Gaucha Food Truck in Orlando Florida

I tried a food truck called Gaucha while I was at the Orlando Fringe Festival. They specialized in Argentine empanadas.

 I tried a Beef & Pickle empanada and a Corn Empanada. Both were delicious. 

Fragaria New Zealand Style Ice Cream in Orlando, FL

I found Fragaria New Zealand Style Ice Cream at the Orlando Fringe Festival. This ice cream truck was new to me, as was New Zealand style ice cream. They basically took scoops of vanilla ice cream, put it into a machine with various types of fruit, mixed the ingredients and spit it out in soft serve form. 

I ordered the Berry Pistachio Crunch. This was blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries swirled with vanilla ice cream, topped with roasted pistachios and chocolate. I very much enjoyed the flavor combination!

904 Gyros Food Truck in Jacksonville, FL

I ate dinner from a food truck in Jacksonville called 904 Gyros. I loved their tagline on the truck of "Under a Billion Sold." That's impressive!

 I had a Carved Lamb/Beef Gyro Plate, served with saffron rice, a cucumber and tomato salad, and Tzatziki. Everything was delicious. Everything on the plate was really flavorful. 

Dio Santo Street Pizzeria in Longwood, FL

I tried a food truck called Dio Santo Street Pizzeria when it was at an even in Reiter Park in Longwood.

I tried the Prosciutto and Arugula Pizza. The pie was topped with sauce, cheese, prosciutto, arugula, and a balsamic glaze. Crust was nice and crispy. Flavors were good. The pie was a little expensive for the size, but it was expected for a food truck. I'd get this again.

Sweet & Salty Island Grindz Food Truck

I recently tried a food truck called Sweet & Salty Island Grindz who specialized in Hawaiian BBQ. I ordered their Kalbi Beef. The beef ribs were served over rice, with macaroni salad and a Hawaiian roll. Beef was flavorful in some sort of teriyaki-like sauce.

 

The Piefather in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

The Piefather was a food truck parked in The Wharf in Las Olas. I ordered a pie called The Pepperoni. Pretty self explanatory. Nice thin crust with good proportions of cheese and sauce. The pepperoni curled, as hipsters at The Wharf would expect their pepperoni to do. I enjoyed the pizza...

4R Cantina Food Truck at Disney Springs

4R Cantina Food Truck recently opened at Disney Springs. Similar to the other 4 Rivers locations, smoked meats were served here but with a Mexican twist. They had standard items including tacos, quesadillas, and nachos, but the one item everyone was talking about was the taco cone.

I had the Brisket Barbacoa Taco Cone. The cone was made from a deep fried tortilla spiraled into a cone shape. This was filled with shredded brisket, lettuce, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, queso, cilantro, jalapeno, and lime. It was all very tasty and the cone shape made it mobile with the food truck's lack of seating. My complaint about the whole thing was the shape of cone and getting to the bottom. There was plenty of good stuff like guacamole and sour cream at the top, but it was hard to mix up those ingredients to the bottom since the cone got narrower and narrower. Regardless, I very much enjoyed my taco cone!

Chicken Waffle Grill Food Truck in Orlando, FL

I had lunch from a food truck which was new to me called Chicken Waffle Grill. They were parked outside a hotel near the airport where I was attending a convention. My first time trying chicken and waffles was also from an Orlando food truck called Melissa's Chicken and Waffles, which I don't think is around anymore. I'm glad there's another chicken & waffle food truck around to fill the void.

I had the Mac & Cheese Waffle. The waffle was topped with fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, lettuce, potato chips, and a slightly spicy sauce. Fries and syrup were served on the side. As unhealthy as this might sound, overall it was actually really tasty and all the flavors worked together well.

My big complaint was with the plastic silverware that the truck supplied. It was really flimsy and I went through three plastic forks snapping in half as I was trying to eat my lunch. Otherwise, I enjoyed my waffle!

Oh My Gyro in Longwood, FL

I tried a new restaurant in Longwood called Oh My Gyro. They are in a location that has had an endless cycle of restaurants opening, lasting a few months, and closing again. Because of this, I wish them the best of luck, especially since it seems like they did major renovations on the space since the last time I was in the building. Oh My Gyro touts themselves as having authentic New York Halal cart food. Having frequented halal carts in New York on my visits and comparing the menu here, this seemed to be about right. The menu was simple where you had your choice of platters with gyro, chicken, or falafel or sandwiches with the same fillings.

I tried the combo platter. This came with gyro (lamb and beef), shredded chicken, salad, lots of yellow rice, and pita. Most everything was topped with the famous halal cart white sauce and hot sauce was served on the side. The portion of food was very generous and tasted comparable to actual New York halal cart food.

I enjoyed my food here. As noted with the history of past restaurants not surviving very long in this location, I hope they do well (but try them while you can).

