Lobsta Truck, LA

 We grabbed a snack after a movie at the Arclight Cinemas at Lobsta Truck which was just parked by Amoeba Records up the block. I was impressed. The lobster roll was only $12, cheaper than lobster roll food trucks back in NYC and DC. All the bread and lobster is shipped from New England as well. I ordered mine cold with mayo.

eggslut, LA

My first morning in LA, I grabbed a great breakfast at a food truck in West Hollywood parked by a coffee shop, The Comissary, called eggslut.
They make every item to order, so it takes a little time, but boy was it worth it. In the meantime, a lot of folks went to grab coffee at The Comissary.

I ordered "Thee Slut" which was a coddled egg in a jar. The lower layer was a wonderful and buttery potato puree, and all of it was topped with a sprinkle of chives. It came with some toast for dipping.
My friend Dan ordered the simple scrambled eggs on toast which they made really well, on a slow heat to give the egg a great texture.

Blue Bottle Coffee and Little Green Cyclo, San Francisco

Having been to Blue Bottle in Brooklyn, we figured we should go to the source in SF.  We went to the branch at Mint Plaza, just a short walk from the end of the Market Street cablecar line (yes, we did the touristy thing - I even hung off the side).

After seeing the cold brew set-up in the Brooklyn store, this one was not nearly as impressive.  But we got a cup of joe and head outside to grab a bite from the food truck parked on the plaza.

It was Little Green Cyclo - serving Vietnamese banh mi and other snacks.  We each got a banh mi -- mine was Five Spice Grilled Chicken, Redneckhunter's was House Made Pâté w/ Truffle Oil & Pork Roll.  They were huge - we really could have shared one.  We were also tempted by the Sweet Potato Tater Tots, tossed with basil and mint, with tamarind plum dipping sauce.

A nice cup of coffee, beautiful weather, a cellist playing in the plaza, people watching -- couldn't ask for more...

Portland Food Carts: The Gaufre Gourmet & Koi Fusion

Portland had the most food carts I've seen in any city. They are everywhere in town, and they offer a wide diversity of foods. While I was in town, I managed to squeeze a few in during the days I was there.
In Old Town, I dropped by the Gaufre Gourmet, which made Belgian liége style waffles. The waffle uses brioche style dough not batter, and ends up denser and more rich than regular waffles.
I ordered their ABC Waffle, which is topped with fig jam, camembert cheese, bacon, and arugula. It was really good, particularly the fig jam with the waffle.




Kitty corner to the waffle cart, Korean taco truck, Koi Fusion was parked, so I popped across to give them a try as well.
I ordered their kalbi, short rib, taco and the spicy pork taco. Both were really delicious. The tacos reminded me of the ones from the Kogi trucks in LA, but they were cheaper, and the corn tortillas were more fresh, so they did not have to cook them like they do on the LA truck. Portland win.

Tom Colicchio's Game of Thrones food truck

This week only, as a promotion for their upcoming show Game of Thrones, HBO and Tom Colicchio teamed up to serve food inspired by the medieval fantasy show. Petiteseour waited in line for an hour, but got the scoop for us!

Petitesoeur reports:

I hit Tom Colicchio/HBO Game of Thrones food truck @ Lincoln Center on Wed, Mar 30. The "dragon fire " seafood stew was tasty. It had an array of seafood swimming in the blackest black cuttlefish sauce & a slight kick of heat from the "dragon" pepper.

Go if you've got time to kill [I waited almost an hour on line] & have a dinner destination in mind for afterward cause the food is free so the portions are just tasting-size.

The fire was easily put out by a lovely tart & creamy lemon cake. I didn't get to taste the pickled egg (you had to pick one of the two dishes being served) but it looked fab: deep red with a bright yellow yolk.


Tomorrow's the last day you'll be able to catch the truck in NYC - first 300 lucky people get served. Next week they'll be doing it in LA.

For more info, menus, etc. visit:
http://www.makinggameofthrones.com/

They will be tweeting (@GameofThrones) food truck locations and posting on Facebook.

Wafels & Dinges

We went up to the city this past Saturday to meet up with 1000yregg for his birthday dinner of Bo Ssam at Momofuku Ssam Bar (I imagine there will be a post about this soon...), so in anticipation of our dinner feast, we skipped lunch. So imagine our delight when we found the Wafels & Dinges truck outside the Guggenheim! Perfect for a mid-afternoon snack to tide us over... We kept it classic, sharing a big Liege waffle with dark Belgian chocolate - YUM!

