Dual Food Truck Friday

Monk's Roast Beef

This past weekend, the KC Star was set to host its Food Truck Friday event, during the Crossroads' monthly First Friday art exhibit.  This was to compliment the monthly KC Truck Stop event, that also takes place during First Fridays. Sadly, we set a record low for temperature in the month of May, and both events were cancelled on account of the 1.5" of snow that fell. This left thousands of food truck fans, such as myself, pining for truck food. Although the Star's Food Truck Friday will be rescheduled, and the Truck Stop is monthly, there are still multiple weeks between now and then. Hopefully this post will hold you over until then, and will also introduce you to a few area trucks that you may not have tried yet.

"Monk's is the truth!", this is what my friend Adrian replied to my tweet about trying Monk's Roast Beef for the first time. To this day, this is probably the best way that I can describe Monk's. Monk's roast beef is a juicy sliced roast beef sandwich topped with both roast beef sauce and mayo. The sandwich is so good that it should come adorned with a warning label, cautioning customers of the inevitable addiction that will ensue upon consumption. Don't get me wrong, Monk's is not a one trick pony, they also offer pastrami and chicken sandwiches. However, I cannot bring myself to order anything but the roast beef.

Gary's Tenderloin Sandwich

Gary's on the Go has been serving up a variety of barbecued, grilled, and fried menu items for years, but now is poised to become the most sustainable way to get lunch in Kansas City. Gary used to slang his BBQ out of a tow-behind trailer, until a tragic traffic accident ended its life as a food service trailer. Gary's search for a new (to him) truck led him to Lucy. In a previous life, Lucy was a Frito's delivery truck that had been put out to pasture (literally). Gary gave Lucy new life and is in the process of converting her to run on spent fry oil. Retro, sustainable, food truck; this combination sounds like a hipster nirvana.

My favorite item that Gary offers has to be the tenderloin (with a side of sweet potato fries, of course). The tenderloin is not the dry, chewy, uninspired piece of meat that you will find at all too many places. The tenderloin is actually, as the name states, tender (take note country diner owners)!

DSE Mac & Cheese

Deco Street Eats is predominantly a lunch truck, that can be found in different locations around the metro, throughout the week. However, you can also find them at such events as the Truck Stop, on First Fridays. DSE has an ever-changing menu that features sandwiches, street tacos, mac & cheese, and warm cookies (just to name a few). I believe the cookies are homemade, although I have never thought to ask (until now). The tacos are some pretty stinking good (my favorite being the Carne Asada Taco) even though they do not conform to my "corn tortillas for street tacos" rule. The best menu item: the Home-style Mac & Cheese; this is not your run of the mill "Easy Mac" or "shells & cheese", this is some serious stuff! This mac & cheese is the real deal: the macaroni noodles are held together with gooey cheddar & jack cheeses and the whole dish has a crispy top layer (from being baked) that is about as heavenly as the burnt cheese shavings that come off of the bottom of a fondue pot. Try it and you will not be disappointed!

KC BBQ Truck

KC BBQ Truck is a Truck Stop truck that does exclusively BBQ ("duh", you might be saying). KC BBQ Truck serves up juicy, smokey meats with your choice of some delicious homemade sauces and a side. I was initially going to walk on by KC BBQ, before they came out and offered me a sample of the brisket. That brisket sold me, I knew I had to have a full helping of it. I asked which side they recommend with my brisket sandwich, they said the beans (I don't know if they knew the high standards that I have for beans). With nice chunks of meat in them and a wide variety of beans, they are not quite Jack Stack beans (then again, no beans are), but not bad at all. I suggest that you stop by and ask for a sample of the meat for yourself, you probably won't be leaving without a sandwich.

KC BBQ also has a brick and mortar in Liberty called Big Willy's BBQ & Blues, although I don't know which came first (the chicken or the egg).

