Nom Mi Street - Grilled Tilapia Tacos and Nom Mi Fries

Truck: Nom Mi Street
Location: University of Houston Catholic Center
Date: March 28, 2013
https://twitter.com/NommiStreet
http://www.nommistreet.com/



Nom Mi Fries ($4.50 small)

A very generous portion for a small order of fries topped with sesame seeds, cheese, cilantro, the house Nom Mi sauce, and Sriracha. You get to choose the meat, I got grilled pork. Great crispy fries, plenty of tender grilled pork. The yin and yang of the two sauces worked great, warm and much hotter!. I really liked that the fries were cooked crispy enough that they held up and didn't get soggy as I ate them. Lots of cilantro and sesame seeds makes is seem like a salad and not a guilty pleasure.  Synopsis: Its so much more than a side order, its a pretty hardy meal all by itself.

Grilled Tilapia Tacos (two for $6)

Choice of corn or flour tortillas (I got corn), clintro, pickled carrots, and spicy avocado sauce. The tilapia was cooked well, nice and flaky. Plenty of veggies and the dangerous spicy avocado sauce (didn't enhance my tie so much!). Seriously, the avocado sauce was very good, just a little spice so it didn't over power the mild fish. Nice texture was provided by the cilantro and carrots. If I can complain about anything with these tacos, there was too much fish on them! I had considered ordering three, if I had I'd have to change my name to El Gordo. Synopsis: A better name for these generous portions would be Fatty Tilapia Tacos.

Bare Bowls Kitchen - The Malaysian Bowl

Truck: Bare Bowls Kitchen

Location: University of Houston
Date: March 22, 2013
Twitter: https://twitter.com/barebowls

The Malaysian Bowl ($8)

Saffron brown rice, grass-fed beef short ribs, shredded carrots, pickled turnips, purple cabbage, and julienne jalapeno, topped with a poached egg and a spicy green salsa. The beef was buttery tender and abundant. The egg was perfectly poached and dusted with coarse black pepper and salt (what is it about black pepper and eggs that go so well together?). Lots of flavors going on here, with a different one in each fork full. The crunchy vegetables gave the dish nice textural variation. Synopsis: Another winner for Bare Bowls, a great satisfying bowl. 

The Waffle Bus - Smoked Salmon Waffle

Truck: The Waffle Bus
Location, The University of Houston
Date: March 18, 2013
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheWaffleBus
Website: http://www.thewafflebus.com/

Smoked Salmon Waffle ($8)

A very good crispy waffle folded over (waffle taco?) with a good portion of baby spinach, fresh tomatoes and a reasonable slice of smoked and peppered salmon. The lemon caper cream cheese was tasty, but I could have used about twice as much, cream cheese and salmon go so well together. The menu lists a balsamic drizzle but either it was very light or it got left off, I couldn't find it. Synopsis: A nice light sandwich that doesn't weight you down, ask for extra cheese.

Happy Endings - Kelly and Pork Asado Bao Tacos

Truck: Happy Endings
Location: Karbach Brewing Co.
Date: March 15, 2013
Website: http://www.happyendingshtx.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/happyendingshtx





Pork Asado Bao Tacos (2 for $6)

Bao are an Asian steamed bun. These were light as a cloud and fluffy. This as my first time to try bao and I was afraid they would be doughy, but these are nothing but light and airy. The name asado is used a lot of ways in cooking. In much of the work it is bbq, but this more of the Mexican stew version. The pork asado filling in this case was a sweet dark stew of pork without much heat but tons of flavor. The tacos were garnished with a bit of scallion. My only wish for these tacos was that a serving had three instead of two! Synopsis: A better name for this dish would be Delicious Clouds of Pork.

Kelly Hot Dog ($7)

A large all beef hot dog on a fresh bun. Their website says they use Hawaiian sweet bread buns, but this didn't seem as sweet as many versions of Hawaiian bread are. The dog was topped with avocado and crushed potato chips. We added a drizzle of ketchup, the original is drizzled with lemon juice. As usual the the dog is the star here. The simple addition of avocado and chips works on this dog. Synopsis: Seems like something a kid would do with their dog, but all grown up here.

Good Dog Hot Dog - Ol' Zapata and Sunshine Dog

Truck: Good Dog Hot Dog
Location: The Menil
Date: March 15, 2013
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoodDogHouston
Website: http://gooddogfoodtruck.com/

Ol' Zapata

Bacon bits, muenster cheese, caramelized onions. diced tomatoes  jalapeno relish, and ketchup and mayo. A big Texas made dog on a locally baked bun from the Slow Dough Bread Company. Nice spicy jalapeno relish. The smokey bacon bits rounded it out. The diced tomatoes get a little messy, I would have preferred them in half slices. Synopsis: This is a nice take on a Sonoran Dog

Sunshine Dog

Same great bun and dog, this time loaded up with pickled red onions, dill relish, cream cheese and mayo. The pickled onions where as good as any I've had and plenty of them (I could eat these as a side!). The fresh dill relish still had a nice crunch. I had forgot about the cream cheese when I started eating this dog, and it kind of surprised me, but it works here. Synopsis: If you want something different and not spicy, put a little Sunshine in your life.