Curbside Cafe, Burrito Truck in Baltimore

Baltimore is just starting to hop on the food truck scene much more popular in cities like LA, New York & Portland.
The Curbside Cafe is a burrito truck that just started in the last few months, showing up mostly at local festivals and events instead of a regular rotation. I visited their truck at the Sowebo festival last month.
I tried their Chana Masala burrito, with avocado and cheese. It was pretty good- an interesting use of Indian flavors. I would love to try their pulled pork the next time I find them.

Icedgems, Cupcake Truck in Baltimore County

In Baltimore County, Icedgems Creations started selling cupcakes out of a food truck a few months ago.
I sampled some of their cupcakes after finding them at the Catonsville Farmer's Market.
I liked their Lemon Tang and Key West (lime) cupcakes, both of which had a good blend of tangy and sweet flavors.

My favorite was the peanut butter and jelly because the jelly was baked into the cake itself. It reminded me of the Tastycake jelly krimpets I had sometimes as a kid.

Miss Twist Ice Cream Truck, Baltimore

One evening, I came across the Miss Twist ice cream truck parked at the Locust Point fire station in Baltimore.
She serves soft serve ice cream, but she can also make sundaes as well as milkshakes. I had a nice black and white shake that night.
I asked the lady if she considered having followers on Twitter or another comparable web presence, but she said she really didn't need to. All I know is that 9 pm most nights of the week, you can find her at the Locust Point fire station.

Kooper's Chowhound Burger Truck in Baltimore

Last week, managed to find Baltimore's burger truck, Kooper's Chowhound via their Twitter account.
Ordered up a MacGuiness burger with cheddar and applewood bacon. The Angus beef was cooked medium-well, good sized, and had a nice bun. They got the burger out quickly, but I sense the meat is a little pre-cooked to speed up service instead of made to order.
I also got a side of 50-50 fries with sweet potato fries and regular fries.
I would say, the experience was ok. I think I prefer North Carolina's Only Burger for the fact that they are cheaper, the burgers are truly made to order, and their fries were better.

Only Burger, NC

Last week, I was attending the concerts for the 20th anniversary of Merge Records at Carrboro's Cat's Cradle. After the shows let out, a food truck from Only Burger was parked in the parking lot.

I ordered a single cheeseburger with fries, and it was pretty good. The burger was fresh and made to order, and the fries were fresh, crisp and nicely sprinkled with black pepper.
The guy with the trucker hat in the picture is Kurt Wagner from the band Lambchop, who would play one of the best sets of the concert series the following night.

Super Takoyaki Balls in Tokyo

On our first day in Tokyo, we went to a section of town called Akihabara, aka "Electric Town", an area know for it's electronics and "otaku" stores. We walked past some food vans, and I immediately knew I wanted to try a cart that featured giant Takoyaki stuffed with 10 ingredients.

Normal takoyaki, consists of a ball of batter filled with squid, but these takoyaki advertised 10 items including squid, clam, sausage, cabbage, mashed potato, quail egg, mushrooms, corn, and 2 other things I could not identify (sorry). They were also about 3-4 times larger than the usual takoyaki- about 3-4 inches in diameter.
The ball is then topped with okonomiyaki sauce, bonito, and mayo. The cart offered alternate toppings like cheese, kimchee, and onions as well.
It was like eating a giant spherical Japanese hot pocket- yum.

Comida Mexicana Taco Truck, Carrboro, NC

In the town of Carrboro, there are two taco trucks, one by Fitch Lumber, the other by Cliff's Meat Market.
I went to the one by Cliff's at 11pm Sunday night and grabbed a lengua taco. I am used to homemade corn tortillas, but for two bucks, the taco was good, nicely filled with delicious beef tongue.

100 West Main Street
Carboro, NC 27510

North Shore shrimp truck

This was one of the two places that everyone, and I mean everyone, told me we had to go to when we were on the North Shore of Oahu -- the shrimp guy. (The other being the shave ice place) Well we figured we'd know it when we saw it, and sure enough on the side of the road was this sign:

Not to be confused with the Johnny-come-lately knock-offs, who I noticed all parked closer to the main beaches...

There were 3 types of shrimp plates: scampi (with garlic), spicy, and lemon-butter. Each one came with 12 shrimp and 2 scoops of rice. We opted to share a spicy - it had kick, for sure. But overall, I wondered what the hype was about... It wasn't the experience of the shrimp places in Taiwan, where you fish your own lunch out and have it cooked fresh.

But I suppose before Giovanni's became a tourist destination, there must have been that sense of discovery, of finding something wonderful on the side of the road, of sitting on benches in sandy bathing suits peeling shrimp with salty hands.