Detroit Coney Dog

Detroit Coney is a new truck in town, it is predominantly a late night truck. It is operated by two Detroit transplants that wanted to bring the food that was recently selected as Michigan state food in the Zagat "50 Plates of America" blog post, to KC. I am not a huge hot dog guy, but I was surprised how much I loved the Detroit Coney Dog. Something about the hot dog, onions, chili, and yellow mustard really melds together well and tastes like an incredibly salty, onion-y party on a bun. Great for late night or lunch on a cold day!


And of course, a food truck post wouldn't be complete without a shoutout to Indios Carbonsitos and how they are full time food truckers now. That is a huge milestone for any small business owner to reach, leaving security behind in hope of chasing the American Dream! But that is what food trucking is all about, the American Dream. Stop by and check them out if you haven't yet. You can also hit them up for what has seemed to be weekly tamale orders ($12 for a dozen tamales, can't beat that).

"Eat My Sausage!"

This post is titled after what the Haus twitter account once told me. I took their advice and I advise you all to do the same!

Haus is a German style sausage and bier haus that serves wurst made locally (by The Local Pig), on bread that is also made locally (by Farm to Market). The interior of Haus is what I consider to be the perfect mix of modern and retro, just enough retro that the modern decor isn't over the top, and just enough modern decor that it doesn't feel like Zoo Bar (which I do enjoy, from time to time). They even have a stack of board games in the corner if you just want to sit at the bar and enjoy some bier.

There are so many delicious sounding options on the wurst menu at Haus, I had a very difficult time deciding which one to order. The duck-ginger-sage, lamb-cumin-oregano, and roasted eggplant-feta were all calling my name, but I went with the pork-tequila-serrano pepper sausage with homestyle sauerkraut, which is a more "rugged" alternative to that store bought junk that they label "Kraut", and sweet peppers. It was a fantastic choice, it had a little bit kick to it that was offset by the sweet peppers and the vinegar from the sauerkraut. My wife went with the smoked chicken and apple sausage (also with kraut and sweet peppers), which was a great milder, slightly sweeter option. All of the mustards are great on both wurst that we had.

As a side, we had the large haus cut fries with cucumber-yogurt and curry-sour cream dipping sauces. I had high hopes for the cucumber-yogurt sauce, reminiscent of a tzatziki sause, but it was the curry-sour cream sauce won my heart. 

We washed all of this down with two beirs. I went with the Aventinus Weizenstarkbier, a dark German wheat bier. My wife went with the Weihenstephaner Kristallweiss, a light German wheat bier. Both were great options, both had playful fruity notes. Haus also has a plethora of draft bier options for those who prefer a freshly poured glass of bier to bottles.

Haus is a great place to take a date or to meet friends for a bite to eat before a night on the trolley. It is certainly awesome and we will be back soon to try the rest of the sausage options.

Food Truck Roundup (Part Trois)

Food trucks (all street food really) have been the bread and butter of this blog since Day 1. I love everything about them and it has been way too long since I have made a food truck post. So without further adieu, here are a few of the food trucks that I have recently added to my rotation:

We will start off with a KC food truck veteran, that I just recently had the pleasure of trying: The Magical Meatball Tour. The Magical Meatball Tour (MMT) is a purveyor of fine meatballs, the most famous of which (and also most comically named) is the bleu ball. This made it an obvious choice for me, as I do love a delicious dish with a dirty name. The bleu ball slider was tremendous! The bleu balls come covered in a very spicy buffalo sauce, served on a bed of slaw and bleu cheese crumbles. The meat was tender and the slaw was terrific. The slaw was much more than a filler, it was a great compliment to the spice of the buffalo sauce. More bleu balls are definitely in my future (along with other ball varieties too). 

The Magical Meatball Tour is really an all around amazing food truck, it even comes complete with a Ringmaster (See photo to right). You can also find a MMT recipe in the upcoming edition of Food Trucks for Dummies, which is slated to hit bookstore shelves in April 2013 (I know what I am asking for for my next birthday). Stop by after you pick up your copy to get it autographed, but don't wait until then to see what all the buzz is about. My only regret was that I did not try this truck sooner.

