4 honks?  Well, DUH!  Don't let the price or the marble scare you off.

Decisions, Decisions.

Based on the known options available from tweets For lunch today, I intended to enjoy a Kogi from Kimchi BBQ Taco.  As I arrived to Farragut Square today for my ritual truck lunch, I also saw a couple of the anti-Twitter usual suspects of House of Falafel and Lasagna Plus, but what would become more interesting was the white school bus parked near the NW corner.  I passed it off as a field trip or shuttle bus as I trekked across the Square for my spicy pork box.  Then while waiting for my food I realized that little school bus had coolers out front and was serving food. Time for a brief field trip for myself!!

There's no menu to speak of, but the side of the bus has several items listed.  

I asked the friendly gentleman standing in the bus' stairwell what was available and how is it ordered.  He said they at least have two vegetables every day, along with buttered chicken and some other chicken every day.  Today they had chicken kabobs.  Still no prices or further details, so I said I'd like to try both chicken options with some rice and naan.  He clarified if that meant two orders or one and I asked if it was available as a single order.  No problem.  Apparently that order was $8.  What I received must have been a sample of just about everything they were serving because I got a huge order including all kinds of stuff.

In addition to the chicken I ordered, I also received a large portion of channa masala and a smaller portion of mixed vegetables (vegetable korma?), both of which were enjoyable as simple side dishes.  (Channa under the naan in the photo.)  The buttered chicken had more of a tang than what the Fojols serve, and definitely had less heat; I wasn't sure I loved it with my first bite, but shortly realized I was quite happy with the sauce which was perfect to dip in to with the somewhat "heavy" naan.  (A bit dense, as opposed to light and lovely they was naan should be.)  Past that, the kabob chicken was juicy with an easy tandoori flavor.  I will definitely go back and award Flavors of India 3.5 honks.  No known Twitter yet though.

Meanwhile, as I'm leaving the Square to head back to my office, I walked directly past Lasagna Plus to learn they've added a number of menu items since my first visit: they now serve platters (eggplant/chicken parmesan and meatball) and sandwiches of the same.  I nearly stopped to grab some meatballs, but at this point I was already carrying two lunches.  Next time.

Surfside & Real 'Maui' Tacos

Well, I've been on the road basically since February 15, so I've been going through a bit of a spell of truck-withdrawl.  The handful of days I was home, I made it to Borinquen Lunch Box for another go at that awesome churrasco sandwich plus a quick stop to grab an Ethiopian BB Gun from the Fojols on my way to the airport last week.  Borinquen had a new pizza empanada offering which I found way more enjoyable than the chicken I had on my first visit.

Meanwhile, during my trip to Maui, I stumbled upon a late night taco truck in Lahaina called Sonora Tacos which served the most amazing pineapple salsa on a simple Al Pastor taco, served with a thin guac-crema.  Talk about fresh...!

For my first day back today, I strolled over to Surfside for a second try.  While the regular chicken tacos were not available, a steak taco special was, along with both fish tacos and shrimp tacos.  As before, all are served two tacos to a plate with a side of red beans & rice.  From my prior review, you'll know I quite liked my tacos but took issue with the undercooked beans & rice, so first things first: while not undercooked, a little fresh cilantro (or other fresh herb) would go a really long way to brighten the flavor of the otherwise fine, but humdrum, side.

Also during my last visit I noted the size of the tacos were a challenge and suggested the same amount of ingredients could (and should) be easily spread among three shells instead of two.  After today's visit, that sentiment bears repeating.  On the other hand, the tacos were delicious, albeit explodingly messy.  The steak had nice grill-char on the outside while maintaining a perfect medium rare inside.  Very chunky guacamole generously topped the steak along with shredded lettuce and lime crema.  In addition, I saw a black bean and corn salsa was being served on the fish tacos, so I asked for a little of that too -- for me, you can't go wrong with grilled corn anything, and I wasn't disappointed.

One thing Surfside customers might really enjoy is a variety or two of hot sauce available on the counter for kicking up the heat, to taste. ...Just a suggestion...

While I still don't totally love the rice & beans, the issue I originally called out has been resolved, so moving up to 3.5 honks as I had planned after only the tacos the first time.

Sesame Seeds & A Quesadilla?

