Mmm...Food Trucks! Part 2

I'm finally concluding my food truck post with the trip to the First Friday Food Truck Festival at the Murat. (It'll always be the Murat to me.) We were kind of all over the place, so this post is going to be in list form.

1. Seoul Grill Indy
Obviously, if there is a food truck serving Korean BBQ, I have to try it. Obviously. And, obviously, I'm going to be critical of it... That day, their menu had a rice bowl sampler with either bulgogi (steak) or deji-bulgogi (spicy pork) with a variety of Korean sides: kimchi, radish kimchi, picked daikon... I tried the bulgogi, and I have to admit it was pretty good. Not bad at all. Overall, the whole thing was just that - not bad..except for the kimchi. It was horrible. I appreciate that they make all their food in house, so maybe I just got a bad batch? But that kimchi was just sooo bad. There was no spice to it and it tasted like straight vinegar. I really hope it was just a bad batch and they're not making people think that's what kimchi actually tastes like. Looking at the photos they have on facebook, it looks like they offer a number of other Korean dishes like Korean style wings and kimbap (Korean sushi rolls). So I'm willing to give this place another chance, but I'll probably just stick with making Korean myself or eating at a sit down restaurant.

The Rating

The Info

Seoul Grill Indy

www.facebook.com/seoulgrillindy

@seoulgrillindy

2. Smoke House

Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of this gem of a food truck. It looked like a log cabin. Mike ordered the rib tips with baked beans. And I have to say, this was probably my favorite bbq in Indy. (My absolute favorite bbq is from Pappy's in St. Louis.) Way better than King's Ribs. Way, way better. Normally I don't like rib tips since you don't get a lot of meat, but these had plenty of really tender meat. There was a little too much sauce, but I didn't mind that. The sauce was tangy, a little sweet, with a touch of heat. Just the way I like my sauce. The best part for me was the very smokey flavor. Mmm. I love that. I would definitely eat here again!

P.S. The baked beans were really good too. It had bits of meat mixed in. So yum, but honestly, I haven't found baked beans I didn't like. I even like the canned Bush's Baked Beans. So you might not want to take my advice on the beans.

The Rating

The Info

Smoke House

Sorry, couldn't find a website or anything. Anyone know anything about it?

3. Nicey Treat

Nicey Treat was more of a dessert cart of homemade frozen popsicles. What makes them unique are their different flavors like avocado, Arnie Palmer, Pineapple Basil, and mango ginger. The flavors Abby, P, and I tried were Avocado, Pineapple Basil, and Strawberry Mint (Right, Abby or P?) Chili Lime. Anyway, all of the flavors were really good, even the avocado. They were really refreshing. From looking at Nicey Treat's website, I learned that they try to only use local seasonal ingredients. Their treats are gluten, dairy, and lactose free. 

The Rating

The Info

Nicey Treat

www.niceytreat.com

4. Some of This! Some of That!

There were a lot of cajun, creole food trucks! And since Abby and Josh had already tried Chef Dan's and didn't love it, we tried SOT!SOT! Josh got the crawfish po-boy and Mike and I split the catfish po-boy. Both po boys were huge, so you get a lot of food for the cost. And I really liked how that bread wasn't overwhelming. Normally, I end up throwing away most of the bread but I didn't have to do that with this po-boy. The fried fish was really crispy and didn't taste oily at all. I also liked how their aioli was just drizzled over the top. This added just the right amount of flavor without the added gooey mess. The only downside was that the service was SOOOOOOOOO slow. Hopefully, it was just because it was food truck festival and they aren't always this slow.

The Rating

The Info

Some of This! Some of That!

www.facebook.com/sotsot1catering

@SOTSOT1

Ok, I lied...I'm not going to conclude my food truck post. I have 4 more trucks to write about so there will be a Part 3. Hey, don't judge. There were 5 people in our group so we were able to sample a lot of trucks. :-p

Mmm...Food Trucks! Part 1

Obviously, this post is all about food trucks. I'm combining my trips to the First Friday Food Trucks Festival, a trip to Triton Brewery where Florribean Flair was, and an event at Bier Brewery that Scratch and Mac Genie were at. So I'll start there for Part 1...

Scratch...

