Tag Archives: food truck friday

Friday Crab Day

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Well it’s been a while since I’ve posted due to a combination of vacation and sloth. However it was the third Friday of the month and if you don’t know by now that’s Food Truck Friday, put it on your calendar.

This month started way less hellish than last month at a much more tolerable 82 or 28 for the C folks. The sun was shining and the music was blaring when I pulled into the parking spot and the early crowd was robust compared to the last few FTFs.

A quick swing by the adult beverage tent secured me a Damn Yankee IPA from Southern Barrel Brewing. It was a passable and hoppy way to pass the time as I wandered from truck to truck looking for inspiration and dinner. The crowd was larger than normal and there were so many children running around the fountain I saw 3 separate instances of mothers mistakenly grabbing somebody else’s kid when they got too close to the water.

The bright red of the Baltimore Crab Cake Co caught my eye and lured me in.

The offering was slim; a crab cake sandwich, she crab soup, coleslaw and chips. The up side of that was the service was faster than just about any I’ve ever had at a food truck. I got the crab cake sandwich and because they had a money back guarantee on their homemade coleslaw I felt challenged to try it.

Up to this point the band had been inoffensive, not bad, not great, just live elevator music but then they hit us with Wagon Wheel during the brief time I was at the Baltimore Crab Cake truck which earned them some point with me. Sandwich in hand I settled in to see what else they might have up their microphones.

The photo will serve as my awkward segue back to the sandwich. The crab cake was loaded with lumps of real crab and spiced with Old Bay seasoning and enough filler to hold it together during cooking and long enough to get it to the bun but then all structural integrity was out the window. They had a mustardy, slightly spicy remoulade to accompany the sandwich. All good but I’m not sure I’d do it again for $11. The coleslaw was good enough I didn’t test the guarantee. It was mostly diced cabbage rather than the more common shredded or sliced. It had a bit of dairy flavor I couldn’t quite peg like they added a touch of sour cream or buttermilk to the recipe. Thankfully they didn’t add sugar and make it a sweet coleslaw. Overall it was a decent meal and with the amount of real crab I was okay with the price point.

That pretty much covers the food portion of the blog, now we’re on to the experience of the evening. After finishing the meal I wandered over to the other beer tent and got a Passion Fruit Kolsch beer from New Belgium Brewing. For those of you that gagged a little right there let me say it was really decent. I’m a big fan of passion fruit and was a mildly disappointed the flavor wasn’t stronger. This had just a enough of a hint that if you didn’t know what it was you’d think it was just hops. It also was more fizzy than heady. Not a bad choice to kick back and enjoy the band that was getting me even more on their side with the Zac Brown / Jimmy Buffet Knee Deep song.

I found a good spot along a low wall to perch and enjoy the PFK, the band who has belted out Black Water at this point got some applause out of me. I’m feeling in a generous spirit, watching this diverse crowd of all ages, ethnicities and Breakfast Club stereotypes enjoying a night out in harmony and thinking this is just people being people. It made me smile and feel good about my community.

Now before you start thinking “Damn, the pod people got James”, let me just tell you I wasn’t quite ready to hold hands and sing Kumbaya with everybody. There was a dude next to me talking to a couple of his buddies going on and on about his golf equipment, his carbon shaft, big club heads, putter faces and in a tone of voice that made it sound just that dirty and creepy. Then he started talking about this guy he played with the other day. He regaled them (and me due to proximity) for 10 minutes with stories this guy told him about holes in one and famous people he’d golfed with, etc. and finished with “but he’s a drug addict so he might have been lying.”

As I was rolling my eyes a fellow who looked like a 5′ 5″ Lebron James miniature walked by and the band started playing Drift Away. So I smiled at mini Lebron and drifted away from that group.

Friday Night Dumplings

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The August Food Truck Friday started and ended as a hot one. When I headed down there at a bit after 6:00 pm it was 91, “feels like” Hell’s front porch and got hotter by the time I arrived. According to the weather app it was 93, “feels like” Satan’s armpit. OK, the “feels like” might have been numbers but sweat was dripping on the screen so I had to interpret. Anyway I went gamely forth to acquire food and drink.

