The Grilled Cheese Truck

*Post by Mark.

There are so many Food Trucks out there I'm dying to try that I just can't seem to track down. The Grilled Cheese Truck is not one of them. Don't get me wrong, I had been dying to try it and still would be if I hadn't tried it yet. But it almost seems like the Grilled Cheese Truck has been tracking me down, and I like to imagine a world where food trucks stalk me home at night, camping outside my front door, battling for my attention... We can all dream, can't we?

But, I do keep crossing paths with the Grilled Cheese Truck, and that's a fact I've grown very comfortable with. Maybe it has something to do with the truck often parking in front of Meltdown Comics (below) just a couple blocks from my home.

The Grilled Cheese Truck wisely times their appearance with a number of the popular comic book store's events. My first experience with the truck came a few weeks ago during Meltdown's Wednesday night comedy show (if you live in Los Angeles, enjoy free beer and have eight dollars, you will not find a better value for top-notch comedy). My second experience came this last weekend during a Kids and Comics event. I don't have any kids, but I did have an appetite for grilled cheese and descended upon the truck with three hungry friends. There's been a line both times, and there's usually about a fifteen minute wait once you've ordered. The GCT - with multiple trucks - seems to have established a loyal fan base. 

I decided to go simple this time, and by simple that meant the Caprese Melt (below), stuffed with heirloom tomato, basil and cheese. Of course, you can go even simpler, sticking with just the cheese (your choice of American, sharp cheddar, double cream brie and gruyere) and French or wheat bread. But the Truck's menu also allows you to get adventurous. 

For some, that adventure may be the Cheesy Mac and Rib (below), clearly stuffed with macaroni and cheese, in addition to the cheddar, bbq pork and caramelized onions. This was a big hit with my compatriots, but the mac and cheese was a little overkill for me. Other elaborate creations include the the Brie Melt, filled with the double cream brie, sliced pears and honey and served on cranberry walnut bread. 

The truck also serves sides. The tater tots are fantastic, but you can also balance your meal out with a cup of tomato soup or bowl of mac and cheese. But this time, I saved room for a second sandwich. The Dessert Melt comes tricked out with sweet ingredients like roasted banana puree, Nutella and marshmallow. As I bit into the gooey center of the grilled sandwich, I had a zen moment where I understood the true existence of the grilled cheese truck. The Dessert Melt is the truck's reason for existence, as it also now my reason for existence and I would kill a man for another.

Lardon Truck

*Post by Mark.

"IIIIT'S BAAACCCOOOON!"

Who remembers that borderline annoying commercial with the dog who keeps shouting "IIIIT'S BAAAA'-- well, you get the idea. As I strolled up to the Lardon Truck, I couldn't get that line unstuck from my head, 'cuz this truck promises an overload of everyone's favorite pork product with none other than Bacon! Bacon! Bacon! in everything they offer (except for maybe the bottled water). 

Every food truck needs a gimmick. Without one, you're just a glorified food stand serving things I could make at home. But, in my opinion, an all-bacon truck is one of the better gimmicks this side of Korean tacos. And their tag line "Get Your Lardon" makes me giggle every time. So I tracked @GetYourLardon down on twitter and brought friends with me, hoping we could dig a little deeper into the menu of the least kosher food truck in Los Angeles. 

We caught up with the Lardon Truck at Sunset and Cole. The truck was serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, when you can even get chicken wings covered in bacon hot sauce. Got a sweet tooth? There are "Lark Brownies" smeared with bacon Nutella and even chocolate chip and bacon cookies on the dessert menu.

As a side, we snagged a couple of 'Bacos' (below). Served alongside a horseradish-bacon sour cream, this sampling of cheddar and potatoes is wrapped (kind of) like a taco inside a crispy bacon shell ($4). Calling this a "taco" may be a little bit of a stretch, but just imagine that someone has wrapped up a present of cheesy hash browns for you, but instead of using wrapping paper? They've used bacon. If this sounds like your thing, it'll be like Christmas in your mouth.

I settled on the Frisee au Lardon Sandwich (below) which supplies a fried egg, lardon bites and a frisee tossed in vinaigrette ($6). It was here that I realized that the Lardon truck uses bacon as more than pure gimmick. In this sandwich, the small lardon pieces are a nice compliment to the tastefully prepared greens and the delicious brioche bun. I appreciated the restraint and enjoyed what turned out to be a pleasant and not-too-overwhelming lunch.