...was freaking amazing! Mike and I ordered off the regular menu. He got the burger with poutine de Peru fries (fries tossed in Peruvian yellow pepper sauce with queso fresco), and I ordered the grilled cheese with the regular Poutine fries (Fries with gravy and mozzarella cheese curds). My food was definitely better. The grilled cheese had munster and colby jack cheese, braised short rib, carmelized onions, arugula and toasted honey white bread. Unfortunately, the cheese wasn't the focus of this sandwich, but it was still really good. The short rib meat was really tender and all of the flavors worked well. Mike's burger came with bacon marmalade, arugula and gorgonzola cheese. Even though Mike asked for his burger medium, it came out more medium well. It was still very juicy and flavorful. My favorite part was the poutine fries though. I think Mike preferred the Poutine de Peru because of the unique yellow pepper sauce, but I LOVED the gravy coated fries. What else is more comforting than gravy covered fried potatoes with cheese? Unfortunately, I just read on Scratch's website that they're taking the poutine fries off their menu for the spring/summer except as a weekly special. :-(

Mike and Josh also tried the Spicy Chicken Cone and Tuscan Chicken Sandwich. I didn't try the spicy chicken cone because it had a mango-jalapeno slaw and I'm allergic to mango. :-( I can't really speak much for this other than Mike liked this the best out of everything he tried. Even when we went to the Food Truck Festival, he considered getting the chicken cone again. Josh thought his sandwich was ok... to be fair, Josh didn't have the best initial impression of Scratch. At first he didn't like them because they cheated him out of some fries, but the guy at Scratch realized their mistake and actually brought a side of fries (with ketchup!) to Josh inside Bier. That was very cool of them, so all of us appreciated the customer service. 

The Rating 

The Info

Scratch Truck 

www.scratchtruck.com

Mac Genie is great when all I want are Carbs, Carbs, Carbs. Really, I think this is a great idea for a food truck. I know I wasn't the only one in college that craved mac and cheese after a night of drinking. And being good drunk food is a huge plus for food trucks. This was 2nd time I tried Mac Genie. I tried them for the first time after the Super Bowl. Then I tried their buffalo chicken mac. This time I tried their "original" mac and their Spicy Pickle. Everything I've tried here has been good mac and cheese. The pasta isn't too mushy and its full of lots of melty cheese instead of some artificial cheese sauce. I'd really like to see some more variety in their menu, but they have some really solid choices. In the end, this is an ideal place for Carbs, Carbs, Carbs....mmm...

The Rating

The Info

Mac Genie

www.genietrucks.com

With Florribean Flair, don't judge a book by its cover! It doesn't have a fancy truck, but that is no indication of how yummy the food is. Some online research shows that this food truck was created by the executive chef of Iozzo's Garden of Italy, and I LOVE that place! I ordered a sampler with a fish taco, jerk chicken, and a crab cake. I couldn't eat the taco because it was covered in mangoes. So everyone else tried it. I didn't hear any negative reviews of the taco except that Mike's bite had a lot more mango than fish, but it seemed like it was good. The jerk chicken was surprisingly very good! Full of flavor and had a really good kick! I thought it was nice and tender. I would definitely order this again! I also enjoyed the crab cake. Not bad for a crab cake in Indiana. This is a food not-truck that you should definitely give a try!

The Rating

The Info

Florribean Flair

www.florribeanflair.com

Part 2: Food Truck Festival...

Food Baby Goes East! Again!

Last week, I traveled to the Greater Boston area for work. I only had one goal, other than work of course: I wanted to eat seafood and Italian. Unfortunately, where I was, there was no good Italian per the locals. So, I just settled on seafood. Normally, I would save the best for last, but this time I'm going to talk about it first.

According to the locals and the sales rep that travels here all the time, Michael's has the best seafood in the Newburyport/Amesbury area. And it was sooo good. You might think that all seafood restaurants are good in this area. That is not true, but this place was fabulous. We started with raw oysters, clams, and jumbo shrimp. I usually only eat these at the Chinese buffet ;-). You can definitely tell a difference.  One of my co-workers and I shared entrees. I ordered the swordfish with citrus ponzu, and he got the 2lb whole lobster with mashed potatoes. First of all, the portions were huge! The potatoes could be their own entrees. Both dishes were very good. The swordfish was nice and meaty. The sweet and salty citrus ponzu worked really well with the fish. It didn't overpower at all. The lobster was great! It was lightly salty and tender. My favorite part was "the tamale", although I had never heard it called that before. Service was good. Nothing spectacular, but no complaints. I almost forgot! We ordered dessert. I tried their strawberry shortcake. I didn't want to try it because I had a feeling I would like it better than Cheesecake Factory's and I did! The biscuit had a better flaky flavor. The ice cream and the fresh whip were so creamy. The strawberries were perfectly juicy and had the right amount of sweetness. Mmmm....