I've been touting Far East Taco Grill nearly since Alex started just after Labor Day of 2011 and I will continue to because the food has remained both original and high quality.  In the 7-8 visits I've made, each and every time there has been something different on the menu from the last time.  Last time it was a kim-chicken quesadilla while today's visit featured a steak & corn one.  Marinaded rib-eye steak with the spicy corn "slaw" along with cheese and topped by crema, "#15 sauce," and sesame seeds.  I hadn't tried the #15 sauce previously because I'm in love with the spicy pineapple sauce, but it is sweet and tangy.  Tasting it by itself, I thought it might actually be too sweet for a quesadilla, however the crema diluted much of the sweetness so the blend worked nicely.  As usual, the beef and corn both satisfied.  For me, the only downside was the sesame seeds; they added a textural component that clashed with the corn pressed in the quesadilla itself.

Steak & Corn Quesadilla (w/ crema & #15 sauce) from Far East Taco Grill

Happy Weekend, folks.

Bump for El Floridano

Finally ventured back to El Floridano today.  For a short while I've been getting the feeling it was possible Stefan's organization issues might have improved, and with not much going on at Farragut today that I was really in the mood for, the Ho Chi Banh Mi began whispering my name.  "Thai-style" turkey meatloaf with pickled veggies, tamarind BBQ sauce, cilantro and arugula.  Other than being a logistical nightmare to eat, it was a commendable banh mi.  Take a large, fluffy sub roll, fill it with thick slabs of meatloaf, then stuff it with a variety of other ingredients and try to eat it -- I'm guessing you'll have a little trouble too.  But if the biggest problem is maybe getting only veggies in one bite and only meatloaf in another bite is the worst problem of the day, then things must be going REALLY well.  Other than the use of the BBQ sauce, another interesting change is the use of green mango instead of daikon in the pickled vegetable mix; it added more of a crunch than you might expect from the more traditional radish.

Bumping El Floridano to 3 honks, and recommending either the HCBI or PCL for your next visit.

Struck by Amorino's Arrow

When there is a pretty large, static menu available, is it really fair to give a singular rating after only one visit?  I don't know... I may have to ponder that.  BUT, if I were to give the new truck coming from a brick-and-mortar Amorini Panini honks, I'd give my sandwich 4 honks and the chili 3.  With a slightly different menu and higher prices than the Penn Quarter storefront, they have motto of "The Panini ... Done Right".  That they do!  My Southwestern was very generous for $6.29 both in the size of the bread slices, but also in the fillings stuffing the two slices of (your choice) sourdough or wheat.  The menu describes Amorini Sauce as being sweet & tangy mustard yet fails to describe what Amorini fire sauce is.  Can't complain though; it is delicious.  Still a tangy mustard I think, although there is also a decent hot pepper base without being too spicy.  The cheese melted to a lovely 'goo' and the sandwich was otherwise perfectly grilled.  As a bonus, the styrofoam containers they use are manufactured with ventilation holes in the top so your hot panini doesn't go in and steam, making it less crispy before you have a chance to dig in.  Kudos on that!

I also ordered a side of turkey & bean chili, not realizing how big the sandwich would be.  (I would have gotten the 1/2 panini & soup had I known.)  It was fine.  Not BBQ Bus, PORC, or Tops American Trucks level, but pleasant anyway.  About what you'd expect as a "soup of the day" offering.

Bottom line, I will go back without hesitation, and might even try something else.  The food was high quality and a good value.  Scoring at 3.5 honks ... the average of 4 & 3.

One further note, they are the first truck I've encountered that actually charges tax directly.  No doubt it has something to do with the brick-and-mortar location, but I wasn't anticipating an unrounded total check.

Tasty Kabob rebranded a truck to Tasty Fried

From the creators of the popular Tasty Kabob series of trucks now comes Tasty Fried, serving a variety of fried chicken or fish with picnic-type side dishes.

They've only been out a few days but currently seem to be focusing attention on their local college clientle at GWU who already get one of the 4 Tasty Kabob trucks each day.  The prevailing theory is the truck has been rebranded from one of the 5 TK trucks which were at one point circling the city.

I ordered fish & chips, along with a 3 piece tender meal wanting to try some potato salad.  Alas, no potato salad so no tenders for me then either as I understood the breading to all be the same; I'll just have to make do with sampling the breading on the fish only.  Reasonably light with nice flavor, the frying batter was actually quite enjoyable, but it was overshadowed by the fish.  Some bites were flaky and pleasing, yet others were chewy and kind of fishy tasting (not in a good way).  I believe it was due to the skin which remained on the small filets and when you got toward the ends of each piece, there wasn't enough flesh to compensate for the flavor the skin imparted.  On the other hand, the fries were crispy and gently seasoned.  Good job with those.  I did find prices to be reasonable - more so in comparison to what Tasty Kabob is charging against its competition.  3 honks.

