Thursday, April 22, 2010

Popping My Nouveau Food Truck Cherry With The Nom Nom Truck

It's not because I'm a prude or anything like that.

I eat tamales sold out of some random lady's trunk at the supermarket parking lot. I eat animal feet and intestines and stomach linings.

So no, I have not waited this long to eat at a nouveau food truck because the idea of eating food made in a truck scared me. It is definitely not that.

I guess I just never thought it was a big deal.

Whereas all the other kids are doing it like it's going out of style, I was never in any kind of rush. I decided to wait until the time was right.

"But DG, evvvvvvveryone is doing it."

If everyone were jumping off a bridge, would I do the same? Um, no. If everyone had to follow someone on Twitter just to eat, would I do the same? No. If everyone waited in line for what seemed like an eternity, would I do the same? No, no, no.

No offense to food truck enthusiasts, but this whole gourmet food truck fad is just not my thing. I do not like the idea of having to track down my food only to find out the truck was forced to move. I do not like the idea of having to wait in a line of 35 hipster foodies who somehow found out the truck's new location before I did. Believe it or not, I have better things to do.

Unless of course, the truck was already there waiting for me.

Which is exactly why I gave it up for the Nom Nom Truck.

He just happened to be catering a gallery event we attended a few weeks ago. We got there and I spotted him from a distance looking all buff decked out in green and yellow hanging out by the sidewalk on South Pasadena's Mission Street. I made the first move. But being my first time, I was a little on the wishy washy side as I pondered everything this hunk of a Vietnamese fusion food truck had to offer.

Did I want a lemongrass chicken taco topped with Vietnamese vegetable accoutrements? Or perhaps a grilled pork taco or tofu taco?

Or would I find pleasure in the truck's banh mi?

"Screw it," I said. It was free, so I had it all.

Foreplay came in the form of canned carbonated beverages and kawaii Asian snacks like Hello Panda cookies, rice crackers and Pocky. Which were also free for the taking that evening. Needless to say, alot of foreplay was had.

Doing the deed with the truck's Grilled Pork Banh Mi wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, especially if 5 bucks is what they charge normally--an astronomical price considering the same can be had at a traditional banh mi shop for half the price. I'll give them credit for very tasty meat--juicy pork with the perfect amount of char--but other than that, the baguette was on the dry side and didn't have as much mayo/butter/soy sauce or whatever *ahem* lube combo as it should have had.

The tacos, however, did not fail to please the palate and were quite delicious. Warm, fluffy corn tortillas really showed off the truck's nicely done proteins. The lemongrass chicken, grilled pork and tofu were all tender and generous with great flavor. Pickled daikon, carrots and cucumber added a perfect crunchy texture and helped to bring out the flavor of those juicy, charred proteins.

So what did I think about deflowering my nouveau food truck virginity with the Nom Nom Truck? Overall, I'm glad I did it, and there were definitely as many high points as there were low points. Though my first time may be a little skewed from being too easy--not having to go on the prowl for it, not having to wait a long time, and not having to pay--the experience itself was enough to make me curious about all the fun I could have with all the other trucks out there. But I'm not planning on becoming a total food truck whore anytime in the near future; I'm just not that into chasing them down and waiting around just to get a little nouveau food truck somethin' somethin.' So I think I'll be picky about hooking up...I'll hold my own and maybe play hard to get a little bit. I may have popped that gourmet food truck cherry a little prematurely, but I still want to be in charge of my nouveau food truck consuming body.

The Nom Nom Truck
http://nomnomtruck.com
Follow the @nomnomtruck on Twitter

12 comments:

Kelley said...

Bah! I love your hook up story! :)

Glad you liked the tacos. I'm sort of over the chase now. :( Too much work.

wan said...

dude, it was free! i'd have had to smack you if you didn't take advantage.

i haven't yet popped my food truck cherry either, but i hope to at this weekend's unique la extravaganza.

Diana said...

Cool Haus popped my cherry last year. It completely stained my skirt.

The ice cream that is. ;)

LetMeEatCake Eat With Me! said...

i've been to my fair share of trucks, but have yet to try nomnom those bahn mi look really good! which truck will you try next?

weezermonkey said...

I've had food from trucks twice. Both times the truck was right in front of my house. The first time, there was no one there. The second time, there were eight people in line.

Life downtown is good.

Marie said...

I am not a chaser down or a wait-er either! Great saucy post. :P

bagnatic said...

a dry banh mi sux. free food doesn't :) no more chasing for me either...too old and the young kids walk way too fast to the head of the line.

Eddie Lin said...

No lube! Kogi uses lots of lube. That's why they have all the slutty groupies who'll pay them to get some. Rock stars.

The 99 Cent Chef said...

I kick it old school taco truck most of the time, but like the new, not the lines. Nice post & blog. Here is my Nom Nom Truck video you & your readers might enjoy: http://the99centchef.blogspot.com/2009/10/nom-nom-truck-featuring-banh-mi.html

Kung Food Panda said...

Agreed on the whole gourmet truck fad, I for one isn't keen on following a truck on twitter for an overpriced taco, banh mi, etc....

Though if it's free, heck, I think my Asian-ness would force me to eat it! :)

tallnoe said...

I like the green truck, I saw it driving along the 405 once. But I haven't chased any of them. I've gone to the sushi truck and the buttermilk truck, but that's b/c they were down here in the South Bay. So, they were less full of lines and lines of peoples.

I'd try the other faddish ones, if they were in front of my face, without a line - oh, and not to mention FREE!!

That's Ron said...

ohh yummoo! i love it!

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