Of course the first stop was the beverage tent where there were plenty of uninteresting options plus one called Shadow of Death from Snafu Brewing. I really wanted to try that but it was so hot the thought of that heavy stout made cringe so I settled for the Kick Plastic Pilsner from SweetWater Brewery. It was much lighter than the stout and more appropriate for the conditions. I didn’t take a picture because you’ve all seen a cup of Miller or PBR.

After scouring the choice of trucks this month the Dumpling Girls grabbed my attention with their pan fried dumpling combo. The Batman hat the young lady taking the orders was wearing didn’t hurt either.

They had pork & shrimp or chicken variants to choose from. I got chicken dumplings with 2 spring rolls as my side accompanied by the spicy sauce on the side.

The dumplings were steamed and then pan fried. I’m not sure what else they had in the pan but they picked up some fond from the pan and a soy glaze that went nicely with the ground chicken, herb filling. The “spicy” sauce was a bit of a disappointment on the heat front has it had no kick but it did have a good flavor. It was thin chili oil sauce that complimented the dumplings very well and honestly I was dredging the spring rolls through it as well. So it wasn’t hot but it was tasty. I’ll tell you what was hot though. the temperature.

I didn’t stay long after I finished my meal and beer but I did have to linger long enough to hear the band finish one of the most unusual mash-ups I’ve heard. The band was the Kevin Nichols Band and they skewed towards country but played other stuff as well. The one that caught my attention as I was about to leave though was Folsom Prison Blues. It was going along fine, I was finishing a spring roll and all of sudden the words weren’t making sense so I paid attention and there it was. Pinball Wizard sung to the tune of Folsom Prison Blues then he just segued right back to Johnny Cash and finished it off. I was left with that “what just happened” feeling and as you try to wrap your head around how that combo was possible I’ll just sign off.

Opening Day

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Food Truck Friday

I am a couple of weeks behind posting and this was actually a couple of Friday’s ago. I’ve got stuff in the hopper now for the next few weeks but I wanted to start the catch-up with this one.

I’m not a hunter however I look forward to the opening of another season, my local Food Truck Friday season. I guess I do hunt for new food trucks and dishes to try during this season but my taxidermy bill is nil.

My day hadn’t been stellar up to the point I departed for the event. I’d flown earlier in the day and there was an almost hour delay getting bags from the plane to the carousel which peeved me a tad. I was counting on this first FTF to counteract that and it did. I rode in listening to 80’s music on the radio and got out to the strains of Journey’s Any Way You Want It from the evenings band, Kids In America an 80’s tribute band. They did a great job and as you can see from the photo committed to it with the hair and wardrobe.

With that promising start I was off to the beverage tent where the rotating tap selections included, Funky Buddha Black Currant beer.

It had a purple hue and tartness from the black currants that made this Belgian ale enjoyable from sip one. They call it a Tripel Lindy which seems like a Back To School reference to me and just added another point in its favor. It also had a 9 point something alcohol percentage which I noticed by the time I hit the bottom of the cup.

From that point I was in hunter mode searching for signs of something different and tasty. After reconning the array trucks available I backtracked to Momo Food Truck.

They had several options I was interested in but the special of dumplings over a rice bowl looked like a winner to me and spoiler, it was a winner.

Talk about fusion, there was a lot going on in this dish. The chicken was served with a gravy that had a definite Indian influence kind of like tandoori flavor with light tomato gravy. Accompanying that was plain basmati rice, steamed vegetables and oddly pico de gallo. The steamed dumplings were filled with minced chicken that was lightly spiced and had what tasted like a hint of coconut and the whole drizzled with a mustardy sweet sauce. Like I said a lot going on. I have to say this was absolutely worth having again.

I almost forgot, check out this utensil they were supplying with the food. I’d not seen this before and thought it was worth a pic. I didn’t need to cut anything so I didn’t test how sturdy it would have been with the knife snapped out.