Do you like good food? (and GARLIC?)

After months and months of planning, Borinquen Lunch Box finally started trolling the streets of Washington on Thursday, and the parking gods allowed them to bless Farragut with a visit to kick off a new week.  Serving Puerto Rican food, I understand the menu varies somewhat day-to-day.  Beef & chicken empanadas ($2/each), 3 types of sandwiches (all $8), and a special of chicken fricassee over rice ($7) totaled today's offerings.  After hemming and hawing between the Cuban and churrasco sandwiches, I landed on the churrasco because there was a special note that said it was made on freshly baked bread, which I had seen a photo of earlier in the day.  Let's just say I'm lucky I had no afternoon meetings, because hours later the garlic is still "with" me.  Having said that, the sandwich was incredible.

Lean skirt steak was marinated, chopped, and grilled, then generously stuffed in a half loaf of pillow-soft bread topped with tomatoes, shredded lettuce, shoestring potatoes, and "Puerto Rican sauce" (thousand island-ish made of ketchup, mayo, and garlic.)  Upon reading the menu I wasn't sure about the potatoes as they just seemed to unnecessarily add more carbs, but they did a perfect job to collect and retain some of the wonderful meat juices, particularly given how delicate the 'Pan Sobao' became by the same juices.  But as I said before, you need to really be aware that between the marinade and the Puerto Rican sauce, this sandwich is aggressively garlic-y yet possessing very appealing flavors overall if the garlic doesn't bother you.  It doesn't bother me, and the visit is worthy of 4 honks.

Other notes --

1. I didn't love the chicken empanada I ordered just to try, but for $2, it fairly priced and could make a light snack.
2. While this was not the slowest service one is likely to encounter with such a new truck, they would really benefit from leveraging the passenger jump seat up from to take orders from; both folks on the truck were operating out of one little window and that can quickly add unnecessary chaos.  I suspect it may have something to do with the fact the order taker didn't appear to speak Spanish and the (seemingly high) volume of people wanting to order in Spanish were forced to speak directly to the chef.  (Of the 7 people in front of me, 4 ordered in Spanish.  They all also spoke perfect English, but insisted on Spanish.)  Anyway, had the order taker been up front, the same interaction with the chef would not have been possible.  (Good or bad... HUM???)  Plus, of course, the muddled activity at the window would have been lessened.
3. After placing my order, I received a loyalty card good for a free sandwich after 5 punches, along with a Blow-Pop.  Love the loyalty card, not sure I get the Blow-Pop, but ok.  Cute I guess.
4. Finally, I wanted to recognize my truck cohorts for the organization of the line.  I've been noticing the trend over the last several weeks of the respectful (to other pedestrians) line, and today was no exception.  

Granted, this forms most easily when trucks are literally stacked on top of one another, but since the crowded sidewalks is one of the complaints of the truck-naysayers, I thought good truck-izens should be called out as well.

Weekend of Meatballs, Part 2

Sunday's project was buffalo chicken meatballs, linked from the same page as Saturday's lemongrass seasoned 'balls.  The idea is to make a single bite of flavor of buffalo wings but without the mess.  And it mostly succeeded.  Chicken and hot sauce with some eggs and breadcrumbs to hold it together, then baked.  The recipe even called for celery, a traditional side to wings, but I didn't have any so instead I minced another semi-traditional side, carrots, and added some ground celery for flavor.

Next time I plan on adding more hot sauce, and think I'll try adding some blue cheese crumbles directly in to the meatballs.  I will make these again as they are a nifty alternative to the usual wings.

Think we'll be hitting 4000 hits today on the blog.  Thank you so much for your interest!

My Weekend of Meatballs, Part 1

What better thing to do on Super Bowl weekend than experiment with some meatballs.  About a week ago, a friend posted on Facebook a link to a whole bunch of meatball recipes and a couple immediately jumped out at me.  First up, Lemongrass-Chicken Meatballs on Rice Vermicelli.  While there are a lot of components, there's nothing particularly difficult past a bunch of fine chopping.  The scallion oil and dipping sauce were both quite nice, but the grilled meatballs I found dry.

