Xplosive

Xplosive food truck made its debut at the Mobile Food Rodeo on September 15, 2012 at Denny Park in Seattle, Washington.  The truck melds the two culinary styles, Filipino and Vietnamese.  They offer a rich menu of tasty Filipino and Vietnamese meats as traditional Banh Mi sandwiches and corn tortilla tacos.  They do also off a Vermicelli bowl with your choice of meat (or tofu).

The Xplosive food truck is definitely a sight to be seen.  If you look inside the ordering and pickup windows you can see them fully stocked with French bread for sandwiches.  In the side opening of the truck they have many Filipino and Asian snacks such as Piatos, Hi-Chews, dried mangoes and Philippine Brand fruit drinks.

They did not have their full menu at this event but they did allow us sort of a preview of what they have to offer.  I ordered two tacos, adobo pork and Fili beef steak.  The tacos were presented beautifully and they had a good size as well.  They are loaded with meat, sauce and typical Banh Mi toppings of pickled daikon and carrots and cilantro and cucumbers.  My tacos were overloaded with cucumbers (of which I am not a fan) so I spent a good time trying to remove them.  My first bite was of the pork adobo taco.  The meat was tasty and had the hint of vinegar you look for in adobo.  One thing I did not like about the pork adobo was that it was shredded.  You don't typically see pork adobo shredded.  In my opinion, they would have better off cubing the pork similar to that of pork adobada or carne asada.  That would have given it a texture that more closely resembled traditional Filipino pork adobo.  The pickled vegetables and cilantro added a nice flavor to the adobo flavor of the pork.  I next took a bite out of the Fili beef steak.  Right off the bat I was hit with an overwhelming taste of black pepper.  Too much in fact.  I tried to get around it but the flavor was overpowering.  A more subtle black pepper flavor would have blended better with the fresh toppings of the taco.  The meat, however was very tender and plentiful.

Next time out I want to try the lemongrass pork and lemongrass tofu.  I think taco form would be good, but we'll see where my stomach takes me.

All in all it was a good debut for Xplosive food truck.  They have a ways to go but i know their food will improve with time.  Most food trucks take that same pattern.  Hopefully we'll see them in the Renton area soon.

Find them here: Website or  Facebook or Twitter


'Till next time.

Happy eating.

Grill em all (Witte)

Grill Em All Truck (GEA) and the Witte

We already had a post on Grill Em All as a whole so now I'm gonna focus on a particular burger.

I present to you the Witte.

Named after professional drummer, Dave Witte, this burger is found on the permanent menu at Grill Em All. Inside you will find cream cheese, deep fried bacon, beer and siracha soaked onions and malt vinegar ailoi. Now I know most of you would never consider cream cheese in a burger but I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

This burg is full of delicious contrasts. You have the juicy beef patty playing against the soft bun which in it of itself is already a great burger. Then you get a hit of the siracha and beer soaked onions. The spiciness of the siracha plays against the creaminess of the cream cheese perfectly. Then on top of that you have the smoothness of the cream cheese playing against the crunchiness of the deep fried bacon. Believe me. You will fall in love with deep fried bacon after this. Top it off with truffle fries and a side of malt vinegar ailoi and you have yourself a meal.

The best part about this burg is the mess it makes. The bun tries to hold it but the cream cheese just wants to escape...right into your mouth! Once you get all the onions, beef, cheese, bacon and bun mixed together in one bite its heaven. If you haven't tried this burg yet, find the Grill Em All truck and come crush one!

Want to try the Witte? Find it here:
Website
Facebook
Twitter

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San Gabriel Valley Foodtruck Fest

The Good, the Bad, and the Yummy.....

Every first Friday of the month Speedzone in City of Industry brings a swap meet for your belly amount of food trucks to their race track and everyone has a party in their mouth..Will be there reviewing some of the trucks coming our way and invite everyone else to come join us...so here is some information you might want to navigate this orgy of food.

