Kushi-Moto

I had forgotten, sadly, Japanese restaurant Kushi's plans to start a food truck, so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw them pop-up at Farragut Square on Washingtonian's food truck tracker. On such a dreary, nasty day, some miso soup sounded really good. I walked over to the square when lunch time came around, and I think I made the right choice. Every bit of the meal was very good.

I ordered the pork belly rice bowl and the miso soup. I know Kushi's sushi is very good, but I wanted to try something new. They do have several different varieties of sushi, including a California roll with real crab. I might try the spicy tuna next time. The rice bowl was great, with really sticky rice and tender pork belly. The ginger gave it a nice kick. The miso soup was excellent, with a good amount of miso in it and high quality kelp. Definitely worth checking out the next time it's in your neighborhood.

Cheesequake

Cheesequake may be the most misnamed food truck I've been to. They serve Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches; when I went, they had three sorts. The Ali is a traditional cheesesteak, the Frazier is a chicken cheesesteak, and the Tyson is a pizza cheesesteak. They have a few topping options: lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, and grilled green peppers. It's not a bad cheesesteak, but it's basically inferior to Phillies Phamous DC Food Truck in every way. The bread is worse, there's less cheese, and the beef is not chopped as finely. There are also fewer topping options. I particularly missed the option of having banana peppers or jalapenos on the sandwich. It's a perfectly fine sandwich, but if you have the option, go to Phillies.

Small Plates: 11.09.12

Judy's, on 14th just north of U St, is having a contest to build the neatest tower of Tecate cans. [Borderstan]

DDOT's proposed regulations would disallow food trucks at their most popular spots. [WaPo]

Speaking of beer, check out the Beerathon this Saturday. 26 beers, 55 bucks. [Thrillist]

Owners of dive bar Blaguard are planning on doing a Beergarden at 3911 Georgia. [PoP]

Top Food Truck

Tops is a food truck specializing in small batch sausages. They had some technical issues over the summer, but it appears that they're back. The picture is an older one; they've dropped some of the variety to focus on sausage, which is probably a good thing. Along with the sausages, they serve chili, and have the usual potato chips/soda options for a side.

The bratwurst is good, with the right blend of flavors. It's topped with chopped tomatoes, raw onions, and 'jojo sauce', a slightly sweet, slightly spicy yogurt based sauce. The topping are good and blend well with the sausage. The texture is a bit mushy however, with a limp casing, and a too-soft bun only compounding the problems here.

As far as the chili goes, it tastes pretty good. It's well balanced, with not to much tomato, not too much beef. The beef chunks might be a little bit larger than ideal though. It's very sweet, and not very spicy even after adding Frank's hot sauce. Not the sort of chili I'm really looking for, if I'm just wanting chili, but I can see how it might go well on a hot dog.

Wassub?

Wassub? is a relatively new food truck specializing in, you guessed it, subs. What I didn't expect was that it would generally be asian-themed subs, which had the potential to be disappointing since I had been hoping for a steak-and-cheese sandwich. Fortunately, that was their special for the day the first time I went. The sandwich was fine, but it needed something to kick it up a notch; either some spice, or a bit more flavor in the marinade, fancier cheese, better bread, or something sour. Any of these would have helped, especially the better bread. When I tried to pick up the sandwich, it nearly fell apart on me! There was a pretty decent amount of steak, and it combined well with the cheese and green peppers. The mushrooms, though, seemed like a bit too much umami without anything to balance it out. Some pickles, for example, would have helped tremendously.

The second time I went, I got the kimchi, a sub with thin-sliced, marinated ribeye and kimchi. It's advertised as a bulgogi sandwich, so I was expecting something similar to the bulgogi I know and love. It wasn't; not as spicy nor as rich. The sauce was really thin, the cheese, while appreciated, didn't mesh well with the egg. On the other hand, I'm not a huge fan of egg in my bulgogi in the first place. Combined with too much mayo (it's on the bread and in the sauce), it was just too rich. The bread held up much better than last time, and the flavors were fairly rich, so this is definitely an improvement over the steak and cheese. Overall, Wassub? is a decent choice for a sandwich based food truck, but it's not much better than average.

