For underfinanced foodies, the food truck phenomenon is a thing of wonder. Delicious, often innovative and frequently local foods are served up at reasonable prices. The world is your dining room! However, food trucks can pose their own set of problems, like how and where to find them. Finding a food truck couldn't h
ave been any easier this weekend at the Durham Food truck Rodeo in Durham's Central Park. I couldn't resist attending to give you, loyal reader, the scoop on some of the best food trucks in the triangle. There were over 30 food trucks in attendance Sunday serving up everything from the traditional burgers and pizza to gourmet crepes, roasted pork belly, dumplings and everything in between. I've already been made a fan of the chirba chirba dumpling truck from previous encounters outside of Big Boss Taproom, so I tried to hit up some of the trucks I had been waiting to try. I started with a piece of the Margarita pizza from Pie Pushers Pizza truck that featured basil pesto, goat cheese, heirloom tomatoes and mozzarella on a thin NY style crust. Two thumbs up, I'm usually a pizza purest going for the classic cheese Margarita style, but I can always make exceptions when pesto is involved. My carnivorous companion ordered the pepperoni slice and was equally pleased. After being dissuaded from the Parlour ice cream truck by its mega line (I'm still sad I didn't get to sample flavors like Vietnamese coffee and lavender vanilla..,) I was consoled by the idea of a dessert crepe from Parlez Vous Crepe. I ordered the lemon crepe with a lemon meringue pie style lemon filling and opted to add some fresh strawberries in line with the menu's suggestion. Then I waited...and waited...and waited some more. Delicious looking crepes were received all around me and a growing crowd of people waited for their orders. It got to the point of absurdity... about an hour for a crepe. I did finally get it, and it was good, but very little is good enough to be worth that kind of wait. I understand that food truck rodeos bring foodies out of the woodwork, and lines should be anticipated, but this was ridiculous. The crepe was good, if you can catch the truck on a slow night, go for it, otherwise be prepared to wait. My companion ordered a vanilla shaved ice, which was good (although personally I would have gone for something a little more exotic than vanilla.) Some acquaintances of mine sampled a jerk chicken sandwich and a bacon wrapped hot dog with salsa verde, that both seemed pleased with. One item had me seriously second guessing my current vegetarian experiment (more will follow on that in a future post,) chile rellenos stuffed with pulled roasted pork and cheese, deep fried in a beer batter and served with ranch or sweet Thai chili sauces. These were offered up by the Valentino's Italian truck, it may not sound very Italian, but they looked so good I'd let that slide. I had to settle for harassing a person who was eating them into a bite by bite account. Now go stalk some food trucks!
For underfinanced foodies, the food truck phenomenon is a thing of wonder. Delicious, often innovative and frequently local foods are served up at reasonable prices. The world is your dining room! However, food trucks can pose their own set of problems, like how and where to find them. Finding a food truck couldn't h
ave been any easier this weekend at the Durham Food truck Rodeo in Durham's Central Park. I couldn't resist attending to give you, loyal reader, the scoop on some of the best food trucks in the triangle. There were over 30 food trucks in attendance Sunday serving up everything from the traditional burgers and pizza to gourmet crepes, roasted pork belly, dumplings and everything in between. I've already been made a fan of the chirba chirba dumpling truck from previous encounters outside of Big Boss Taproom, so I tried to hit up some of the trucks I had been waiting to try. I started with a piece of the Margarita pizza from Pie Pushers Pizza truck that featured basil pesto, goat cheese, heirloom tomatoes and mozzarella on a thin NY style crust. Two thumbs up, I'm usually a pizza purest going for the classic cheese Margarita style, but I can always make exceptions when pesto is involved. My carnivorous companion ordered the pepperoni slice and was equally pleased. After being dissuaded from the Parlour ice cream truck by its mega line (I'm still sad I didn't get to sample flavors like Vietnamese coffee and lavender vanilla..,) I was consoled by the idea of a dessert crepe from Parlez Vous Crepe. I ordered the lemon crepe with a lemon meringue pie style lemon filling and opted to add some fresh strawberries in line with the menu's suggestion. Then I waited...and waited...and waited some more. Delicious looking crepes were received all around me and a growing crowd of people waited for their orders. It got to the point of absurdity... about an hour for a crepe. I did finally get it, and it was good, but very little is good enough to be worth that kind of wait. I understand that food truck rodeos bring foodies out of the woodwork, and lines should be anticipated, but this was ridiculous. The crepe was good, if you can catch the truck on a slow night, go for it, otherwise be prepared to wait. My companion ordered a vanilla shaved ice, which was good (although personally I would have gone for something a little more exotic than vanilla.) Some acquaintances of mine sampled a jerk chicken sandwich and a bacon wrapped hot dog with salsa verde, that both seemed pleased with. One item had me seriously second guessing my current vegetarian experiment (more will follow on that in a future post,) chile rellenos stuffed with pulled roasted pork and cheese, deep fried in a beer batter and served with ranch or sweet Thai chili sauces. These were offered up by the Valentino's Italian truck, it may not sound very Italian, but they looked so good I'd let that slide. I had to settle for harassing a person who was eating them into a bite by bite account. Now go stalk some food trucks!
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