Fork in the Road

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.

 

Fork Me

And Then There Were Cupcakes

I was minding my own business at work and decided to check my twitter feed and a food truck I haven’t checked out before tweeted they were at a location only a few miles away.  I chunked the lean pockets in the freezer and jumped in the car to check out the Roaming Fork food truck.

I found them parked in a busy office park along with a couple of other trucks.  I was hoping to try one of their fried deviled eggs but they weren’t on the menu so I kept it to their special of the day, Korean fried chicken plus a side and drink.

They had three choices for the side; something, something cauliflower, truffle fries and a fresh fruit cup.  The cauliflower was never in the running and the truffle fries just seemed a better match for the chicken.  In hindsight the fruit probably would have been a better choice.  The chicken was lightly coated with seasoned flour and drizzled with a honey Korean barbeque sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds.  I got two small wings and a breast in the meal so the portion was nothing to complain about.  The taste of the chicken was pretty good by itself but the drizzle of sauce did compliment it well.  My one gripe with it was that the breast was cold in the thickest part.  I don’t mean like not hot, room temperature kind of cold but a been in the cooler for a while and not heated long enough to drive out the chill kind of cold.  Fortunately I like cold fried chicken well enough to power through but it was disappointing.  The truffle fries were ok but not as good as I was hoping for. The flavors were good and I’d try something else from them without hesitating but this trip would only get 3 out of 5 forks from me.

On the other end of the scale was my happy discovery.  I noticed all three of the people in front of me ordered and then immediately walked over and ordered something from this blue van so it must have been some kind of rule right?  Turns out that little blue van was Cupcake Delirium.  Well since it was a rule I had to try one and as the gentleman running the window said I could save a bundle on the unit price if I bought 4.  Lord knows I like a deal so since they were out of the Red Velvet cupcakes I had to settle for; Pecan Pie, Death by Chocolate, Bourbon Caramel Bacon, & Nutterbutter Fluffernutter cupcakes.

Now lest you think to yourself “that boy don’t need all them cupcakes”, I did give half of them away, ate one at lunch and managed to save the other for an after dinner snack.  The one I had with lunch was the Pecan Pie cupcake and I have to tell you it was a very, very good cupcake.  In addition to the decorative pecan nestled atop some damn fine buttercream frosting drizzled with caramel the cupcake had a hunk of pecan pie baked in. You heard me, it had pecan pie in the cupcake.

Quite the tasty treat.  I have reports that the Bourbon Caramel Bacon had the best bacon ever tasted on it and the Nutterbutter Fluffernutter was the best cupcake ever.  Personal experience let’s me tell you the Death by Chocolate was not lethal but it killed any chance I had of losing weight that day.  In case you can’t tell I’m a fan of these folks and not just because of the awesome cupcakes but I like the way they operate.  When I got the 4 cupcakes the guy said if I brought the box back or took it to their store and bought more I’d get a free cupcake (a $3.00 value).  Plus the packaging for their cupcakes is a plastic cup turned upside down and the cupcake bottom fits perfectly in the lid rim.  Ingenious money saver!  If you make it to Pineville, NC look these folks up on Main St. or if you see them at a food truck rally make a point of grabbing a cupcake or four.