Fire and Rice

Fire and Rice is a relatively new food truck specializing in Korean meat bowls. They've been operating since June, 2012, but this was the first time I've seen them. It's actually been a while since I've had Bulgogi, and so I was excited to try theirs, and see how it compared to Yellow Vendor. In a nutshell, it compared well, but wasn't quite as heart-warming.

In addition to the beef, they have pork and chicken dishes, but I'm most familiar with bulgogi, so that's what I went with. There are all sorts of vegetables piled in the bowl as well as rice. The meat looked pale and gray at first, but this was just because there was no sauce on it; the sauces were next to the order window, perhaps inconveniently located in front of the menu. There were two sauces, one a slightly spicy peanut sauce, and the other a spicy tomato-based sauce. I applied the sauces liberally to my bowl before digging in.

The flavor was unsubtle and spicy, pretty much what I'm looking for in this sort of dish. The vegetables gave it a broader variety of flavors than Yellow Vendor's, without overwhelming the meat the way Japchae does. However, Yellow Vendor tastes richer and has more umami, which is probably the most important thing. But in any case, even if it's not my favorite, Fire and Rice is more than good enough for return visits.

Yellow Vendor

Love this food truck! Yellow Vendor is the first food truck I ever tried, and I was into it from the start. They serve Korean food, but I've only ever gotten the spicy bulgogi. It may be pretty one note, but for comfort food, it's a very good note. They serve the strips of beef on a bed of rice in a thick, spicy red pepper sauce, with a side of salad and kimchi. I feel like the kimchi could be more pungent, and the coldness of it contrasts poorly with warmth of the beef. But it does help cut the unctuousness of the beef a bit, and so is an important side. I don't know what the purpose of the salad is. It doesn't seem to really go with the bulgogi, and I've never tried it. It's a pretty simple iceberg lettuce salad, so not really tempting. If you happen to see Yellow Vendor in your area, you should give it a try; you won't be disappointed.