DC Greek Food

I enjoy gyros, but particularly for lunch. It's never seemed to me like a real dinner food. But, I haven't found a decent food truck with gyros, and I live near the Greek Spot, so I usually only end up getting them for dinner. But the other day I saw a new (at least to me) Greek food truck, and the Yelp! reviews weren't bad, so I figured I'd give them a shot. I'm glad I did.

The gyro used pretty typical ingredients -- meat, lettuce, tomato, onion, and feta, in a pita. There was about the right amount of each ingredient; perhaps too much lettuce, but there was enough meat that I didn't feel like they were stuffing it. There was definitely some seasoning on the meat, though probably not quite enough, and it was pretty cubed, not sliced off a rotisserie the way it should be. In addition, the feta was pretty bland. It's not too expensive, at $7, and definitely a cut above the typical food truck gyro. On the other hand, they're nowhere near as good as Greek Spot or the Greek Deli. They also have a vegetable platter, Greek salad, chicken over rice, and a combo platter.

New Nightspot opening on K St.

Apparently there's a new nightspot opening on K St this weekend. From an email:

DC hotspot Capitale (1301 K Street, NW DC), is set to captivate party goers with its opening this Saturday, September 8, 2012. With a breathtaking and unique design scheme, the Hogwarts-meets-Hollywood inspired nightlife venue is the brainchild of hospitality masterminds Tony Hudgins and his nightlife mogul partners. With four massive, brass leaning columns taking center stage in the venue’s Great Hall and commissioned art of celeb socialites like Scott Disick and Tuesday Weld, the same men who brought Washingtonians venues such as K Street Lounge, Play and Public Bar have joined forces to wow DC’s party scene once again.

Not being a big nightspot person these days, that bit isn't terribly interesting to me. What is interesting is their happy hour concept:

With plans to implement a rotating “food truck” happy hour in late September, Capitale will serve as not only a late-night hotspot, but also as a new option for DC’s flourishing happy-hour scene. The food truck happy hour idea is that of partner Tony Hudgins.

“I’m constantly following DC’s foodie scene and was always intrigued by the accessibility and on-the-go nature of our booming food truck empire. Our venue has no kitchen, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want our patrons to snack while they sip. I think a weekly, rotating selection of food trucks will offer Capitale guests the luxury of a casual, delicious bite in a cozy and elegant venue,” says Hudgins.

Capitale’s hours of operation will change once the happy hour schedule is released in late September.

Their current hours of operation are 10pm - 2am during the week, 10pm - 3am on the weekend, closed Monday and Wednesday.

Fojolmania

Photo by Ben Murray, on flickr.

Volothai, the Fojol Bros Thai truck, is good, but not great. The drunken noodles I found bland, and the beef was too chewy. The green curry is excellent. It's fairly spicy and made with Brussels sprouts, whose mustardy taste goes well with the curry. The chicken pad thai is, again, bland. There's not a lot of peanut flavor, no spicy, and the chicken is dry. The very large chunks of green onion didn't do it any favors.

The Indian truck is best known for its superb butter chicken. Just like any good butter chicken, it's quite creamy and moist, but theirs has a nice kick to it, a good complexity that a lot of butter chicken lacks. The cauliflower-potato dish is a bit less good. It has an odd bitterness and some of the potato chunks are a bit larger than they should be. It's not bad, though, and some of the problem might just be that it doesn't pair well with the butter chicken.

I've only been to the Ethiopian truck, Benethiopia once, and found it better than average, but because Ethiopian food doesn't get along well with office clothes, I haven't been back. Overall, Fojol Bros is a good choice for Indian food if you want something a bit different for lunch, but it's generally not exceptional.

I found my Mojo!

As I've mentioned before, if you want a classic sandwich, the Rolling Ficelle is probably your best bet, at least among food trucks. But sometimes you want something with a bit more character, and that's where the Mojo sandwich truck comes in. They serve four types chivito sandwiches: pork, chicken, beef, or vegetarian. The classic comes with mojo sauce, tomatoes, cheese, lettuce, and an egg but you can also upgrade to the Canadian, which adds ham, or the Special, which adds avocado.

The first time I tried the truck, I got the special. That's a lot of sandwich, and to be honest, more sandwich than I need, so lately I've been getting just the classic, which is more than enough. The sandwiches come on a nice soft Italian loaf, toasted on the inside to give it just a bit of crispiness. What really makes the sandwiches shine is the quality of the ingredients. The bread is soft, but sturdy enough for even the special sandwiches. The pork is tender and juicy, with enough crispy bits to give the sandwich some texture. The tomatoes are meaty, and the egg and cheese give a good creaminess. The mojo sauce adds some tang, but there's not so much that it overwhelms the other ingredients (or gets all over your pants). In the middle of a long day, the Mojo sandwiches really hit the spot.

