Food Truck Review - Phillies Phamous Cheesesteaks

To start off, I don’t usually eat cheesesteaks but my cube-mate absolutely loooooves this truck. She’s always raving about it (and she's tried a few other cheesesteak trucks) and every time they stop at our area she always gets their sandwich. I originally wasn’t going to try it because I don’t like beef very much but the guy taking orders cornered me when he said they had chicken subs as well. So I decided to try the 6'' chicken cheesesteak and I’m happy to say that I’m glad I did :)

Phillies Phamous Cheesesteak Truck

The chicken is very tender, finely minced, and heavily seasoned. One of my biggest complaints about cheesesteak sandwiches is that they’re either usually too dry or too greasy. Granted I’ve never tried a real cheesesteak from Philly, only the DC/VA area; Phillies Famous was neither too dry nor too greasy :) I ordered mine with lettuce, tomatoes, hot and sweet peppers, mushrooms and cheese. Customers have the choice of adding more meat and cheese but the sandwich was so stuffed with filling I can't imagine really needing to add either of those. Personally, I feel like it would’ve tasted better with some jalepenos or some other sort of spice, but it is still delicious as is! The sandwich bread is slightly toasted so that the edges are crispy but the center is still soft. Amazing!

Chicken Cheesesteak

For $9 you can get a combo that comes with french fries and a soda, which is a pretty good deal
considering the sandwich itself is already humungous! I understand that this is predominantly a philly cheesesteak truck BUT their fries need some work lol; an awesome sandwich deserves equally awesome fries to be paired with right? Their fries honestly reminded me of the frozen Ore Ida fries you find in the freezer aisle at the grocery store. They look the same and they taste the same. Please step it up on the fries! Waffles fries or seasoned fries…anything! Had I known they would’ve tasted this terribly, I would’ve paid $8 and gotten the combo with chips instead.

One BIG Sandwich!

Aside from their soggy, tasteless fries their cheesesteak sandwiches are delicious! Surprisingly, I would absolutely order from Philies Phamous again (and skip the fries :P)

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Food Truck Review - El Fuego

El Fuego is a Peruvian truck in DC that is painted and designed like a fire truck! I’ve actually tried 2
different dishes: the shrimp saltado bowl and the salchipapa platter. The saltado bowl is similar to a
stir fry and comes with a side of French fries, which I swapped out for yucca fries :) The shrimp saltado
bowl was simply amazing; the shrimp and veggies were very tender and fresh, and the onions are not
overwhelming like some stir fries can be. Also, the red bell peppers just melt in your mouth, I don’t
understand how they did this! I’m not a huge fan of red peppers to begin with but El Fuego made them
incredibly tasty. I’m not sure what sauce they use but it’s very flavorful with a slightly spicy kick. My only complaint is that it was a bit salty.

El Fuego Food Truck

Considering I’m Asian, I had high expectations for the rice lol I would say the rice is too dry and on the crumbly side. It’s possible that I’m just more accustomed to stickier, moist rice but regardless, I wish they made their rice better. The yucca fries were decent; they’re your standard yucca fries – cut thick and lightly fried. I don’t think they’re any better or worse than other yucca fries I’ve tried from various restaurants, just average. The fries would’ve been better if they had that special yucca sauce that Guapos has. El Fuego provide 3 different side sauces: Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3. They are labeled by spiciness level, Level 3 being the spiciest. I only tried the Level 2 sauce, which wasn’t that spicy to me (I love spicy so not sure if I would recommend it for those of you who prefer milder spices?) I definitely plan on trying the Level 3 one next time.

Shrimp Saltado Bowl

Fresh Shrimp & Veggies

The saltado bowl is packaged in a completely decomposable container, so I give them props for helping our environment :) The downside is that I felt like it was starting the decomposition process 20 minutes after I started eating since I couldn’t get the lid to cap properly no matter how how I tried. The lid kinda softened/melted or something o_O

The second dish I tried was the salchipapa platter, which is French fries topped with sliced hot dogs
and their El Fuego sauces. This dish was alright…I’m not really sure why I got it to be honest lol because its just fries topped with hot dogs, but I was intrigued because it sounded good at the time. For $5 you do get a generous portion and it is a pretty good appetizer (although the size could’ve made it an entree). I personally don’t think there is anything special about it; it’s not bad but it is what you would expect if you chopped up hot dogs and threw them on top of fries. It would be pretty good bar food in my opinion :P Give it a try if you’re curious but I wouldn’t say it’s a must-try.