The next day I wanted to try and salvage the 9 leftover meatballs I had, so I took to slow braising them in a spicy Thai red curry sauce to impart some moisture.  We have a winner, folks!  With a slight char flavor from the grill still noticeable, the curry flavor paired perfectly with the mild lemongrass and garlic of the meatballs.  Then, saucing the whole plate with a bit of braising liquid and a dash of the dipping sauce made for a lovely juice I almost wanted to eat a whole bowl of on its own, like soup.

Today I'll be trying out Mini Buffalo Chicken Balls for the game.  Here's to hoping no re-invention is necessary...

PORC BBQ

I've noted before I was advised to get the pork BBQ from PORC and today I succeeded in that task.  Yet, even as I approached the truck, I started (again) thinking about changing my mind for something they were calling a "smokey sloppy joe".  Luckily there was a two meat plate available offering both the BBQ and the 'Joe, along with slaw and an additional side.  Of the two, I preferred the beef.  The exceptionally tender Angus beef was clearly braised with tomatoes and onions after smoking, creating a mild but delicious sauce.  On the other hand, the pork was slightly chewier in the sense it didn't fall apart as easily.  That more than likely works out better when put in to a sandwich, but then again, a sloppy joe is called that for a reason so if you ordered than in a roll, it should be sloppy.  For me, the pork just on the plate could have used a little more BBQ sauce because it is not cooked in a sauce but rather is doused on top for serving.  Granted, that helps in that you can pick which sauce you want (mild, medium, or hot) but it also means it's probably mostly gone by the time you get to the bottom of your heap of pork on a plate.  My 'hot' selection was peppery and vibrant, and pretty good but wasn't what I had the smudge of last week. On its own, the pork probably could use a bit more seasoning, but the sauce surely made up for it.

To cap of my plate of meat (and vinegar-based slaw) was my other side: a mint chocolate truffle.  It is really worth going to the truck just for this.  Creamy.  Rich.  And a pleasant mint flavor.  The flavors are reminiscent of Ben & Jerry's Mint Oreo ice cream, to me -- it is one of my favorite flavors of ice cream ever.

Perfectly content with my 3.5 honk rating.  I'll be back again soon.

On a side note, yesterday I visited Dorothy Moon to discover they now have chimichurri as a topping option.  Get it on your burger and then ask for a bucket on the side to dip "anything you may have lying around the office to eat" in.  Your significant other may not want to kiss you after, but it will totally be worth it.

Happy weekend, all.  See you next week.

Too hasty with Tops? Yes.

In my first review of Tops Truck, I gave them 2.5 honks because I didn't take the menu as very original, despite generally enjoying my food.  After a return visit today, I realized may have been too harsh because I haven't really held that standard for anyone else.  I mean, take Dorothy Moon for example -- an unbelievable burger scored them 4 honks on the first try, and what's particularly original about a burger (other than DC had been craving a burger truck.)

So today I took the opportunity to make another trip while enjoying some lovely weather at Farragut Square, and man is that chili good!  Not real spicy, but a nice tang with tomatoes, a few green peppers, and pinto beans.  For me it topped french fries and well melted cheese.  Don't plan on eating it all yourself.  Correcting my earlier mistake by bumping from 2.5 to 3.5 honks purely for the chili.  (Sorry folks for the earlier comments, but I really thought the bun needed help.)

Disappointed, and Not So Much

I was having a heck of a time trying to decide what to get today for lunch with only a handful of trucks tweeting they'd be nearby, but I hadn't had Red Hook since just before Thanksgiving so I figured that would be a good choice.  Hopefully today was just an off day because I'm sure hoping things haven't changed so drastically (for the worse) in the last two months.  Typically my roll is gone long before all the lobster, not just because it is well moistened by the butter poaching liquid, but because there is just so much lobster.  Today I practically had half a roll left and the substantially smaller quantity of crustacean was quite dry.  Really a let down.

On the flip side, I also decided to give House of Falafel another whirl now that the menu appears mostly "stabilized", not expecting much.  At first I ordered a beef shawarma, but noticed a couscous selection instead, offered with the same beef as the sandwich.  My plan was to sample while hot, then eat later, however I was still very much hungry after the weak Connecticut roll.  Since my expectations were low, I ended up reasonably surprised.  The beef by itself was well seasoned although a tad dry on its own.  But when eaten in a mouthful of all that was served, you're unlikely to be bothered by the lack of moisture in the meat for nestled between the beef and the couscous was, what I'm going to call, a middle-eastern style ratatouille.  I distinctly was able to identify at least zucchini, garbanzo & lima beans, peas, carrots, potatoes, onion, and tomatoes.  It could have used some more seasoning, and the couscous could be a little less mushy, but the combination of everything came off pretty well. 

