Miami Food Trucks

They’re trendy, they’re cheap and there is something for (almost) everyone. What am I talking about? Food trucks. There is something really appealing about eating food out of a truck while standing at a little table with strangers. I went to the Hard Rock Casino last night with some friends for the Miami Food Truck Rally. Once passed the headache-inducing parking structure and nausea-inducing, smoke-filled casino, we made it out to the parking lot where twenty food trucks, and infinite fried food possibilities await.  This all comes on the heels of my meeting with a nutritionist (more on that at a later date). Now, onto the food.

The trucks are set up in a U-shape, with a few hanging out in the middle.

We decided to work methodically, starting at one end of the U and meandering (eating) our way to the end. First up: Jefe’s Original Fish Tacos. The fried fish tacos (that was our only choice – no healthy grilling here) were good. Each wrapped in two soft taco shells, I heeded the nutritionist’s advice and only ate half of one of them. The taco itself was good, but I have had better fish tacos elsewhere. Next, we moved on to Aaron’s Catering Express, parked in the middle of the lot. The menu looked interesting, and when I saw the magic words (truffle mac n’ cheese) I could not resist. Unbeknownst to me, these were actually squares of mac n’ cheese, with only the vaguest hint of truffle, that were deep fried and served with cheez whiz. While not at all what I had hoped for, the cheez whiz was surprisingly tasty. Next time, I would skip these and try something else, like the s’mores.

Continuing our journey, we made our way to The MexZican Gourmet, home of even more tacos as well as toztadas and tortas. (I’ll take foods that start with the letter “T” for $200, Alex). the steak quesadilla came filled with marinated, tender and flavorful steak, a little cheese and was topped with sour cream. This was the top truck for several in our group.

We then strolled over to a fun looking yellow truck. Mr. Good Stuff was manned by, well, Mr. Good Stuff. He described the Lunas to us and we decided to try one. Lunas were described as “Venezuelan Arepas, but not sweet”. I think they are more like corn meal pitas, as they are slit open and then stuffed  with your choice of filling. We opted for the tomato and mozzarella with balsamic, which was light and refreshing. I could eat

these quite often. Our friend opted for a hot dog. He marched up to the counter and ordered it as it is listed on the menu, “I Dream of Weenie”. That was good for an hour of weenie jokes. The actual dog was slathered in onions, bacon, crushed potato chips and several sauces that I could not keep track of. Mr. Good Stuff handed us an order of Cheezy My Neezy friend four cheese balls with a spicy guava dipping sauce to go with the weenie.

Moving right along, as if anyone needed any more food, we headed to the gastroPod, and Airstream trailer turned restaurant. They had a short, but lovely menu of short rib sliders, burgers (Mo’ Better Burger), pork sandwiches and a few other things. The homemade pickles that top the burger were truly amazing. Sweet, but not overly so, and crunchy. Mmmmmmmmm. I would, quite seriously, put those pickles on just about everything I eat. Note to self: Must. Get. Pickle recipe.

Last on the list was Sakaya Kitchen, home of Dim Samm A Gogo. While they were out of the vegetarian kimchee egg rolls (boo), they did have what some called “the best duck sandwich ever.” I would have a better quote, but they were too busy stuffing the duck into their mouths. They also had crispy Korean chicken wings, full of spices, yet not spicy.

As we were leaving we passed another food truck where they were experimenting with bacon funnel cakes. Yes, these were strips of bacon dipped in funnel cake batter and deep fried. Apparently they could still use some more experimenting.

What is your favorite food truck? I am looking forward to a return visit, but there need to be some ground rules next time limiting the fried foods. Oh, and next time I must save room for a  Ms. Cheezious grilled cheese. And some Red Koi sushi.

Miami Food Trucks are all over the place, but they will be at the Hard Rock Thursday nights throughout the summer.