The evening was a perfect temperature and as I shared a bench with a family, who’s kid knew every one of the 80’s tunes (good parenting), enjoying the breeze and my Sugar Creek Blood Orange IPA I felt the satisfaction of a successful opening day.

Food Truck Finale

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November Food Truck Friday

I was both happy and sad to head to Food Truck Friday this month.  Happy because it was a beautiful clear fall evening after days of rain and sad because it was the last one of the year.  When I arrived I got to see a rare benefit of the time change and that was the darkness really settting off the decorations they put up around the park.

The Christmas tree felt a little early but it was nice to look at and people were digging it.

I had a plan in mind for the food truck I was going to hit since I’d seen the list of trucks and map of locations.  I swung by the brew tent on my way to the target.  I got a Lonerider Viggo which was a smooth Oktoberfest lager that paired well with the chilly evening.  Beverage secured I headed for the Carolina Seafood truck.  The designated slot was empty, just a lone cone with a space number designation.  My plans were dashed but the bulgogi quesadilla from a truck I passed on the way seemed like a reasonable back up plan and I turned around to retrace my steps.

I slowed down to glance at the menu board for the Comfort Food on Wheels truck and the barker decided to pull me in.  He stepped over and proceeded to tell me about the great things they had on the menu starting with mango jerk chicken wings and chicken and waffles and great big chicken tenders, etc, etc.  I stopped him and decided to get the mango jerk chicken and waffles.  Well I think what we did was make up something new because when he told them the order the two guys cooking in the truck just looked at him like they didn’t understand the language he was speaking.  He had to tell them twice how to make the order happen and they eventually got it and I got my meal.

 

Those were some jumbo wings and quite saucy.  I expected it to be spicy but it was all the jerk with none of the heat and that was ok but I’d have liked a bit of pepper.  The mango was so subtle as to be almost non-existent but that didn’t really matter as the jerk flavor was good and the wings were meaty.  The waffle was whole wheat and they provided cinnamon maple syrup to go with it.  The waffle had a spongy cakelike consistency that I took advantage of and just pulled into quarters and dipped the sections in the syrup.  I was a big fan of that cinnamon syrup I have to say.  After finishing up the meal and using every scrap of napkin I had clean my face and hands I headed to the other beer tent to secure an after dinner, listening to the band libation.

The lady working the tent asked what I wanted and I said I was checking out the selection and she said “Oh we have some interesting choices this time.”  Of course my response was “Tell me more about those interesting choices,” and she offered to let me taste for myself the most interesting of the lot in her opinion.  The beer was from Amor Artis Brewing Co in Fort Mill just up the road and was called Walk in the Woods.  So as I was bringing the cup up for a sip I got a whiff of the beer and wasn’t quite sure what I was getting until the beer hit my tongue.  Pine, it was pine I was tasting.  She looked at me and said “what do you taste?” and of course I mentioned the pine and she added that there was also some oak bark and other stuff.  I took another sip and decided to go ahead and get a full cup.  When I asked for it her reaction of “Really?!?” and the face she made was worth it.  I took the what I now know was a Belgian golden ale with locally gathered pine needles, sweetgum leaves, and white oak bark and grabbed a seat to listen to the band.

I got about half way through the Walk in the Woods and decided even though it had some nice citrus notes as well the overall experience was too much like a beer that had a pine tree air freshner dunked in it.  The trio line dancing to Play that Funky Music also pushed me towards the exit even though they were kind of pulling it off.  So until next spring I’ll have to go afield if I want food truck fare.

 








Fork in the Road

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Food Truck Friday

September’s entry continued the win streak for good food and good music even if it was hot and humid.  This month I didn’t do any pre-planning as to which truck I wanted to hit so I knew I’d be strolling the streets looking for something that struck my fancy.  Since street strolling is thirsty business I stopped by the beverage tent to secure something to enjoy as I roamed.  I wasn’t sure if it would be too heavy in the heat but I decided to take a chance on the Warlock Imperial Stout.

As you can see it was a dark like a stout should be but fortunately it wasn’t as heavy as some stouts and had a nice smooth taste and a cinnamony spiciness.  Subsequently I learned it has pumpkin and pumpkin spice in it.  You can’t escape that stuff this time of year.  As I took the first sip I got an interesting view.

