Chicago Food Truck Groupie

I don’t go out of my way for meatloaf. I don’t dislike it, but I don’t make it and I don’t order it normally. I do however enjoy the concept behind the Meatloaf Bakery. Cupcake s0zed meatloaf is just enough meatloaf for me. I first tried the Meatloaf Bakery a couple of years ago, but I brought them to a bar for a party and it was cold out and they didn’t travel well, and … well, it wasn’t the best environment to try them. This time was a lot better. The Chicken Shish-Ka-Loaf is pretty much as advertised, a chicken shish kabob style meatloaf, topped with potatoes. I liked the spicyness of the chicken, it tasted pretty authentically shish-kabob like, lemony and with chunks of (i think) red pepper. There was mint sauce on the side, but I think i would have enjoyed it more if the sauce had been mixed with the potatoes, but … who knows that may sound better than it tastes. Now that it’s cold I could probably go for this truck more often.

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I tried Duck and Roll several weeks ago and i am just now getting around to posting about it. That’s because I was sadly disappointed. (Also because I’ve been hella busy.) I’ve mentioned before how I am obsessed with banh ni and how i get really picky about the bread, fillings etc. I was really stoked about a banh mi truck and really want to love it; my pork belly sandwich wasn’t bad: the bread really stood up to the rest of the flavors; it wasn’t too mayonnaise-y. I actually think my biggest issue with the sandwich is something that the Duck and Roll people can’t control: a sandwich like that, especially with pork belly needs to be prepared fresh to do it justice. The sandwich was tasty but a bit cold, which didn’t help my congealed pork belly much. Luckily the bread was still firm and the pickled daikon still crunchy. I can almost taste what it would have been like prepared fresh. If anything is an argument for Chicago food trucks to be allowed to prepare food on site it’s this, as I am sure the food truck chefs want to see the best version of their food presented to the public. I will give Duck and Roll another try though, definitely something other than the pork belly and possibly at the start of their day’s run.

First off, they call it a yogurt “society” but it’s a truck. I don’t get that. Also, they serve the yogurt in this weird container. What the heck is this? 

Anyway, I got a plain (not vanilla) yogurt, with a topping of fresh blueberries. Here’s what it looks like. I think the container would have made more sense if I had gotten a large serving. Instead I had to plunge my spoon in awkwardly, like i was mining for gold.

I was a little worried that the tartness of the plain yogurt would be overwhelming. but there was a nice balance of sweet creaminess made even better with the fresh fruit. It’s definitely tart though, so if you like your fro-yo to taste like soft-serve ice cream for some reason, avoid. I enjoyed the real yogurt flavor, though. When i was little, I remember  my mom having a yogurt making machine. I don’t remember her actually making any yogurt with it, but this is what I imagine it tasting like if she had.

This sandwich was a summer offering for The Slide Ride so sadly, you won’t able to get this now, and it took FOREVER for me to get back into blogging so i could review it.

Now I love me some banh mi. I will find any excuse to get to Saigon Sisters or Ba Le for one of these delicious sandwiches. During my underemployment months last year, I dedicated my time to making myself the perfect banh mi, and I think i succeeded. Part of the magic is in the bread. A warm, crusty baguette - to me that is a crucial part of a perfect banh mi.

This is in part why I was not sure if The Slide Ride could pull of a banh mi. Finding the right bread for such a slider would prove difficult i imagined. I think the Slide Ride ladies did a good job in recreating banh mi in slider form. The pork was perfect: spicy and a little sweet, there were nice amounts of daikon, pickled carrot and a bit a jalapeno.

But…. I was not crazy about the bread. It’s been awhile, but I think some form of ciabatta bread was used, and me being a baguette freak, I could not get over that. That crunchy baguette texture makes or breaks a banh me for me and while I think they got the closest thing they could, I  could not help but get all nitpicky. I’m sorry. Still I liked it. Looking forward to trying their “Bacon Baby” slider this fall.

Visit @theslideride on Twitter

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted, and a ton of new food trucks have hit the Chicago streets with some unexpected new tastes. I had been sticking with my personal faves, but in the past few weeks, I’ve been branching out.

Homage Street Food is an interesting concept, not stuck on any one type of cuisine, they bill themselves as “global street food” and serve dishes from all over the world (though when I visited most of the menu seemed asian influenced)

I tried the Japanese Ginger Miso soup, which is vegetarian, for all you veggie fans out there. I enjoyed the soup, it was a substantial, thick broth, the kind of miso soup I’d make at home, the noodles were nice and thick and not overcooked and the tofu had a lot of spicy flavor. My only complaint is that for $7, you don’t really get a whole lot. I ended up getting a Flirty Cupcake and didn’t feel bad at all, because I was still hungry when i was done.

