Tapas Truck

 

Today I tried a new truck: Tapas Truck. You can get 2 tapas for $8 or 3 for $9. You can also get an order of garlic fries or corn fritters for $5 each. I went for the 3 tapas to try them out. Chicken with saffron rice was #1. Very good. The sauce was excellent and the rice just set it off. I did not enjoy the chicken so much, too much fat and dark meat, but I would still get this again. #3 was the shrimp. They used baby shrimp and it was in a spicy tomato sauce with a crostini. Tasty, probably would skip the next time though. #4 but certainly not least were the corn fritters with a cilantro sauce. SO GOOD! So very good! The sauce was perfect on the crunchy and slightly sweet fritters. I will order those over and over again.

Verdict: Would definitely go back, even if only for the fritters.

Amorini Panini

 

Today I branched out and tried Amorini Panini. They have various paninis and a rotating set of soups. Today's soups were baked potato and Maryland crab. Now if you know me, you know that the Maryland crab soup sucked me in. I went with the half panini and soup combo for $8. I ordered the southwestern panini (turkey, bacon, cheese, "fire" sauce and green peppers) and the Maryland crab. I started with the panini: it was wonderfully crunchy and gooey, albeit a little messy. The fire sauce dripped out the back and down my hand. It was a great mix of flavors, spicy but not burn your mouth and had a balanced amount of bacon, turkey, cheese and sauce. The soup was good too. Lots of vegetables, real crab (probably the cheap kind, but, eh), good broth and the right amount of Old Bay to liven it up. They served it with oyster crackers which give it a nice crunch.

Verdict: Will definitely go back, it was a really good lunch for $8.

Surfside

 

Hit Surfside again for a grilled chicken burrito. They fill it great but I am not fond of the chicken they use, too much fat. Obviously, however, I keep going back , so... $8.

 

BBQ Bus

 

BBQ bus returned and I ventured out to taste. It is my favorite of the BBQ places that come around in trucks. It is sauce based and they have good sides. I got the brisket sandwich with the German potato salad. Both were tasty, especially with the addition of more sauce!

Would I go again?: Yes, their food is solid and I enjoy their sauce.

Pho Junkies

 

PhoJunkies made an appearance in my neighborhood and I decided to try it out. They had several meat choices including chicken, brisket, fatty brisket, flank and more. I ordered brisket with extra basil.  Overall the Pho was decent. I did not like that they mixed the sweet and the hot in one container. I like adding hot sauce but not plum sauce so I was trying to dig around it. They also provided lime and jalapenos. This is certainly not my favorite Pho, but it was worth a try.

Will I return: Eh, maybe. Cold days, sure, Pho cravings, why not? Average food day, just maybe.

Yellow Vendor

  

Today I ventured out for the Yellow Vendor truck and ordered the chicken curry (#17). It has potatoes, carrots, onions and white meat chicken and is served over white rice. It is very good, has a hint of spice and is very filling. It still reminds me of my father's, no small feat. Line was short and service efficient. Will definitely go again!

Verdict: Went today in the sprinkle of rain. Definitely good.

Lobster Truck

 

Today I visited the Red Hook Lobster Pound truck. We all know they are one of the most popular if not THE most popular truck in DC. And the lobster rolls are good (I prefer the Connecticut). I will, however, highly advocate their clam chowda. It is good. Really Really good. They are not skimpy with the clams, there is a great mix of clams and potatoes and even better it is chowda and not glop. I hate chowder that is so think you could almost use a fork. This is not that chowder. Very highly recommend.

Verdict: Who needs my verdict? Go. Get the chowda. :)

Feeling Crabby

 

This is the lovely crab salad sandwich from Feeling Crabby. It is a nice mix of lump crab, a tiny bit of mayo to hold it together, red pepper (not the hot, the sweet) and a little seasoning. It comes on a toasted bun with tomato and a spring mix. Sandwich is $11 and I have had it twice. They also have lobster, and a mix of lobster and crab. You can get it as the sandwich or as a salad. They also have fresh ice tea, lemonade and Arnold Palmers. The drink is free if you have frequent visitor card and $2 if you don't.