The Good: 

Date/Time: 2/4/11 6PM - When the food runs out

Trucks:  

 Grill em’ All
grillemalltruck.com

Tapa Boy
The Original Filipino Breakfast Truck
tapaboyla.com

Lee’s Philly
Korean Gogi Style Steak Sandwiches, Tacos, and Burritos
twitter.com/leesphilly

The Buttermilk Truck
Homemade Breakfast Favorites
buttermilktruck.com

Lomo Arigato
Peruvian-Japanese Fusion
lomoarigato.com

Tropical Shaved Ice
Southern California’s first Hawaiian Shave Ice Truck
tropicalshaveice.com

Ahn Joo
Korean Style Snack Favorites by the Food Network’s Chef Debbie Lee
ahnjoo.com

Lobsta Truck
Lobster. Rolls.  Let That Sink In For A Minute.
lobstatruck.com

The Boba Truck
Mobile Tea and Coffee Brewery..and Boba!
thebobatruck.com

Mandoline Grill
Vietnamese Cuisine
mandolinegrill.com

India Jones
Gourmet Indian street food!
indiajoneschowtruck.com

Che Truck
Authentic Argentine Food
chetruck.com

Longboards Ice Cream
longboardsicecream.com

Komodo
komodofood.com

Street Hawker
Singaporean Home Style Food
streethawkertruck.com

Frysmith
Fries that eat as a meal!
eatfrysmith.com

Seats: There are plenty of seats and tables and heat lamps!

 The Bad



Admission: $5 plus they'll give you a voucher for $4 for their games (voucher doesn't expire till June so if your too full save it for another time)
Parking: Free on the left side, "VIP" - $5 on the right side, free at Lowe's, don't park across the street they'll tow


Lines: It gets packed the later in the day as people get off work and maneuver traffic.


Diet: Kiss it goodbye at least for tonight!


The Yummy aka Tips and Tricks


Grill Em All aka GEA - long line all night long so get there early or get in it cuz last time they did run out of burgers


VIP parking is dumb, just park at Lowe's you can walk off all the food


Inside Speedzone they have indoor seating just in case its too cold 


Large family? Grab some indoor seating have one family member pay the admission go in and get everyone's food BANG all that admission you saved can go toward another burger for yourself...



Speedzone has the monopoly on all beverages including alcohol, so they mark it up so if you can sneak a bottled of water in more power to you.

Get there early as everyone drives through traffic home from work you'll hit 5 trucks before they even get in line.

See you guys there...   :O

The Buttermilk Truck

Looking for buttery, creamy breakfast goodness? Look no further. The Buttermilk truck is here.

The Buttermilk truck is an LA area food truck that is breakfast-centric. Most of their items actually do contain buttermilk. I'm going to tell you about a couple of things I ate during my visit.

One of my visits to the Buttermilk truck was around the holiday season so I was looking for something seasonal. Buttermilk comes to the rescue with an eggnog waffle. Now usually this comes as a combo with fried chicken but I asked if I could just get the waffle. Well I'm a sucker for eggnog so this waffle was right up my alley. They make their waffles fresh with the waffle iron right in front of the pick up window. Now this is a good sized waffle which comes complete with butter and as much maple syrup as your heart desires. Right off the bat with the first bite I was able to catch the hint of eggnog with a good nutmeg flavor. The waffle was creamy and buttery with a crisp exterior and fluffy on the inside. The eggnog was not overpowering but a nice little accent to the waffle itself. Its just too bad this is seasonal and I won't be able to have it again till December.


Now the other item I tried was the Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Pancake Bites. This item seems to be one of the more popular items on their menu. These 6 little guys come complete with a dusting of powdered sugar and a scoop of maple cream cheese buttercream. Now if you like red velvet cupcakes like I do then these are the pancakes for you. Warm red velvet pancakes with melty chocolate chips throughout paired with the maple cream cheese buttercream are legit. The maple cream cheese buttercream provides a nice contrast to the sweetness of the pancake. At $5 for an order of 6, this is a nice dessert for your food truck experience.