Visit @homagesf on Twitter

I didn’t even know this truck existed until today. I was just strolling down the street looking for Tamale Spaceship and found this instead. I am glad I did. La Adelita specializes in tortas (sandwiches) and they are a handful, a hearty nicely toasted meal. I actually started eating the sandwich immediately and was halfway through before i realized that I hadn’t taken a picture of it.

The chorizo was excellent, i will acknowledge my chorizo ignorance and mention that I was surprised that it was not red, but holy crap was it good. i would stuff anything with that chorizo. There were also chunks of mushrooms and it was (true to its name) smothered in a delicious melty cheese and served with a crazy delicious habenero/corn sauce. The guac and chips were nice and fresh.

If you are looking for light, diet conscious fare, stay away from this sandwich as it is dripping with the kind of grease that comes from eating a delicious sandwich with pork sausage in it. (But it’s not overly greasy) if you love chorizo, give this sandwich a try. Frankly, I wish they sold the chorizo separately. I’d eat the hell out of it.

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I have been eager to try The Slide Ride from the moment I heard about it. A slider truck is a brilliant idea, perfect for lunch and has a lot of potential for creativity.

I was hankering for some of the more exotic sliders like banh mi and Korean BBQ, but when I visited the Ribeye was the only slider that piqued my interest (there were a couple of chicken sliders but I have not been feeling keen on chicken lately for some reason).

The ribeye slider comes on a mini pretzel roll and is topped with provolone, caramelized onions and a side of horseradish sauce. As far as i am concerned this is the perfect slider combo, and it’s really well done. the ribeye is full of flavor on its own, i actually didn’t use much of the horseradish because i was worried it would overpower. The mini pretzel roll is an excellent touch, though i am a little disappointed that it isn;t used for all of The Slide Ride’s sandwiches, but I am sure their bread choices are equally appropriate for their other sandwiches.

So in short, big thumbs up. Can’t wait to try the other (non chicken) sliders on the menu.

Follow @theslideride on Twitter

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I regret that this will be my last cupcake post for awhile as I refrain from the consumption of delicious sweets in order to get my body into running shape. This pains me, but when i am finally going the distance, it will all be worth it, right? RIGHT?!

Anyway, I was with my friend Nia last week when we spotted the More Cupcakes truck. I was not aware of this truck I am embarrassed to say, though my South Loop friends were aware of it. This truck is an extension of the More Cupcakes brick and mortar store, and the truck is pretty fancy, with a glass display and everything. After ogling the cupcakes I could not resist. I got a More Cupcake (their signature, Hostess-like cupcake with vanilla creme filling) and Nia got the chocolate chocolate cupcake.

Both Nia and I agree that the chocolate cupcakes are very rich and moist. When one thinks of a traditional no-frills chocolate cake (like a birthday cake chocolate cake, you know what I mean?) this is what comes to mind, just uber chocolately. I personally could have gone more more creme filling in the More cupcake, since the creme is kind of the appeal of a cake like this. I thought it was a bit lacking here.

Apparently More Cupcakes has more daring flavor combinations, which I will check out when I come off of my cupcake hiatus, I look forward to trying them. In general I did really like the cupcake, but I am still pretty committed to Flirty at this point. I can be swayed, however.

@morecupcakes

I was really looking forward to trying Taquero Fusion because I love taco trucks. Taco trucks is what got me into this whole food truck deal; chasing Austin’s amazing taco trucks around town during the SXSW festival. Chicago’s food truck scene has been all about diversity and risk-taking but it’s been surprising that more simple taco trucks haven’t come on the downtown taco track scene.

Taquero Fusion isn’t exactly a simple taco truck, they bill themselves as “tacos with a latin american twist”  I was excited to hear of their arrival, and I’ve been chasing them down to no avail for a couple of weeks now.

I checked them out today and by the time  I got to the truck their steak and chicken tacos were sold out. After having the veggie and “twisted taco” flavors, I think this wasn’t a coincidence.

I was disappointed in the veggie taco, i understand that veggie tacos are not always easy. Some people are anti-tofu and only want veggies in their tacos, some people (me) are weird about exactly what kind of veggies are in their veggie tacos. Taquero Fusion’s answer to the veggie taco is filled with fresh veggies, but also a bland breadcrumb-like filling that I didn’t understand. It was unexpected, but not really in a good way.

The “twisted taco” flavor (which i assume will be a rotating feature on the truck) was a Thanksgiving themed turkey taco. Unusual choice for the 4th of July holiday but I went with it. The white meat turkey had a lot of flavor and matched well with the stuffing and spiced sweet potatoes. It’s a funky idea, just a bit heavy for summer. I didn’t finish it.

I also had the puerto rican rice with gandules, which i found dry. I put tomatillo sauce on it.

I had  pretty high expectations for the truck and didn’t try what seems to be their signature tacos,  so I was disappointed. Has anyone else tried the truck’s offerings? I would love to hear what you all think of the other tacos.

follow @taquerofusion