Verdict: Really good. I have visited twice and it was consistent. They are not skimpy with the salad and the workers are friendly. Will return.

Hiatus

Sorry (to the one reader :)) for the hiatus, my daughter had surgery and life disallowed the eating of lunch. I finally was able to start visiting trucks again recently. Coming up, two reviews!

Ping

 

Let's venture off the food truck path to delivery Chinese. D and I decided that we would get some Chinese for Valentine's Day, so I ordered from Ping. We have luck when eating in the restaurant, so delivery couldn't be too bad. We like it because they use white meat chicken, identifiable vegetables and fresh stuff. On tonight's menu: Crab Rangoons (good), hot and sour soup (bland! not hot! not sour! I could feed it to the baby, literally), Chicken dumplings (good), Ginger salad (bitter), and string bean chicken (good). Overall we enjoyed it. The food is definitely better in house, but we will order again when the delivery Chinese bug bites us.

Would I go again? Yes. 

Basil Thyme

 

I will tell you up front: this is my favorite truck. Today I was in a red sauce mood and ended up with the Maria which is Manicotti.  I bought the meal which includes the manicotti, the salad, a drink and a cannoli. Today's cannoli was Chocolate Strawberry in honor of Valentine's Day. The salad comes with cucumber, kalamata olives, roasted red pepper, carrots and Parmesan cheese in a vinaigrette. It is always tasty (though I rid myself of the olives!).  The manicotti is wonderfully cheesy and garlicy. It has a nice sprinkling of basil on top which tastes great. The chocolate and strawberry cannoli is tasty and very appropriate today. Thanks for a great lunch again Basil Thyme!

Would I go again?: I go every two weeks, which is exactly how many times they venture to my neighborhood.

Vote for them at http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/bestofpoll/nominations/vote/591 for Best DC Food Truck.

Surfside, Take 2

Surfside returned today, so a coworker and I ventured out for some Mexican. Today: Grilled Chicken Burrito for me ($8), Steak Tacos for her ($9).  As you can see, they are not skimpy with the burrito, I would compare it in size to a Chipotle burrito with the fixings. It comes with the same fillings as the barbacoa from Thursday: Rice, Beans, salsa, lettuce, cheese, lime sour cream. I really enjoyed the burrito, given a choice I would pick the Barbacoa.

Would I go again?: For sure. Tomorrow even. Return to my neighborhood quickly Surfside!

Surfside

Order: Beef Barbacoa Burrito. Verdict: YUM!
The service was quick and friendly; I had my burrito in less than 2 minutes. The tacos (2 to a plate with sides) are $9 and the burrito is $8. The beef barbacoa was really flavorful and there was plenty of it in my burrito. No fat to speak of in the meat. The burrito had the meat, beans, rice, salsa, lettuce, cheese and lime sour cream in it. I asked for no changes to the meal so these are standard. They have sodas and cupcakes in addition to the food.

Would I go back?:  Will definitely return for more Mexican goodies!


http://www.yelp.com/biz/surfside-truck-washington

El Floridano

Had the traditional cuban sandwich. (El Fidel I think). Bread is good. Has the pickles, mustard, swiss, pork and ham traditions on the sandwich. Not as flavorful as one would expect from the ingredients. Pork was fairly fatty (typical I know), and not enough mustard. $8 for the sandwich and it was a nice size for that.


Would I go back?: Would not go again. Feels heavy and needs something to cut it.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/el-floridano-washington

Yellow Vendor

Today I ordered the #3, Chicken Bibimbop.
They were giving out samples of their chicken curry and it was good, tastes like my Dad's (which is high praise).
The chicken in the bibimbop is good, lots of flavor, seems to be mostly chicken breast and I have not bit into any fatty chunks (reviewing while eating!). The egg is way over cooked (understandable but disappointing) and the kim chi is low in taste.

Would I go back?:  I would stick with just the chicken and rice in the future, but it is good enough to try again.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/yellowvendor-washington-2