Salchipapa Platter

Aside from the rice, I absolutely loved the shrimp saltado bowl. Order it and you won’t be disappointed!

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Food Truck Review - Stix

Let me start by saying Stix is one of my favorite DC food trucks. I’ve ordered from them many times and have never been disappointed :) All of their items are grilled on skewers. I always get the Surf N Turf since it’s the best bang for your buck. For $12 you get your choice of 2 meats (steak, shrimp, or chicken) and a side. The chicken is usually sold out when I get there but I’m very content with my steak and shrimp :D Unfortunately the steak isn't made to order, but I’m sure it’s for the better in terms of health and safety reasons; it’s usually around a medium, so the steak is very tender and not overly chewy. The colossal shrimps are very fresh and glazed with a delicious lemon butter that isn’t too heavy.

Steak, Shrimp & Baby Red Potatoes

Out of the sides I’ve only tried the baby red potatoes with aioli sauce, and I can’t get enough of it! They are crave-worthy! Lightly salted and grilled to perfection, the skin is slightly crispy and toasted while the middle is soft and almost creamy. And the aioli sauce it comes with tastes good with everything! (I eat that sauce container clean C: lol) Other sides they sell include grilled pineapples, marinated mushrooms, and corn on the cob.

Most of the time I get Stix, there is a small line but their process is efficient; I’ve never had to wait too
long for my food to come out. When you get your order, everything is neatly wrapped together in a
cone shape with thick construction paper, making it very portable and easy to carry around (see below). Also, the food stays warm a decent amount of time after you order since each skewer is individually wrapped with aluminum foil (the potatoes aren't wrapped with foil in the photo below since this was during the warmer autumn days).

Neatly Wrapped Surf n Turf Combo

This truck is absolutely awesome, and I HIGHLY recommend trying Stix. :)

Stix Food Truck

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Food Truck Review - Crepes Parfait

I think it's about time for some sugary goodness C: Crepes Parfait is a fairly new (and super cute) food truck, maybe a month old if I remember correctly? The name was a bit misleading to me because yes, they sell crepes, but no they do not sell parfaits! I was expecting some sort of amazing yogurt/fruit/granola concoction =/ At the same time apparently 'parfait' means ‘perfect’ in French so maybe that's what they were going for. Anyways, this truck serves both sweet and savory crepes. For some reason, in my mind, crepes should be sweet lol so I decided to try the sweet crepe special of the day: spiced apples and maple syrup cream with toasted almonds.

Spiced Apples and Maple Syrup with Toasted Almonds Crepe

The pancake shell was the perfect thinness, not too thick or bready. (If the pancake is too thick or starchy, it takes away from the filling flavor!) The filling was absolutely delicious and the maple syrup cream complimented the spiced apples really well; the cream was very light and whipped. Some crepe fillings tend to be too jam or jelly-like and others are too runny but this one was just right. They also give you an ample amount of warm apple filling without overwhelming your taste buds with sugar.

Crepes Parfait does a really good job with the packaging. The crepes are held in a cardboard holder with perforated lines where you tear as you eat your crepe; similar to tearing off the ice cream cone wrapper. Regardless, it makes eating the crepe a lot easier than having to keep pushing your crepe up towards the top of the holder opening (see picture below :P ) They have 3 cooking tops in their truck, so the line moves at a decent pace. Also, my crepe amazingly stayed warm for about 45 minutes after I had ordered it!

Handy, Perforated Crepe Holder 

To sum things up, my Crepes Parfait experience was pretty good :] (I definitely recommend it over
Crepes DC, which long story short, felt like I was eating spoonfuls of blueberry jam straight for the jar; I didn’t even finish my crepe :O ) Next time, I’d like to try a savory crepe to see if those are just as tasty!

Crepes Parfait Food Truck

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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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