Just Smokin' BBQ Food Truck in Tampa, FL

I was over in Downtown Tampa for an event a few weeks ago and found some food trucks parked outside. I decided to have lunch from a truck called Just Smokin' BBQ. Looks like they specialize in Memphis style barbeque.

I had the BBQ Nachos. This was pulled pork with nacho cheese, BBQ sauce, and jalapenos served over tortilla chips. They normally do sweet barbecue sauce on the nachos. I saw they had mustard based sauce which I like better, so I had them switch it out. The nachos were pretty tasty overall. They weren't the most creative version of nachos I've ever had, but they did the trick. I'd probably have this again.

Boston Asian Food (Pho Pasteur & Kim Kim BBQ Truck)

I arrived in Boston on a Monday evening. I decided to explore the city a bit and get some dinner. After wandering around downtown, I was surprised how little was open. Boston apparently has an early bedtime on a Monday night for a city of it's size. I did notice this gets better later in the week, but apparently everyone eats home on Mondays here. Chinatown seemed to be the neighborhood where everything was open, but almost every restaurant was completely void of customers. I didn't want to be the lone diner in wherever I ate, so I chose Pho Pasteur since there were a few other customers eating here. 

Pho Pasteur:

I ordered the Tai Gau. This was a big bowl of noodle soup with rare steak and brisket. It was a cold night in Boston (by Floridian standards), so a hot bowl of soup was very satisfying. This was a pretty standard bowl of pho. The broth was tasty. There was a good about of vegetables in the soup (scallions, onions, and other greens), along with the side dish of bean sprouts, basil, jalapeno, and lime. Overall a very good dinner of Vietnamese food!

Kim Kim BBQ Food Truck:

I found this truck parked in a greenway going through Downtown Boston at lunch time. They shared the spot with a few other trucks, and this truck was one of the busier options.

I ordered the Spicy Pork Rice Bowl. It was a bowl of brown rice, topped with the pork, carrots, lettuce, cucumber slices and a fried egg. The pork was pretty tasty, but it didn't have enough sauce to cover the other ingredients in the bowl. The fried egg was a nice touch, that is until I found a long hair cooked into it. Kind of ruined the meal for me...

NY Street Food #3 (Halal Carts & Mister Softee)

Street food in New York City is fun. Some of my recent New York street food adventures started at a Halal cart at the foot of the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge...

Brooklyn Bridge Halal Cart:

I had a Chicken Gyro. Several pieces of chicken filled a pita alongside lettuce, onions, and the standard halal cart white and hot sauce. This particular sandwich left some room for improvement. The chicken had lots of chewy pieces of tendon/fat. Even with the sauce, it was also somehow lacked flavor.

Times Square Halal Cart:

I visited another halal cart a few blocks away from Times Square. I had the combination of lamb and chicken over rice, topped with white and hot sauce. Lettuce was served on the side as a salad.

Brooklyn Mister Softee:

I took part of a long distance unicycle ride from Manhatten to Coney Island. Somewhere in Brooklyn, the horde of unicyclists waved down a Mister Softee truck.

I ordered a Nutty Merlin, meaning a vanilla cone dipped in chocolate and topped with peanuts. The truck was out of the chocolate dipping sauce, so I ended up just getting the ice cream topped with nuts. They charged me the same price with or without the chocolate. Oh well...

Crepes A La Cart in Brekenridge, CO

I was told to check out the town of Brekenridge while in Colorado. It turned out to be one of my least favorite places I visited on my trip, but that may have been because of the time of year. Most of the town was shut down between the winter ski season and the summer season. From the signs in the windows of many of the stores, I was about a week early before the town started reopening. While there, I had dinner in one of the few restaurants that were open. This was a food truck called Crepes a la Cart.

I ordered the Crepe Atlantic. This was filled with smoked salmon, spinach, red onions, and hollandaise sauce. The fillings were put into a crepe folded in a triangle shape. The whole thing was then slid into a paper wrapper. The wrapper had a perforated line which allowed the paper to be peeled away neatly as the crepe was being eaten.

The crepe was very tasty. The lox-like smoked salmon was plentiful. There was lots of spinach, and the hollandaise kept everything moist. The crepe itself was very thin and served as a good vehicle to get the fillings up into my mouth.

While I wasn't impressed with the town of Breckenridge, at least I was impressed with the crepe that I ate while there!

Tastebuds Catering Food Truck in Winter Park, FL

I visited the Winter Park Farmers Market on a recent Saturday and decided to get some lunch from a food truck called Tastebuds Catering. Even though it was lunch time, I decided to get a second breakfast instead.

I ordered the Margarita Omelet. It was filled with tomatoes, organic spinach, mozzarella cheese, and was topped with pesto. Potatoes were served on the side. The omelet was tasty, although it did seem a little lopsided when it came to the cheese. One end of the omelet had plenty of mozzarella, while the other end lacked the cheese. Other than the cheese thing, I liked the omelet. There was plenty of spinach and tomatoes and the pesto was a nice touch. The potatoes were forgettable.