Looked like the moon was rising like a bubble from the clouds.  Anyway from there I moved through the passel of food trucks arrayed around the park until I spotted the Roaming Fork food truck and that seemed like the perfect option since I was roaming too.

The menu board had some interesting looking items and from them I chose the Truffled Mushroom Swiss burger and for my side I decided to stick with the theme and get the Parmesan Truffle Fries.

As the picture shows it was a decent size burger with a generous helping of toppings.  The burger was a thick preformed patty that was served on a quality bun and a bed of lettuce and topped with bacon, swiss cheese, mushrooms, an aoli and crispy onions.  If it sounds good that’s because it was.  The fries were ok.  They had a crunchy coating and some truffle oil and grated Parmesan cheese.  The serving size was generous enough I didn’t finish them all.

I grabbed a spot to eat that had a good view of the band, Radiojacks, and the fountain.

I also had a dead on view of I what I decided to call disappointment corner.  When I sat down there was a lady standing there scanning the crowd and pacing and every minute or so checking her phone.  This went on through Superstition and two more songs before she walked away looking unhappy.  She wasn’t gone more than a minute before another lady showed up and basically repeated the process through All About that Bass and two more songs then walked away with a determined look.  Finally as I wrapped up the burger a guy stopped in the same spot and started checking his phone and looking around.  I didn’t stick around to find out if he left disappointed as well because I was dry and needed another drink.

The after dinner drink was a local brew, Whistleblower Watermelon Wheat, from Legal Remedy.  It was another chancy move as I figured it could only be really good or really crap.  Fortunately it was pretty good.  Nice refreshing wheat beer with a definite watermelon flavor.  The way the carbonation acted it was more bubbly throughout the full glass than most beers.  I wouldn’t want it to be my go to beer but it was a fine accompaniment to listening to a talented band and people watching on a hot humid evening.

Only two more Food Truck Fridays this year and I hope the trend of good meals continues.

 








Another Friday at the Fountain

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FTF August 2018

I love all the Fridays but Food Truck Friday is my favorite and this last one did nothing to change that.  This month’s had a Toto cover band, Bless the Rains and on the way over I heard Hold the Line and when I got out of the car I could hear them playing Hold the Line and they sounded good which was a promising start to the evening.

My plan was to get something from one of the trucks selling tacos after grabbing my starter adult beverage.  That starter was a Blossom Eater hard cider from Blake’s.  It had a nice apple taste but was really sweet and had a faint hint of something else I couldn’t identify. After looking it up it turns out there is jasmine and bergamot in it.  The jasmine was the taste I couldn’t identify and I didn’t get any hint of the bergamot.

With cider in hand I strolled the streets in search of the right truck.  That sounds like the start of a Criminal Minds episode.  Anyway after an exhaustive examination of all the menus of the taco selling trucks I went back to the first one I checked out, Taco Green-Go. This truck has been around for a while and I never really paid them much attention before, my loss.

I like their menu board and the way you can combine the elements to have 60 different combinations in three steps.  I went with the special protein which was the carnitas slow roasted pork and instead of the tacos like I was originally planning on I decided to go with the incred-a-bowl base.  The bowl included jasmine rice and seasoned black beans.  Finally for the last step I chose the Island style which added mango salsa, pepper jack cheese, cilantro & pineapple guava aioli.  I felt like that was a good choice when the young woman taking the order just nodded her head and said “Yeah” enthusiastically.

This really was a great meal.  It doesn’t look like a lot of food but it was piled up nicely in the paper bowl and between the beans and rice was very filling.  The flavors all went together in a pleasing way and no one flavor overpowered the others.  There was enough of everything to get some of the taste like with the mango salsa but never too much of anything like cilantro which can drown out other flavors.  The aioli provided a creamy component that just melded the entire thing together.  I will say I didn’t taste the pineapple but there were enough other flavors to go around.