The owner seemed crankier than I remember, and appears to not have figured out yet his business would do better if he leveraged social media like the rest of his truck brethren.  Not that there's a site to speak of up yet, at least www.thehouseoffalafel.com is no longer getting a '404' error.  Sticking with 3 honks.

Bangin' Bang Tang

More props for Alex at Far East Taco Grill for constantly evolving his Asian-taco fare (and then some).  During Friday's Farragut Friday visit, I was able to make my first visit of 2012 to find a new menu item and other changes. 

To start, many of the condiments have changed form, at least a little.  For example, there are no longer separate cheese and/or crema options; instead, there is a cheese-crema, which is crema with the cheese mixed in.  A new-ish addition, while it's been on the menu a while, the spicy corn slaw is worthy to eat a whole bowl of, although I don't find it that spicy.  But, the most important change in the "toppers" is the return of the pineapple sauce, this time kicked up a notch.  I had been begging Alex to bring it back after it had been off the menu since my inaugural visit in September, and I found zero disappointment with its delicious return.  There are a few additional minor changes, such as the departure of cilantro on its own; instead there is some chopped cilantro in the onion-lime finisher.  I was concerned the onion might be a little over-powering for a workday lunch, but the lime juice and Kosher salt to a decent job of tempering the red onions.  Having said that, not everybody is a fan of onions, so I'd like to see solo-cilantro return as an option.

On the protein side, the chicken has been elevated with a new marinade dubbed "Bang Tang", adding a little heat, yet moderate enough for those who don't care for spicy food, particularly once topped.  The chicken is now also part of a "Kimchicken" quesadilla ... just what you'd think: kimchi, chicken, and cheese grilled in a flour tortilla.  If you're not sure what to make of it, I wasn't either.  The whole thing works though, especially with the spicy mayo and sriracha it is topped with.  (Really.)  Eat it while it's hot though -- I wasn't able to finish before I was called away to a meeting, and when I got back to my desk, I didn't find it nearly as enjoyable.

Kimchicken Quesadilla from Far East Taco Grill

FETG has handily become one of my very favorite "go-to" trucks.  Thanks Alex; keep up the great work.  Maybe you should change the name of the truck to "Far East Taco Evolution" for all the changes you make to continually make to improve the dining experience.  :-)

In other news, long-time coming Borinquen Lunch Box launches today, unfortunately at L'Enfant.  I really want to try the churrasco sandwich.  Good luck folks!

PORC & Big Cheese

Yesterday I made a revisit to PORC and my own inaugural visit to Big Cheese after having a craving for some Cowgirl Creamery goodness.  After my last visit to PORC then being told next time I should get the mainstay pulled pork BBQ, I still was delinquent in that task although it is will now be a priority.  (The box my sausage came in had a smudge of BBQ sauce on it which I couldn't resist sampling -- holy crap that was good!  So, next time, I swear!  I just have to be in the mood to have more of a mess consuming my workday lunch.)

So, what did I get?  Well, not quite what I expected, but still tasty.  Lamb & beef merguez sausage with fig goat cheese.  You can see from the tweet I was expecting some sort of balsamic onion reduction which I did not receive yet was really looking forward to.  Instead there was a whole bunch of mustard which, to be fair, I think I might have been posted on the menu board when I got to the truck but failed to pay enough attention.  Anyway, it's tough to go wrong with any sausage selection, particularly coming from Simply Sausage, and this one didn't disappoint with its fresh flavors joining a little heat.  Plus, the goat cheese was awesome.  Mild, creamy, and modestly sweetened by figs.  As I've observed at other places, while I thought there was too much bread (crumb) for the offering as a whole, I was impressed at the elevated quality of the it over a more traditional deli sub roll.  Sticking with 3.5 honks and will be definitely going for the BBQ next time.  BBQ Bus, watch out!  ;-D  (jk)

Second stop was to grab a sandwich from Big Cheese, coming out with an initial 3 honk rating:

Anything that involves cheese from Cowgirl Creamery can't be 1/2 bad, particularly when we're talking the rich & creamy Mt. Tam...  And this grilled cheese with apples and honey wasn't (1/2 bad).  As one might imagine, a grilled cheese really should be eaten right away when it's most ooey-gooey.  Unfortunately I walked 2 blocks in 50* temps to my office which steamed the bread more than I would have liked.  My fault and I'll know next time.  Bites which included apple were better than those without apple where I just ended up with mostly a mouthful of just wholegrain bread.  It is a pretty good sized sandwich, but isn't close to filling me up at $6.50.