The next night we tried the Black Cow for dinner. Apparently, it used to be good a few years ago, but it has gone downhill. First, the rolls were rock hard. We should have left then. The only seafood they had on their menu was haddock. It was a white fish that tasted a lot like tilapia. I got it with pasta that came out of a box. The overall dish was ok. Really disappointing compared to the previous night's seafood. Oh, and we got calamari as an appetizer. The Cheesecake Factory has better calamari. This was too chewy and the batter had no flavor. Service was eh. Server was adequate, but not very welcoming. Another sign we should have left.

For breakfast we went to two places: Angie's Foods and Taffy's. I got the corned beef hash at both places. Angie's gave me canned hash and Taffy's was homemade. Angie's provides homemade hash, but I misunderstood the server and ended up ordering canned. The hash at Taffy's was obviously better, but the side of potatoes at Angie's were really good. I really liked how they were red potatoes instead of those cubes of potatoes that come out of a plastic bag from the freezer section. One note about the omelettes. I didn't order one, but my coworkers did. They didn't look very good. They looked like scrambled eggs with the toppings mixed in formed into an omelette shape. One guy thought it was good; the other didn't. I'm sure it tasted fine, but it definitely didn't look appetizing. Both places had decent service. Angie's did end up being a bit slow, so allow yourself extra time if you go there.

I go back to this area in June. I think I know where I'll be going back to!

The Ratings

Michael's Harborside - TWO BIG THUMBS UP

Black Cow - 

Angie's & Taffy's - 

The Info

Michael's Harborside

1 Tournament Wharf

Newburyport, MA 

978-462-7785

www.michaelsharborside.com

Black Cow Tap & Grill

54 Merrimac St.

Newburyport, MA

978-499-8811

www.blackcowrestaurants.com

Angie's 

7 Pleasant St.

Newburyport, MA

978-462-7959

Taffy's

44 Liberty St.

Newburyport, MA

978-465-9039

Henry's On East St.

A little while ago, I met a friend from college at Henry's on East St. for brunch/lunch. As a special they had a crabcake salad. It looks great, huh.

It was actually a little disappointing. The crab cake was a little mushy and there was too much dressing. Everything just seemed so wet. But with that said, what I really liked about this place is that they asked me what I liked and didn't like about the salad because they wanted to always improve. So even though I didn't love the food this time, I think this place has lots of potential. Definitely worth another visit when I'm in the Mass Ave. area. They also serve different options like quiche, breakfast burrito, breakfast sandwiches, paninis, and a variety of salads. And if nothing else, you can enjoy coffee (or tea in my case) outside with their free Wi-Fi. 

The Rating

The Info

Henry's Coffee Bistro

627 N. East St.

Indianapolis, IN 46202

(317) 951-0335

www.henryscoffeebistro.com

Sakura

I think most people have a restaurant which sets the bar for a certain type of food. And if you're like me, then you'll order that type of food or dish at other places already knowing that it's never going to live up to your favorite.That is what the soft shell crab roll at Sakura is for me.

The soft shell crab roll is the one pictured in the lower left.

Why I LOVE the soft shell crab from Sakura:

1. The soft shell crab roll is served in a chopped style, instead of "legs" like a spider roll.

2. Not only is the filling inside the roll, they give you a TON on top!

3. The sauce is soooooooo good. 

Really, it's something you need to try. Most people I know try it and become Sakura soft shell crab converts!

There are other reasons why I love Sakura:

1. The miso soup has tofu in it.

2. I know one of the servers. (So to be fair, I might be a little biased.)

3. The chicken teriyaki is tasty. 

If you go here, I recommend a reservation. It's a very small restaurant, and it gets crowded quickly.

The Rating

The Info
7201 N. Keystone Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46240
(317) 259-4171
www.indysakura.com

Food Baby Goes East!