Overall, Tastebuds made a pretty good omelet that was a whole lot of food...

Diva Dawg Food Truck in New Orleans, LA

One of my last food experiences in New Orleans happened at a food truck. They were called Diva Dawg and specialized in hot dogs, fries, and shakes.

The first thing on their menu is what caught my attention. They had a Mardi Gras Beignet Dawg. From the way it was described, it was similar to a corn dog, fried in beignet batter and topped with powdered sugar. I decided I had too many beignets on this trip already and wasn't in the mood for a hot dog so I ordered the Homemade Etouffee Fries.

I had a list of stereotypical New Orleans food items that I wanted to try while in the city. Crawfish etouffee was on this list, and these fries crossed etouffee off the list. The fries were widely cut, topped with the etouffee. It was messy to eat, but it was also delicious. There were plenty of crawfish tails over the fries and the creamy roux from the etouffee made a wonderful sauce for the fries.

Diva Dawg provided me the opportunity to almost complete my food list in New Orleans. The only food I was unable to find was Crawfish Pie. Apparently Crawfish Pie is a food item that's not very common in New Orleans...

Audubon Zoo Food (Roman Candy Company and Cypress Knee Cafe) in New Orleans, LA

I spent one afternoon in New Orleans at the Audubon Zoo. Food happened while I was there. The first thing I ate came from this nifty looking food cart called Roman Chewing Candy. Apparently this cart is a New Orleans landmark because I later started noticing it on postcards sold in gift shops elsewhere in the city.

I'd never heard of Roman candy before, but it turned out this was a type of taffy. It was being pulled right there in the cart. There was a choice of vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry. Since strawberry was being made fresh as I approached the cart, that's what I went with.

It was chewy and sweet. Like most taffy, this got horribly stuck in my molars and made me want to brush my teeth for the rest of the afternoon. Regardless, it was still a tasty candy.

The Roman candy didn't quite hold me over until I was done exploring the zoo so I stopped into a restaurant there called Cypress Knee Cafe. While all the other restaurants I passed in the zoo served typical zoo/theme park snack bar foods, Cypress Knee Cafe had a bit more interesting menu. They were located in the Louisiana Swamp section of the park, and had appropriately themed local cuisine.

I hadn't had any jambalaya while visiting New Orleans. I ordered it here to remedy this. Cypress Knee Cafe served a decent sized bowl filled with flavorful rice and chicken. I didn't get any shrimp or sausage in my bowl which are normally standards in the jambalaya I've had in the past. I don't know if these aren't in the zoo's recipe for jambalaya or if I just got a bad mix in my bowl. Regardless of the lack of variety in the meats, when it comes to the flavor of the jambalaya here, it surpassed my low expectations for a snack bar in a zoo.

900 Degreez Food Truck in Orlando, FL

I was driving home one night and passed The Hourglass Brewery in Longwood. Sitting in their parking lot was one of the coolest looking food trucks I've come across. They were called 900 Degreez and consisted of a shipping container with one side removed and replaced with glass windows, equipped with a pizza oven and kitchen inside. All this was on the back of a truck.

I had seen 900 Degreez posting on Twitter and Facebook, but had never come across the truck in person. The uniqueness of the truck design alone made me stop and buy a pizza.

I ordered the Hercules Pizza. Their oven was very quick, cooking the pie in about 90 seconds. The pie was topped with spinach, yellow tomatoes, feta, and a balsamic vinaigrette sauce. The balsamic was the weird part of the pizza. Vinegar was the dominant smell wafting off the pie which overpowering the familiar pizza smell. Pizza that doesn't smell like pizza is unexpected, but tasting the pizza was different though. The balsamic actually went well on the pizza and blended very nicely with the rest of the flavors. The pizza's crust was thin and crispy. There was a good proportion of cheese to other toppings. 

If my memory serves me correctly, this was the first time I've ever had pizza cooked on the back of a truck. It's definitely the first time eating a pizza from a truck as nice looking as 900 Degreez. To top it off, I liked the pizza too (except for the vinegar smell). I'd get pizza from 900 Degreez again!

Tuk Tuk Truck in Orlando, FL

I tried TukTuk Thai Cuisine at a recent Food Truck Bazaar in Casselberry. This was my first time coming across this food truck. I'm not sure how long they've been around, but I decided to try their take on mobile Thai food.

I ordered the Shrimp Pad Thai. The noodles were cooked with egg, tofu, bean sprouts, peanuts, and cilantro. The Pad Thai had plenty of flavor, but I would have preferred slightly larger shrimp. The tiny little shrimp in the dish were somewhat sad looking.

TukTuk was okay. It was good, but not outstanding. Their prices seemed a bit more affordable for what you get compared to some of the other food trucks that frequent the bazaars. I'd try something else from TukTuk, but not before I try some other food from trucks which I haven't tasted yet.