And what would a bacon truck be without their spin on the classic BLT? We get The Lardon BLT (below) which sticks relatively close to tradition. Made with peppered bacon, butter lettuce, tomatoes and St. Agur blue cheese, this BLT is a relatively hearty lunch option on a toasted baguette ($6). 

Next time, I think I need to bring a bigger appetite.* I didn't even make it into the dessert menu. Knowing how well bacon can be paired with chocolate, I'm still kicking myself for letting those bacon brownies escape. The Lardon Truck may have gotten away for now, but I'll be back. And when I return, there will be meat sweats... 

*Angela's note: Ahem, and maybe your girlfriend.

El Floridano

*Post by Mark.

Farragut Square seems to have become the place to find food trucks on Friday ever since DC Slices declared the weekly holiday of 'Farragut Fridays.' As our lunchtime luck would have it,  El Floridano had also joined the party on a recent Friday afternoon. With El Floridano, or @FLmeetsDC as they're known on Twitter, Chef/owner Stephan Boillon brings a pedigreed background to his sandwich truck, with 20 years in the restaurant industry and a stint as executive chef at Dino in Cleveland Park. Boillon's first-class touches to his sandwiches elevate them above typical street fare.

 

 

 

 

When we caught up to the colorful truck, it was blasting the West Side Story soundtrack, making Angela wiggle slightly in time to the music while standing in line.

 

 

The menu is short and sweet. We tackled two out of three of their sandwich options between the two of us, opting for a classic and something that's a little less traditional. El Floridano also offers soups, vegan-friendly options, and Boylan's soft drinks- which are described as a 'fruit mash' - not quite a soda, and not quite a juice. 

 

 

For my non-traditional option, I went with El Floridano's twist on a traditional Vietnamese sandwich, the Ho Chi Banh Mi, which is stuffed with turkey meatloaf, pickled green mango, baby arugula and tamarind barbecue sauce (below). The sandwich is a monster and the ingredients inside are far better than you'd expect from a truck. The thick, fluffy, white roll added (slightly unfavorably) to the sandwich's magnitude, but since I haven't actually seen better bread baked in D.C., this food truck escapes the wrath of my unrealistic expectations. All things being said, this Cuban-Vietnamese fusion had some really nice flavors intermingling. 

Angela ordered the Fidel, a classic Cuban with roasted pork and ham, pickles, and mustard (below). The sandwich was pressed thin between what we think is the same bread used in the truck's other offerings. The bread fares much better here, serving as a nice crusty, crunchy foil for the perfectly seasoned, juicy meats and tanginess of the pickles and mustard. If there were any complaints, it would be a call for even more of those thick slices of delicious pork. 

The truck also offers a Chicken Chiang Mai, with charred tomato salsa, avocado, pickled onions and baby arugula. You can catch the truck by following along on Twitter and I suggest you do. It's hard enough to come by a decent sandwich in the city, so you should take advantage of it when it's actually willing to come to you.

DC Food Truck: DC Slices

*Post by Mark.

Like Los Angeles and New York City before us, DC has now been inundated with food trucks. DC Slices is one of the latest to gas up the truck and join the trend, serving up fresh slices to DC's hungry masses. Today, as the temperature crept over eighty degrees, we went for a lunch-time stroll and caught up with the DC Slices in Farragut Square.

 

The truck offers five different types of slice at $4 a pop, or a soda and slice for an even $5. Your options include Cheese, Pepperoni, Sausage, Hawaiian and Veggie. A nice little touch is the friendly offering of some fresh basil on your slice. 

 

I opted to give the Pepperoni (left) and Sausage (right) the old college try.

And Angela sprung for a slice of the Hawaiian.  Each slice was (kind of oddly) topped with a solitary tater tot.

Angela would have liked a little more crisp and seasoning to the crust of the pizza, but understood the limitations of pizza served out of a truck.  And the toppings were tasty and well-apportioned.  While the pizza won't be winning any Pizza Wars, we both thought it was solid street food. Some moderately fresh pizza and fresh basil really hit the spot on a sunny day.