I've visited lots of asian food trucks, so I figured this would be a good post to start. I've interviewed Shanghai Sogo, Hibachi Heaven, Desi Indian and Sweet Chili. Shanghai Sogo was located on 22nd street and Broadway, and had the nicest owner/chef I've ever met. He answered all my questions gladly. He's actually cooked in a Chinese restaurant for over 10 years and decided to take his cooking on wheels. He serves noodles, dumplings, and delicious spring rolls. He gave me one on the house, which had a perfect blend of crunch of the vegetables and soft skin. The sweet duck sauce amplified all the veggies.
Right down the street was Hibachi Heaven, a gourmet japanese platter truck. The lady was very nice, and she gave me a free mini platter which was a mix of pork, brown rice, bok choy with sriracha. It was only okay-- the pork was very chewy and the bok choy was way too bitter.
Pretty lackluster.
I found Desi Indian on the corner of Spring street and 6th avenue. It's the most colorful truck I've seen, with crazy rainbow graffiti all over it. The owner was very exuberant, and when I asked him how he came up with the idea for the truck, he exclaimed, "I'm Indian!" He also gave me a free hot fried curry potato pocket, which really warmed me up on that 15 degree day. Very greasy, but the curry tasted like a just made hot stew, and literally melted in my mouth. When does this winter ever end?
Finally, my favorite Asian food truck was Sweet Chili, which is run by a 2007 top chef finalist, Lisa Fernanda. She serves delicious platters with a choice of Heavenly Beef, Spicy Pork, Chili Chicken, and Sweet Tofu, which comes with jasmine rice and a choice of a salad. Lisa didn't seem to be so enthusiastic about my questions, as she refused to answer a couple, and she made me buy a ten dollar platter, but whatever. I got the Heavenly beef with bean sprout salad. It was spectacular, with the beef being perfectly tender and the bean sprouts added a nice crunch and was refreshing. The basil hidden in the bean sprouts added a zing to the rest of the dish. The platter had a heavenly sweet soy taste to it. The jasmine rice was unfortunately undercooked. I loved all the asian trucks!
-tdg
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