Mt. Fuji from Big Cheese

Mikala is my new BFF!

So I get a tweet out of nowhere this morning about 11:21: "Steak sandwich??"

HA!!!  I had to love it.  Mikala, proprietor of one of my "go-to" favorite trucks, Hula Girl, knows which stop I mostly use, what I eat, and how I take it.  Thus the ping.  I told her I'd be there in 10 minutes if she wanted to make it.  Sure enough, it all worked out perfectly.  (Yes, my friends with me did make fun of me.)

Actually, when Mikala sent me the text I explained I would be trying Fojol's new Thai truck for the first time today, but that I did want her sandwich for later.  (Trust me, I've had it cold many times, and it is just as good!!)  Off I went across Farragut Square to the land of Fojol.  At 11:35 they said "we're going to be 15 minutes."  Grrr!  Ok, back to Hula to pick up my sandwich and see what everybody else was getting.  Bottom line is no food was served from Volathai before 11:57.  The guy standing at the window kept saying things like "we have a different model than the other trucks" and "we cook everything once we park".  Fine, so get there earlier....?  Whatever.  It has been a couple of weeks; you're not that new any more, plus, the Fojols definitely know how to run a truck around here.

Anyway, I had a pick 2 with penang chicken and beef drunken noodles.  ($8)  The chicken was juicy, mixed with large chunks of carrot & strips of red bell peppers, and served over basmati rice.  While there were substantially more veggies than chicken, the coconut-curry meal was good: a bit sweet and more spice.  But then there was the drunken noodles.  It contained a large number of vegetables (red & green bell peppers, broccoli, onions, etc) and a little zesty beef, all coupled with wide, fresh rice noodles.  I make Pad Kee Mao for myself all the time, and I know what a challenge it can be to cook the noodles properly, particularly the fresh kind (which these were,) but these were quite mushy.  Based on a review I read of Volathai last week, I expected some really kicked up heat on the palate, but didn't find it particularly fiery, at least not for my taste.  There was one other issue you can learn about if you read my Twitter feed, but I'm not going to memorialize it here.

I haven't been shy about expressing my adoration for the Fojols first two ventures, but this one falls short.  3 honks.

Have a good weekend all!

I'm a dope: Apparently I didn't know what Gumbo was

Last week I made my first return visit to Cajunators since their soft opening at Truckeroo in August.  As each day's menu is posted to Twitter, I've been a bit disappointed I don't recall seeing jambalaya return to the menu since that day because I enjoyed it, evidenced by the 3.5 honks it received.  Figuring an updated review was due, I headed out to find the Cajunators truck when they were nearby and decided to try a couple new-to-me offerings.  First, the fried chicken.  OK, so fried chicken isn't new to me, and I normally go for grilled/griddled or baked/roasted chicken, but this was well seasoned in a flavorful batter and not greasy.  You can select 3 pieces from the usual suspects of thigh, wing, drumstick, breast, with one side for $8.  All-in-all, a tasty-great deal.

And then I thought I should actually get something more cajun than just the seasoning on my fries, and lucky-for-me, the menu offers a side of gumbo for $3.  Perfect, I'll have that!  Now, what's gumbo, because clearly I have no idea?  Actually, other than jambalaya (including one of my favorite dishes to prepare for myself at home, pasta jambalaya,) I haven't personally experienced much in the way of food from the Big Easy.  In my head I had the idea gumbo was kind of like jambalaya but more soup-y.  Apparently I was wrong because when I got back to my office and opened the bag, frankly I was a little scared to see a small cup of a dark sludge-looking concoction.

Once I stirred it around a bit, I found some tender white rice at the bottom.  "OK, I can do this..."  Chicken and andouille, and (as I've now educated myself) probably okra along with other vegetables.  A little spice, a little tang ... The whole thing was altogether delightful, despite an unexpected impression at first gander.  While it wasn't the soup-ish selection I was expecting on a rainy winter day, I'll go back again for more.  Sticking with 3.5 honks.