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.

Graffiato goes mobile

Not permanently, but Mike Isabella will be taking to the streets with a Graffiato food truck. He won't be selling food, but there will be an opportunity to win if your taste buds are sensitive enough, and there may be some samples. From The Plate:

On Wednesday July 25, we’re partnering up with Mike Isabella to put Graffiato on wheels and hit the streets of D.C.
Chef Isabella will also be testing his fans with a “Challenge Your Palate” contest at different stops around the city. Those who can identify ingredients in dishes Chef Isabella creates (using Breville kitchen appliances) will win prizes ranging from lunch at Graffiato to autographed copies of his forthcoming cookbook, Mike Isabella’s Crazy Good Italian (releasing September 25), to iPods and products from Breville.
TRUCK STOP LOCATIONS
8:00 am: Dupont Circle – Q Street between 20th and Connecticut
11:00 am: Union Station – Massachusetts Ave NW and F Street NW
2:15 pm: Franklin Park – Corner of 14th and K streets
4:45 pm: Farragut North – K Street between 17th and Connecticut
6:30 pm: National Mall – 10th St and Constitution Ave NW

 Just more false hope for those of us who want him to put out a real food truck.

It could be worse: Chicago Food Truck regulations

I'm not too much of a fan of the proposed food truck regulations. Business in DC is to tightly regulated as it is; we should really let a thousand food trucks bloom. But it's nice to see that it could be worse, in a schadenfreude kind of way:

Under the new proposal, truck owners would be able to cook food to order, park at designated food truck stands across the city, operate around the clock, and stay in a location for up to two hours. Trucks would have to undergo regular health department inspections, and at lease one employee on site would have to have sanitation training.

No wonder, as the article notes, the food truck scene in Chicago is years behind LA! Designated food truck stands make food trucks compete with brick and mortar restaurants with one hand tied behind their backs. But, again, it could be worse, and I'm sure Chicago's food trucks are happy for what they have.

Original story from Atlantic Cities.

Small Plates: 04.20.12

Photo by nate steiner, from flickr.

Biggest haul of crabs from the Chesapeake in 20 years. [DCist]

What a name! The Pig is opening in Logan Circle on May 14. [PoP]

The sequel to Curbside Cookoff, Trucko de Mayo, comes to the RFK stadium. [WaPo]

Baconfests are apparently spreading across the land, emanating from Chicago. [Atlantic Cities]

Pepe

Pepe is the hottest new food truck, featuring Spanish inspired sandwiches from José Andrés. I've been there three times now, and each time was great. The first thing I had there was the Butifarra burger, which consisted of aioli, pork sausage, and brava sauce. The sausage patty was great with a good spiciness to it, and the sauce was so amazing I wanted to lick the wrapper. The Pepito de Ibérico was quite good. For $20, you get Ibérico pork and Serrano ham, with roasted green peppers and aioli. I said it was good, but at that price, I want my food to be heavenly, and the Pepito de Ibérico was not. It was too salty, and the sauce overwhelmed the flavor of the meat. The Pepito de Ternera was my favorite so far. It's a seared beef tenderloin sandwich with  piquillo pepper confit and blue cheese. The tenderloin has a strong enough flavor to balance the sauce, and is exquisitely tender. I'll definitely be back, but I'll probably not bother with the $20 sandwich again.

Small Plates: 04.05.12

Despite winning "Best New Restaurant," the food at Blue 44 is boring. Like Chevy Chase. [Young & Hungry]

Maple will serve Italian and American food, with a focus on panini and bruschetta. [New Columbia Heights]

Rumor mill Prince of Petworth suggests that maybe, just maybe, Capital City Diner might be moving to Petworth/Columbia Heights. [PoP]

Steak and Whiskey's favorite food truck, Basil Thyme, got towed the other night. [DCist]

Small Plates 03.05.2012

Jack Rose

Can beer really hurt your running? Could it help? [The Dish]

Soon you'll be able to get that 3 a.m. cupcake. [Atlantic Cities]

PORC gets itself a storefront, and other food truck news. [Best Bites]

Roll Ficelle Roll

When I'm craving a sandwich, there's usually not much I can do. The sandwich shops in the neighborhood are pretty lackluster, and sandwich food trucks are few and far between. Fortunately, there's the Rolling Ficelle. It doesn't seem to come to Farragut often, but when it does, it's by far the best option for a sandwich here.

