Food Cart Rodeo Rundown

Last saturday was the much ballyhooed foot cart fest know as the Mobile Food Rodeo. 

Though there were no rodeo clowns, food cart barrel races, and precious few cowboy boots.  There were haybails, a country western band, and a big circle of foodcarts waiting to be wrangled. 

Here’s my round up of the best: 

The Box on Wheels was without a doubt my favorite new find that is still making my taste buds sizzle at its mere mention.

The Box was the last stop on demanding round of food card sampling, which makes the this delectable little dish all the more remarkable. By this time I really was not hungry. Nor should ANYTHING have tasted good to my over-satiated body at this point.

Still, I had a $3 voucher to spend and I could not stop thinking about the bowls of crisp, chicken-y goodness I saw wandering around the rodeo.

So I walked up, slapped my ticket down on the counter along with a couple bucks, ordered the Chicken Karaage Bowl, and was rewarded with what enough goodness to ensure the beginning of a long and glorious love affair of flavor. 

The chicken was moist, tender, with a touch of crisp on the outside. The sauce was divine: a hint of citrus, creating a savory-sweet swaddling of flavor on this perfectly done chicken. 

I could not stop eating it. 

And neither could my eating companion Eric.

Mind you neither of us were hungry.

Yet we were so compelled to savor every bit of this chicken-powered goodness that we sat in the backseat of his car, bowl of chicken between us, as Becca, Eric's  gracious wife drove us home. It’s true. I know this sounds a bit dramatic, but it is what really happened. Ask Becca, she’ll tell you.

The only downside (for me) about the Box, is that they are in Kirkland and I am in Seattle. This may mean a long lunch commute for me or (hopefully) the rumored in-the-works-Seattle cart will get here soon. 

I'll be the first in line. 

Also getting high marks were:

ULA burger from Portland’s Happy Grillmore

The cuban sandwich from the newcomer Snout & Co

And the pesto, mushroom, onion? pizza from Veraci.

Getting medium marks was the Catfish Poboy from WhereyouatMatt. Good quality and tasty, though the proportion of bread to filling seemed a bit high, especially for the $9 price.

Big smile, little value. 

Getting low marks on the evening was the slider from The Bistro Box. Never has freerange beef, bacon and cheese tasted so dry. And small! For $5, that’s more than a dollar per bite. Take me back to the Box!