Next up is Smokin' Fresh Streetside BBQ. Smokin' Fresh Streetside BBQ (SFSB) is Kansas City's only all-natural, organic-only BBQ food truck. SFSB also has the juiciest dry-rubbed, smoked meat I have ever had in my life. I do not know if the juiciness of the meat comes from it being organically raised meat, or the process by which it is cooked, and (speaking as a hungry truck goer) it really doesn't matter. All I know is that it is delicious regardless of where the juice comes from.

The brisket sandwich and burnt ends are both equally incredible. The burnt ends are done cube style (Jack Stack), not shredded style (Gates), which just works to hold the juices in until you bite into them. The brisket sandwich comes piled high with brisket, topped with a wonderful BBQ sauce.

Not only are Doug and Paula great barbecuers and food truck owners, but also great Kansas Citians and food truck supporters. On the weekends that they are not out with their truck, you will probably find them eating at another local food truck. Two of the nicest people that you will ever meet!

Crave of KC Food Truck is a newcomer to the local food truck scene. I have had two different varieties of the fusion tacos (and before anyone reminds me how much of a taco purist I am,  the rules of authentic Mexican tacos do not apply to fusion tacos, now back to the post), they are truly awesome!

The Chicken Fusion Tacos are great. I would have to say that my favorite part of them is the homemade peanut sauce (nut allergies beware). The chicken was also perfectly cooked. The Carnitas Tacos had incredibly tender carnitas and a great salsa verde (we all know I love a good salsa verde). The tacos pictured to the right are in the order in which they are described, from left to right.

Joe and Chris (and Matt too) are also great food truck owners and super nice people. They normally stick to the lunch circuit, but you occasionally catch them in the evenings. Although, I do have to catch up with them for breakfast sometime, as they have an Amaretto French Toast that I just have to try. I feel like it may even give my Wheatfield's sour dough French Toast a run for its money.

Driftwood KC was a new truck when I first tried them (this summer), but by the time my lazy butt has gotten around to writing about them, most of you have probably already tried the smoky goodness that is Driftwood KC. Driftwood is owned and operated by a classicly trained chef that just got sick and tired of working for The Man. I cannot say enough about this truck, I have dined at some good food trucks in my day, but Driftwood is easily in my top 5 (if not top 3)! I am lucky enough to work just a few blocks from this truck, thus I have had almost everything on the menu.

The brisket sandwich is awesome, the brisket is tender and the bed of slaw that sits inside the bun with it is incredible! Like MMT (above), this slaw is not just a complimentary component of an entree, it is good enough to stand on its own. The slaw is what I would call a very rugged cut slaw, which I love, and the flavour profile of the slaw morphs as it sits on your palate (you get the sweet, then the savory, then the tangy, then a tad bit of kick at the end, just wonderful). The complex flavour profile of the slaw comes from the garlic-chipotle aioli that holds the cabbage and onions together. Plus, don't even get me started on the molasses based BBQ sauce (I am a sucker for a good molasses based sauce)! You will need a knife and fork for this sandwich, do not plan to eat it like a sandwich.

My favorite item on the menu is the ribs. These are quite possibly the meatiest ribs I have ever had in my life, I would swear that they came off of either a brontosaurus or Hogzilla, yet they are not tough and chewy at all (as most meatier ribs are). Also, if you are not as huge of a sauce fan as I am, I put the globs of sauce on myself, it did not come through the window like that.

The fries are also great, they are fried when you order them and then tossed in a BBQ rub. Whether you like them with the bacon and bleu cheese aioli or the molasses BBQ sauce, you cannot go wrong.

My only complaint is that they are not open more days of the week, or for lunch and dinner, but this is probably better for my waist line in the long run.