"Ficelle" refers to the type of bread. It's similar to a baguette, but longer and thinner. Like a baguette, it's slightly crispy, but not so you'd break your teeth on it. The truck takes these breads, and piles fresh delicious toppings on them. So far, I've had three of their sandwiches, the Davis, a chicken salad sandwich, the DeKooning, a roast beef sandwich, and the Calder, which is similar to an Italian sub.

I've enjoyed all of the sandwiches I've had here. The DeKooning is probably my favorite -- they add a great horseradish mayo to it which gives it just a little bite. The Davis was my least favorite, but that's because I don't like chicken salad (I missed the "tossed in lemon aioli" part of the description when I was ordering). For a chicken salad sandwich, though, it was very good. The almonds give it a bit of complexity, and they used a light touch on the mayonnaise, which helped a lot.

Sadly, the light touch is also one of the few negatives. (They're also aren't the fastest food truck out there.) I like the DeKooning a lot, but I'd be quite a bit happier if it was a bit more horseradishy. I haven't had the Pollock yet (next time!), a pulled pork sandwich, but if the description of "a hint of jalapeno" is correct, I'll probably think they could kick that up a notch as well.

Restaurant Association Responds to Food Truck Rules

According to Young & Hungry, the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) is against the new regulations I discussed here. While they aren't ideal, most food trucks have come out in favor of the new rules, viewing them as a step forward from the old regulatory framework. Unsurprisingly, then, RAMW is against them:

In a press release, RAMW tells city officials to "go back to the drawing board," calling the new regs "inadequate and woefully short of actually adhering to the existing law that plainly requires the assignment of designated vending spots for food trucks." 

The group is referring to a 2009 statute, which states, "The Mayor shall designate the specific vending locations on sidewalks, roadways, and other public spaces where a person may vend."
The new regulations, released Jan. 20, specifically allow food trucks and other vending vehicles to "park at any legal parking space," which RAMW contends is not specific enough under the law.

In its statement, the organization, which represents mostly brick-and-mortar restaurants, tried to clarify its position as not anti-food truck or anti-small business, per se, but rather about promoting fairness for all operators, big or small, rooted or mobile.

It's pretty clear to me that the restaurants are in fact anti-food truck; they view food trucks as competition, and so want to deny them a spot at the table. Despite being a fan of the half-smoke wagons, I like having the variety of options that the relaxed regulation of food trucks has allowed. Perhaps instead of complaining and trying to use the government to stifle competition, the brick and mortar restaurants ought to try and produce better food?

Basil Time!

While it may not be my favorite food truck, Basil Thyme is probably the best of those I frequent regularly. The ingredients they use to make their lasagnas are top notch -- I've never had a bad slice here. For just $10, you can get a slice of lasagna, a beverage, and a cannoli. They have four types of lasagna, plus a manicotti, and the flavor of cannoli varies each day. The last time I was here, it was mocha. The service is really quick. There's almost never a line, and it's never taken more than a minute for me to get my lunch.

I've never had the manicotti, but I've had all three of their non-seasonal lasagnas. The 'Linda' is a traditional lasagna, like your mother used to make, and the variety that I almost always get, at least ever since they stopped making the Pasquale. The Lisetta is made with slow-roasted pork in a vodka sauce, while the Catena is a shallot and white wine sauteed lasagna with plenty of spinach. I don't particularly like cooked spinach, so the Catena isn't really my thing, but my wife loves it, so I trust it's just a matter of taste. The Giuseppe is their seasonal lasagna. Currently, it's a truffle and portabella lasagna that's supposed to be excellent.

What really impresses me, though, is their salad. Each lasagna comes with a salad, and it's not just some iceberg lettuce arranged in the form of a salad like some people's. (I'm looking at you, Yellow Vendor.) It's a really good rich spring mix, with kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, and tomatoes, and topped with shaved parmesan cheese. They didn't need to make this impressive of a salad. Just the lasagna would have been enough. But this is a great addition to their meal.

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.