After enjoying the meal I grabbed a beer to enjoy while I finished listening to the first set of the band.  They had a beer so weird I had to try it.  Funky Buddha Key Lime Pie Tart was that ale and it was in fact weird.  On first sip the key lime taste was very evident then it faded to what almost tasted like a hint of graham cracker crust but then that was overtaken by an odd finish that I’m not even sure how to describe except it was kind of chemical and flat.  So every sip was a taste roller coaster, whee followed by ohhh yeah.  On the plus side the music was good and my views to the left and right were pleasant as I worked through the tart.

I was going to hit one of the dessert trucks but the universe was watching out for me and decided the overweight buy with diabetes didn’t need more sweets and pile up the lines at any of the trucks I was interested in.  That was for the best so despite a minor disappointment it was another fine food truck Friday.

 

 








Feasting at the Fountain

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Food Truck Friday

Yestereve was my first Food Truck Friday of the year and aside from being 91 degrees at 6:00pm it was a good evening for dining al fresco next to the fountain.

I’d previously scoped out the lineup of food trucks and knew which one I was going to hit so I didn’t have to spend a lot of time roaming and reading menus.  But first things first I had to acquire a beverage from the adult beverage selection.  Being so hot I decided a cider would be better than a beer although the lady in front of me was singing the praises of the shandy she got.  In this case I got a Blake’s Hard Cider El Chavo.  Now to be honest I didn’t really pay attention to the graphics on the sign that showed one of the letters on fire and when the guy nodded smiled and said “It has little kick to it” I thought he meant the alcohol content.  Nope.  He meant the habaneros in this clearly labeled (and totally ignored by me) cider infused with habaneros & mangos.  He was correct it did have a little kick.  I didn’t taste any mango there was however some heat from the habaneros but it was a light sweet cider so I didn’t break down whining about a mouth on fire.

Now that I had my drink I went in search of the Chennai Curries food truck to see what Indian dishes they would be serving up on their first FTF.

I was fairly early and almost none of the trucks had much of a line but these folks had no one in line or waiting on food so that was not a great first impression.  I had geared myself up for Indian though so I was at least going to check them out.  One couple got their just ahead of me and the man told the young Indian lady running the window he had never had Indian before and wanted to try something new and she was very welcoming and answered his questions and made suggestions.  She also said “The owners are cooking the food so of course it is delicious”.  I’m not sure if she thought ownership conveyed cooking skill or she meant since they were in the truck and couldn’t get away they had to be good but either way her confidence was inspiring.

When my turn came she treated me the same way except I knew what I wanted from the get go so she didn’t have to make recommendations.  They had a couple of vegetarian options and three non-veg options and unsurprisingly I chose a non-veg option, going with the chicken biryani.

This was the fastest food truck I’ve ever purchased from aside from a cupcake van.  I’d no sooner finished giving my order than they were passing the guy in front of me his order.  Most fast food places aren’t as quick as these folks were.  That certainly explained why there was no line.   I got my plate and wandered over to sit on the wall by the fountain hoping for some wind born mist as I dined.

I’ll start by saying this was not the same as Hyderabadi biryani I had in India but it was tasty.  The chicken leg was fall off the bone tender and had been simmered in a mildly spicy curry.  The chicken gravy was spicy and so was the rice so between all the spiciness in the food plus my pepper laced cider my tongue was fully woke and able to taste and feel every single atom passing across it.  As I mentioned earlier it was 90 degrees out and I was sitting on concrete eating spicy food so there’s a chance I was sweating.  It was delicious and the thin yogurt sauce you got with it provided some cooling action so I poured that on half the rice and had the spicy gravy on the other half.  I could go back and forth so I didn’t melt right away.  One thing that seemed to be missing was some naan or roti to complete the Indian experience but there was plenty of feed as it was and there are no complaints about portions from me.

After the meal I needed a beverage that was not spiked with capsicum and selected a Windy Hill Orchard  Gala Peach cider which was a known quantity for me.  Nice cider with a hint of peach and just the thing to while away the time while waiting for the Chairmen of the Board to start playing.

By the time they started I had finished the peach cider and I was sitting across from the Italian ice booth and kept seeing all these people walking by with the cool refreshing treats so I broke down and got some pineapple Italian ice.