So that's the end of my Buttermilk Truck experience this time. Maybe next time I'll try the other things on the menu. If you guys want to find the Buttermilk Truck or just want to learn more about it here's the Twitter the Facebook and the Website. Well thats all for now. Till next time everyone.

Grill Em All aka GEA

For those addicted to the food network you all know GEA from As the winner from the Great Food Truck Race, as foodies you know GEA as the best burg on 4 wheels if not all of LA, atc (all things considered).


Now I've had father's office, back abbey, umami burger, Tommys, In-N-Out, McDonalds so as you see I've been through the burger ringer in SoCal. What differentiates GEA from them all besides the fact you find them on four wheels is their unique burger combinations while giving you a quality patty that doesn't get lost in the toppings.

Some of their tasty burgs a they call em include the behemoth, a burger between a pair of grilled cheese sandwiches, the Molly Hatchet, for those salty sweet mcgriddle loving people, a burger topped with bacon, sausage-fennel gravy and maple syrup, and the Waste Em All, a Pepperjack and Green Chilies topped masterpiece to name a few of my fav burgs.

Now if you want to fin out for yourself if they live up to their victory on Food Network you'll have to follow their twitter as they mostly journey around los Angeles area and have only come further east for San Gabriel Valley food festival, which hopefully they will come to every first Friday it was held(since they did sell out the first time they were there).

So make your way and check Em out at most food festivals they are the truck with the monster line and don't think you'll just wait Goethe line to die down cuz only reason that happens is cuz their out of burgs!



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The Manila Machine

The Manila Machine is the first Filipino food truck in the LA area. Before White Rabbit and before Tapa Boy. The Manila Machine was doing it first. Now on to the food. I had a two slider, lumpia and drink combo for $8. You have 4 basic sliders to choose from. Their signature slider, "the original manila dip", a spam slider, a longganisa slider and a beef tapa slider. The two sliders I chose were the longganisa slider and the beef tapa slider.


Lets start with the longganisa slider. Here is the description from their website "Sweet pork and garlic sausage, caramelized onions, arugula, and mango jam on a pan de sal roll." Disclaimer: I am not a fan of sweets unless its for desserts. I thought the longganisa itself was good but the addition of the caramelized onions and mango jam just made it too sweet for me. Pan de sal itself is also a fairly sweet bread so that didn't help. The arugula tried to counteract the sweetness but it had no chance against the other ingredients. All in all it was ok. I probably wouldn't get it again.

Let's move on to the beef tapa slider. Again from their website, "Sweet calamansi beef, achara slaw, and spicy sriracha mayo on a pan de sal roll." Now this was more up my alley. Don't let the description mislead you. there are sweet components in this but they dont overpower. The siracha mayo was a hit and im always a sucker for achara slaw which is sweet and sour. The beef had a good texture and there was plenty of it. This was a far better balanced item. I would definitely get this again.

The side item in this combo was your choice of lumpia shanghai or vegetable lumpia. I chose the lumpia shanghai. Here's how Manila Machine describes it, "Seasoned pork, carrots, and spicy ginger wrapped in thin eggroll skins and deep-fried." This lumpia was the bomb.com. the pork had a really good texture and was really well seasoned. You can actually feel the meat in your mouth. I didn't really get the hit of the spicy ginger though. The wrapper wasnt too thick and it was fried to perfection. The perfect crunch. One of my favorite lumpia shanghai.

Overall I really liked the Manila Machine. There's a lot of Filipino food around the area but they provide a nice twist on traditional Filipino fare. They have quality food and $8 for my combo wasn't too bad of a price. Well that's all for now. Just wait till I eat something else.

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Hiya!

Some say money makes the world turn, but for some people food is what makes their world turn! So let's just take the time to address what's out their in Southern California, from tweets and yelps to food trucks and "gourmet" cupcakes to food networks to diners, drive-ins and food challenges and whatever else makes me hungry =D