And finally, a Food Truck Roundup post would not be complete without an update on the ever changing menu of Indios Carbonsitos, who along with MMT will have a recipe in the forthcoming edition of Food Trucks for Dummies. The Akcel sandwich is killer, and I am pretty sure it is my wife's new favorite menu item. You can order it tame (recommended for those with stomachs prone to ulcers) or on fire (which would clear even the toughest sinus congestion). The cheese on the Akcel is an awesome compliment to the carne in the tame version and offers a very small amount of relief from Adrian's "Diablo" sauce on the fire version of the sandwich. At the end of the day, you really cannot go wrong either way, unless of course you have a sensitive stomach (in which case you should probably go tame).

Happy Trucking!

Ethnic Lunch Spots on Quivira

Anyone who lives or works in the South KC/Overland Park area knows all too well that it very difficult to find good authentic ethnic eats in the area (no, Jose Pepper's and Pei Wei do not count!). As someone who works in South KC, I am always eager to try new authentic ethnic eateries when someone tells me about them. I have done a blog post on the Caspian Bistro already, and am always looking for good (reasonably priced, if possible) ethnic food in the Southland.

All of that being said, this post is about two awesome ethnic eateries in the Southland: El Fogon (Mexican Deli & Taqueria) and Choga (Korean).

First, we will visit Choga, an authentic Korean restaurant. I have never been to Korea, but the food is just like the food that the grandmother of one of my childhood friends always made for us. It also came highly recommended by a Malaysian coworker of mine, and when we got there we ran into a number of Korean co-workers. All of that being said, I am fairly confident in labeling it authentic without ever stepping foot on the continent of Asia.

The lunch menu at Choga offers smaller portions than their dinner menu, at more lunch friendly prices. I went with the Yang Nyum Kalbi (grilled beef short ribs marinated in Kalbi sauce), as it came highly recommended. The short ribs came off of the bone (as shown in the photo in the lower right) and they were quite tender and very tasty. It may not appear that there is much meat on the tray, but the serving size is actually quite satisfying. I would definitely recommend this to someone going to Choga.

Every lunch comes with: Kimchi, steamed white rice, house salad, Japchae, fresh fruit, and two pan fried beef dumplings. The Kimchi (traditional Korean, fermented cabage) was not quite as spicy as I am used to, but still had very good flavour. It was also slightly different that all sides came on your tray, except the Kimchi, that came on one dish for the whole table (but sharing is the Korean way). The steamed rice was perfectly sticky-icky. The house salad was made with fresh greens and a nicely flavoured vinaigrette. The Japchae (stir fried sweet potato noodles) was new to me and did not taste anything like sweet potato, as I had expected, but was more like a traditional rice noodle that had some added pigment. The fresh fruit that came with my lunch was watermelon, as it was in season at the time. The two pan fried beef dumplings were fantastic.

My coworker had been to Choga for dinner and was telling us about the newly installed in-table grills and vent hoods, the concept of this is somewhat lost on me, I believe it is something you have to experience to fully understand. It sounds like a Korean hybrid of hibachi and fondue, I will have to go sometime for dinner to get a better understanding of it. I will surely post pictures after I do, but as you can see, they are brand spanking new.

Secondly, El Fogon, a self titled "Mexican Deli and Taqueria". El Fogon has authentic Mexican fare, I can attest to the authenticity of El Fogon. They serve street tacos, burritos, tortas, authentic Mexican desserts, and authentic Mexican bebidas (drinks, such as jamaica and horchata). We all know that I have an unhealthy love affair with authentic Mexican street food.

El Fogon is a deli style restaurant, in that you walk in and walk up to the counter to place your order. I loved the Mexican decor, Spanish music playing over the speakers, and soccer on the TV. It seems like it is a family operation and the whole menu looked great! I went with the tacos, they offered 5 different varieties (Carne, Pollo, Chorizo, Barbacoa, and Al Pastor), and at only $1.50 each I figured I could afford to try them all. The tacos were very good, not the best I ever had, but that is not at all an indictment on the tacos and more of a statement of the amazing tacos that I have had in my life.