It was indeed cool and refreshing and just the thing to occupy oneself with while people watching and listening to a pretty good rendition of Superstition.  The funniest thing I saw was a guy walking past the fountain with his hand covering the top of his beer.  I thought, that’s weird is he afraid a stray drop of water is going to get in his beer and dilute it past drinkability or what?  No that would just be crazy.  Turns out that was apparently it because as soon as he got past the fountain he removed his hand from the top of the beer.  People are weird.

Anyway another great night of Food Truck Friday.  Next month it’s on the 20th.  Come on down.








Crabby Patty

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Food Truck Friday

I am a big fan of Friday’s. Food Truck Friday’s are like superstar Friday’s and this week was an FTF.  I already had the truck I was going to hit picked out so all I needed was a parking place and a beer to nurse while I waited to order and then get my food.  Plenty of parking…check.  Live band pumping out Day Tripper, not on the list but…check.  Wristband acquisition…check.  Beer selection & purchase…check.

This month they had free tapered koozies to fit the beer cups which was very convenient and the folks who work the stations were still awesome.  If you’re not sure about a beer they will give you a sample so fast it’ll make your head spin.  I was intrigued by the Shiner Peach and had to try it out.  It’s a wheat ale made with peaches and it was a really nice beer for a warm evening waiting in line.  I got a great whiff of peach as I brought the cup up to sip and the peach flavor permeated every aspect of the beer from the first taste to the aftertaste.  So with beer secured it was time to stand in line at my chosen truck.

The Maryland Crab & Co truck is the first truck I pass each FTF and I’ve never stopped until this month.  The line was long but I already had my mind set on seeing what they could do with crab.  I got the crab cake sandwich with some Old Bay fries.  The crab cake was made with real crab and was overwhelmingly crab, in a good way.  A lot of crab cakes are mainly binder & filler but not this one.  There was so much crab it fell apart fairly easily but I wasn’t going to complain.  It was served on a toasted bun and you could get it with hot sauce or tartar sauce.  I chose to go with tartar and they give it to you in a cup so you can control how much to use.  I went light on it because I didn’t want to overpower the crab flavor.  It was a mild tartar sauce anyway so it was not a problem.  The sandwich was great.  The fries were basically just shoestring fries that had Old Bay seasoning sprinkled on them just before being served.

While I was dining at a table with some other random Rock Hill residents we were treated to the sounds of Liverpool, a Beatles cover band while the fountain did its thing.

I walked around a bit more and found myself with another beer.  This time a Stone Brewing Tangerine Express, and yes I’m counting both those beers as a serving of fruit.  This was an IPA and boy was it hoppy.  I know that’s a characteristic of IPAs but this was almost over the top.  Part of that was probably the citrus taste from the tangerine.  Initially I didn’t get much tangerine but as I drank it the flavor seemed to become more pronounced.  It was interesting but I wouldn’t have another. After a bit more walking and listening I figured a stop by the Art of Baking truck to procure a late night snack wouldn’t be out of line.

The chocolate salted caramel cupcake was the one that got the call.  The cake was a moist chocolate, the icing was a whipped topping that tasted a bit oily but it was also the salt delivery system and of course the caramel drizzle topped the whole thing marvelously.  It was a nice finish to a great day.  Only one month until the next FTF.

 








TGIFTF

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Thank God it’s Food Truck Friday

Almost everyone looks forward to Friday and I’m no exception and when it’s Food Truck Friday in Rock Hill it’s just that much better.  It was another hot one but a quick stop at the adult beverage station to pick up a Windy Hill Orchard blueberry cider made sure I was properly provisioned to peruse the prolific parade of possibilities.  Wow that was a lot of P’s.  Anyway, after careful deliberation I decided to see what Ruthie’s of Charlotte could offer.

What they could offer was a some dinners with a meat and two sides plus a variety of “melts”.  I decided to try their Best Melt sandwich because it was the best, it says so right in the name.  It was a half and half sandwich; half pulled pork & half meatloaf.

