Food Truck Highlight - Pho Wheels' Vietnamese Tacos

I’m back from hiatus! I’ve been sorta lazy taking time off to be a fatty and try new food trucks so that I have reviews to share ;) I know I’ve already written a review for Pho Wheels so I just wanted to highlight another delicious item on their menu. I recently tried their Vietnamese tacos on Malaysian flatbread (roti canai). I honestly didn’t know what to expect because I’ve never had a Vietnamese taco, but let me tell you, if they’re all made this well then it is easily one of my favorite Asian dishes. Pho Wheels has 3 meat choices: soy garlic chicken, 5 spice maple glazed porkbelly, and mushroom-onion tofu; I decided to order the first two.

Vietnamese Tacos

The soy garlic chicken had big chunks of seasoned chicken; the seasoning tasted like a dry
marinade and was sprinkled with pepper, which added a good finishing taste. The taco was filled with
fresh carrots, onions, cucumber slices, and daikon radishes that gave the meat a refreshing contrast. The roti bread itself was crisp and airy. The taco was topped with cilantro, adding the perfect finishing touch I’m impressed that the shell was able to hold everything in place and actually stay intact until the last bite.

As much as I liked the soy garlic chicken, the 5 spice maple glazed porkbelly was my favorite; it tasted as good as it sounds. The porkbelly slices were thick and tender. Pho Wheels definitely does not skimp on their meat. Unlike some restaurants where porkbelly tastes heavy and greasy, Pho Wheels cooks and seasons theirs in a way that it tastes light and nonfattening. Although I couldn’t pin point the spices, they do blend together well. I think the porkbelly could’ve used a bit more spiciness (perhaps I'll be adding some siracha next time?) but other than that the tacos were simply amazing.

Fresh vegetables, bursting with flavor

For $9 you get 2 large and very filling tacos. I was full after the first taco but they were so good I couldn’t help but finish both in one sitting, which is very rare for me! I absolutely recommend trying Pho Wheels’ Vietnamese tacos. Whether it’s their pho or tacos, Pho Wheels is on point! Follow them on Instagram @phowheelsdc for daily mouth-watering photos! ;)

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Battle of the Pho Trucks: Pho Junkies vs Pho Wheels

In honor of the freezing weather how about a pho truck battle? There are a handful of pho trucks in the DC area but I’ve only tried 2 so far. I tried Pho Wheels for the first time last summer at Taste of DC and it was pretty amazing…I would say it’s on par if not better than some actual brick and mortar pho restaurants. That being said, Pho Junkies had high expectations to live up to when I tried it last month. I ordered the meatball pho at Pho Wheels and chicken pho at Pho Junkies. Both trucks provided siracha and hoison sauce as well as the usual onions, cilantro, and limes.

Pho Junkies Truck

Broth: The Pho Wheels broth was more flavorful (this could’ve been because of the beef flavoring instead of the chicken I ordered from Pho Junkies?) Pho Wheels > Pho Junkies but only by a little.

Meat: I didn’t eat any meatballs from Pho Wheels so I can’t really critique it lol but the chicken from Pho Junkies was average; Draw.

Noodles: Both had decent noodles; they weren’t over/under cooked. My only complaint was that Pho Junkies had smaller, broken up noodles, which made it hard to eat. It could’ve been because I got the end of a batch or something, but regardless it made the noodles really hard to eat. Pho Wheels > Pho Junkies.

Price: Pho Wheels costs $9 for a meat of your choice (steak, meatballs, or chicken); Pho Junkies costs $10 for chicken and $12 for all the meats. Pho Wheels > Pho Junkies depending on what meat you get.

Packaging: Now this seems like a pretty random category but it makes a big difference in the food truck industry. Pho Wheels actually packages the pho in a bowl-like container, which makes it very easy to eat. They also give you a heavy duty fork-chopstick contraption (see photo below) that is very useful and pretty nifty haha Pho Junkies, on the other hand, needs to work on their packaging. Their pho comes in a tall cylindrical container that makes it incredibly hard to eat. It’s really awkward trying to fish out the noodles and drink the soup with a spoon from a container that tall. Pho Junkies needs to change their container ASAP. Pho Wheels > Pho Junkies.

Pho Wheels - Meatball Pho; I couldn't capture a good photo of the Pho Junkies dish 

(poor picture quality = my pre-iPhone days :P)

And the winner is…PHO WHEELS! Pho Junkies is by no means a bad pho truck; it’s very tasty and I would buy from them again but against Pho Wheels, I would pick Pho Wheels. All this pho talk is making me crave! Pho anyone? :P

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