The tacos came bare, they have a table of condiments that allows you can put what you want on them, I went with the traditional Mexican fixins (cilantro, onion, and squeezed lime, as if there were any other way to eat a taco). The corn tortillas (the only tortillas to have, in my opinion) were hand pressed and delicious. You can always tell if a tortilla is hand-pressed or made on an assembly line by the markings on the tortilla itself, not to mention the difference in taste (those who don't like corn tortillas are probably just forming their opinions after trying store bought corn tortillas). Anyways, on to the taco meats; all of the meats were solid options, but the Chorizo had to be my favorite. This is odd, because Chorizo is not usually my favorite street taco meat, but El Fogon's Chorizo is delightful! I do love salsa verde on my tacos, El Fogon's salsa verde had good taste (however, if you are a major heat seeker, you may want to try another salsa on your tacos, but the verde is good for me).

I had the Jamaica, a traditional Mexican drink made from the leaves of the Hibiscus flower, to go with my tacos. It was a tad sweet for my taste, but was the closest to the Jamaica that I had in Mexico that I have been able to find this side of the border. This is most certainly not the last lunch I will have at El Fogon!

New Oklahoma Joe's

When a new Oklahoma Joe's opened in Leawood, a coworker of mine insisted that we go on the day after it opened. We got there at about 11:15am, and in typical Okie Joe's fashion, there was already a line out the door. But don't worry, they have a bar right by the door, so they can sell you a Boulevard beer to sip on (or chug, depending on your personal preference) while you wait in the line that snakes around the perimeter of the interior of the restaurant. This location has nearly the same interior design as the location in Olathe, but does not have the mystique of the gas station location. But then again, we all know how I feel about finding great food in less than normal locations (i.e. trucks and gas stations).

This Oklahoma Joe's offers the same menu as the other two locations, but many will tell you that there is no reason to order anything other than the Z Man. The Z Man features brisket topped with smoked provolone cheese and two onion rings. The Carolina (with fries) is my personal favorite, being the perfect mix of Carolina and KC bbq, which is perfect for the man that is the perfect mix of Carolina and KC himself (yours truly). The Carolina features pulled pork (that is advertised as "Carolina style", but is really more a mix of KC and Carolina, but always 100% delicious) topped with cole slaw that has a bit of a zip to it and OK Joe's famous sauce. Admittedly, I did second guess my usual when I saw the size of the daily special Smokey Joe's that they were serving up. I always order the side of fries, with the word "side" being used loosely, as the "side" is the size of a Mac truck for the low low price of something like $2.79. I recommend splitting the fries with a friend, they are some kind of wonderful though. I have never been temped to try another side dish at Okie Joe's, as I know the beans cannot beat Jack Stack, and none of the other sides appeal to me as much as a year's supply of fries covered in seasoning salt. *Side note regarding the fountain pop: There are numerous diet options (including my personal favorite Pepsi Max), and you will need them after eating this gigantic quantity of food, unless you want to end up with "The Sugars" like Paula Deen.

Some call Oklahoma Joe's the best BBQ in KC, some have a problem with that because it has "Oklahoma" in the name. I personally do not think that it is the best BBQ in KC, because I don't believe that any one place has the best BBQ in KC, but that each BBQ joint has one thing that they do that distinguishes itself from the others. Okie Joe's is the place to go to get a rockin' sandwich! I do not personally have a problem with the joint having "Oklahoma" in the name, because it doesn't matter where Joe is from, it just matters that he has become a KC Icon (and not an Icon like that copy cat bridge that they built on the Paseo and named "The Icon" like there wasn't one just like it already existing in Charleson, SC). I look at it this way, if Joe were from Kansas, then no Tiger's would want to eat there. If Joe were from Missouri, people would feel like they need to wear their best jean shorts to enjoy Joe's BBQ. That being said, OK Joe's is an awesome joint. I applaud them for building a third location in an attempt to thin out crowds at the existing two locations, but it looks like that many more people are now enjoying Joe's special brand of BBQ.

I do recommend OK Joe's to anyone looking for a great sandwich, just make sure you go at an off time (like 3pm), so then you will only have a 10 minute wait.