The right side that you get the peek of in the photo was the pulled port half and the left side was the meatloaf side.  Like most of the food trucks this was not fast food but it was good food.  In addition to the two meats the implied cheese part of the melt was actually mac & cheese.  Mac & cheese on a sandwich?  Yep, and it was gooood!  The pulled pork was kind of saucy but that just allowed it to meld nicely with the creamy mac & cheese that was clearly made with real cheese.  The meatloaf side I was initially disappointed in because of the thin slice of meatloaf but it turned out to be just enough to give a great taste to compliment the rest of the sandwich and not make you feel overstuffed.  When they grilled this thing they did not skimp on the butter either which  didn’t detract at all.  I chose to try the okra as the side instead of the chips so I could call myself eating vegetables.  They were ok but nothing remarkable.

After enjoying my meal and listening to live music courtesy of the Flatland Tourists I wandered a bit more and found some coffee entrepreneurs offering some cold brew coffees and a couple of their own varieties of coffee beans.

After some conversation with the enthusiastic couple from Knowledge Perk I decided to give their bourbon barrel aged cold brew a try.  I wasn’t sure what I was in for but it was quite good.  It wasn’t as dark and robust as I like generally like my coffee since it was made from a medium roast but that allowed the subtle bourbon taste to ride the coffee wave across the taste buds.  One of the proprietors mentioned he liked to have it with a pump of caramel syrup which really kicked up the bourbon taste and sweetened it.  I also bought a couple of packs of their beans and was amused by the interaction.

Him: (Face looking kind of sad that he’s got to ask this question) Do you need this ground?

Me: (What am I, a barbarian face) No!

Him: (Smile like a proud father) That’s great! Do you use a French press?

Me: (Less superior) Well, actually I grind it and use it in reusable K-cups.

Him: (Mild disappointment accompanied by visible deduction of cool points) Ok, well um, sometime you should really try a French press.

The coffee smells great and I can’t wait to try it.

Overall another good experience and I hate that I have to wait a month to attend the next one.








Ooo Wee

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Food Truck Friday

This weekend was the last Friday this year for the Food Truck Friday at Fountain Park in Rock Hill and I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity.  It actually turned out to be quite a cool windy evening so a stop at one of the beer trucks seemed like a good place to start as I strolled and perused the menus.  I went with Legal Remedy’s The Executioner Imperial Pumpkin Stout.

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It is 10% alcohol and quite the hearty beer.  The pumpkin taste wasn’t that prevalent which was ok with me but that alcohol content was pretty noticeable.  As I was strolling around listening to the opening act belt out Wagon Wheel I sort of had my choice made for me when I got to the Ooo Wee BBQ truck.

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If you click on the picture with the menu board you can see they have an item called a BBQ Sundae that is a layered concoction similar to the Pig in a Jar my sister saw earlier this week at the NC State fair that I said I would absolutely try.  Well here was a chance to try something very similar so I had to keep my word.  Warning to those who can’t stand for their food to touch, scroll fast past the picture or you’re liable to get woozy.

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I’d say this was superior to the one from the NC fair because in addition to the baked beans, meat, sauce and slaw there was a scoop of smoked mac & cheese.  While I wouldn’t choose to have all my meals served this way it was not bad at all.  The top layer is a just a bit of slaw, more like a token, followed by a bit of meat (you had the could select from any meats available you weren’t limited to just the pork) then the smoked mac & cheese and finally the baked beans as the foundation.  Every bit of it was good but I wouldn’t have minded trying some of the mac & cheese just by itself.  The stout paired well with the sundae and both were finished in quick succession.  I needed something else to occupy a hand as I walked around and at the other beer truck I found a Naked Apple Blackberry Gold hard cider to fit the bill.

My plan had been to hit one of the dessert trucks for something sweet then grab a spot to listen to the next band for a bit.  With the cider I decided that was dessert enough so all I had to do was grab some bench and enjoy Chicago Reloaded.  Overall it was a good way to spend a Friday night and it was also nice to see how food brought out a diverse cross section of the community to mingle and enjoy the evening together.  I hope they continue this event in 2017.

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