As part of a Maine wedding / baseball vacation, my food baby gained about 5 pounds of amazing, amazing food!

The first stop was in Philadelphia where I got to compare the cheesesteaks at Pat's and Geno's. I preferred the meat on Pat's and the bread at Geno's. The smell of Pat's reminded me a bit of White Castle. So if you're not a fan, then you'll hate it!

Obviously in Maine we ate tons of lobster rolls, fried clams, clam chowder, and such. I highly recommend The Lobster Shack in Cape Elizabeth, ME. It was featured on Man vs. Food. It's right on the shore so the view is beautiful!! Doesn't get much better...We also visited Fisherman's Catch in Wells, ME. It was featured as having one of the best lobster rolls on Serious Eats. I preferred the food at The Lobster Shack.

When we were in Boston to see the Red Sox play and tour Fenway ($12 to go on top of the Green Monster?! So worth it!), I knew I wanted Italian. We walked around the North End and just picked a place that looked good and didn't have a long wait. I was not disappointed! The food at Il Villaggio ruined Italian food for me with their pasta made in house. Even though my dish was so basic (pasta, light tomato sauce, shrimp), everything was made so well it was amazing. Mike had a chicken dish with a side of potatoes that was also yum.

Per the suggestion of Serious Eats as the best pre-Fenway spot, we had drinks and a burger at Eastern Standard. We did have some really tasty drinks, but it seemed shwanky for a pre-Fenway spot. Next time I'd rather just find a hole in the wall bar for beers.

After the rain delay, lots of beer during the rain delay, and baseball, we caught a cab to the Dumpling Cafe in  Chinatown to get some SOUP DUMPLINGS! They were no Joe's Shanghai soup dumplings, but they definitely hit the spot. Now I want more...

Before we left Boston, we went to Soulfire that was featured on Meat and Potatoes. Mike loved it. It was a casual barbeque place that played awesome music and serves really good barbeque. It wasn't as good at Pappy's, but you can't beat the atmosphere. Mike and I ate an atrocious amount of food. Their Soulfire Sweet Tea helped it all go down.

After Boston, we made our way down to Washington, D.C. to see the Nationals play. We had lunch with my friend Lena at Matchbox. I got the Shrimp & Grits. It wasn't very good. There was too much liquid. It was like shrimp and grits soup. Eh. Mike and I also shared two pizzas: Fire & Smoke and Sausage and Sundried Tomato. I thought both tasted good, but Mike hated the Fire & Smoke. 

And not that you'd actually subject yourself to a Washington Nationals game just for the food, but these loaded hot dogs deserve a mention. We heard about these hot dogs on Serious Eats, so we stopped at Xtreme Loaded Dawgs and tried The Heater. It had buffalo sauce and was topped with bleu cheese cole slaw. I also tried the Half Smoke from Ben's Chili Bowl. I didn't like it. It gave me serious heartburn, but it probably wasn't just because of the Half Smoke...

The Rating

The Info

Pat's King of Steaks

Where 9th St. crosses Wharton & Passyunk Ave.

Philadelphia, PA 19147

(215) 468-1546

www.patskingofsteaks.com

Geno's Steaks

1219 S. 9th St.

Philadelphia, PA 19147

(215) 389-0659

www.genosteaks.com

Fisherman's Catch

134 Harbor Rd.

Wells, ME 04090

(207) 646-8780

www.fishermanscatchwells.com

The Lobster Shack

225 Two Lights Road (at the end of the road)

Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107

(207) 799-1677

www.lobstershacktwolights.com

Il Villaggio

230 Hanover St.

Boston, MA 02113

(617) 367-2824

www.villaggioboston.com

Eastern Standard

528 Commonwealth Ave.

Kenmore Square

Boston, MA 

(617) 532-9100

www.easternstandardboston.com

Dumpling Cafe

695 Washington St.

Boston, MA 02111

(617) 338-8859

www.dumplingcafe.com

Soulfire

182 Harvard Ave.

Allston, MA 02136

(617) 787-3003

www.soulfirebbq.com

Matchbox

713 H St. NW

Washington D.C. 20001

(202) 289-4441

www.matchbox369.com

Xtreme Loaded Dawgs

Nationals Park

1500 South Capital St., SE

Washington D.C. 20003

washington.nationals.mlb.com