The Golden Grill - Carnitas

Truck: The Golden Grill
Location: Inversion Coffee House
Date: March 13, 2013
Twitter: https://twitter.com/goldengrillhtx
Website: http://www.goldengrillhtx.com/



Carnitas

Two thick slices of sourdough bread with Monterrey Jack cheese, plenty of super tender roast pork, and apple jam grilled to a dark crispy perfection. The pork and apple jam made me think of great pork chops and apple sauce. Pickles rounded this out and the sweet of the jam and sour of the pickles were perfect together. Synopsis: This could be the best grilled cheese sandwich I've ever had!

POCKet to me - Houstonian Pocket

Truck: POCKet to Me
Location: Fort Bend Brewing Company, Missouri City, TX
Date: March 9, 2012
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PockettoMe

Houstonian Pocket ($8)

A pita with grilled beef, lettuce tomato, banana peppers, mustard and mayo While this sounded a lot like a burger in a pita it works so much better than that concept sounds. The lettuce was baby lettuce, which I like a lot better than regular iceberg shredded lettuce. Fresh tomatoes and crunchy banana peppers finish out the toppings. The grilled beef was super tender grilled strips that I'm sure were marinated in some secret blend of spices. Plenty of beef too. Synopsis: Get the large order of two, you're going to want a second one.

Fries ($3)

I wouldn't normally mention straight up plain fries like this, but these were just a little under cooked. Synopsis: I'll ask for the fries extra crispy next time to be sure.

Bernie's Burger Bus - Pep Rally and Truffle Laced Fries

Truck: Bernie's Burger Bus
Location: University of Houston
Date: February 8, 2013
Website: http://www.berniesburgerbus.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BerniesBurgers




Pep Rally ($9.75)

Fire roasted red and green peppers, bacon jam, pepper jack cheese and the mysterious IDK sauce. My burger was medium rare, not a problem for me, but others might not care for it. Lots of yummy roasted peppers really make this burger. The bacon jam gives it a little more sweetness, but still nicely balanced. The pepper jack cheese gave it a spicy note. I don't know what's in the IDK sauce, but it certainly added to the delicious whole. This isn't a mile high stacked burger, which I appreciated since you could eat this without getting it all over yourself. Synopsis: One of the best burgers I've had lately.

Truffle Laced Fries ($3.50 reg/$4.50 Large)

A big serving (the regular size order is pictured) of homemade fries with the skins on. Truffle oil, green onions and a dusting of Parmesan cheese. Served with a sweet, dark homemade ketchup. I have to confess I've never tried truffle fries before. These were great, still crisp and nice even after several minutes. The truffle oil gave them a darker, richer flavor. The homemade ketchup was very good, but would likely be too sweet for me if I had gotten the sweet potato fries. Synopsis: I'm tempted to go back, get a large and make a meal of them!

Menu

Happy Endings - Yamate Hot Dog and Sumo Queso Kimchi Fries

Truck: Happy Endings
Location: University of Houston
Date: February 7, 2013
Website: http://www.happyendingshtx.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/happyendingshtx

Sumo Queso Kimchi Fries

Menu listed them as steak fries, but I got kind of your run of the mill food service fries. Covered in a liberal amount of queso, some tasty kimchi and Sriracha. A bit of Japanese mayo completed it. Over all tasty and satisfying even if the fries got changed. Not too hot, but still spicy enough to be interesting. Synopsis: Eat'em while their hot!

Yamate Hot Dog

Spicy cucumber, kimchi and sweet soy sauce on a really good Kosher hot dog. The bun wasn't your average bun, not sure if it was homemade though. Loved the cucumber, the crunch was perfect and moderately spicy. Kimchi didn't over over power things either. I'm afraid it was so tasty I forgot to take a picture but you can see a picture from their website here. Synopsis: Mine was irresistible!

Soul Cat Cuisine - Red Beans and Rice w/Sausage

Truck: Soul Cat Cuisine
Location: Karbach Brewing Co, 2032 Karbach Street
Date: March 1, 2013
Website: http://www.soulcatcuisine.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SoulCatCuisine





Red Beans and Rice w/Sausage

I tried to order the Seafood Gumbo but they were out for the day and the operator suggested the Red Beans and Rice. I love good Red Beans and Rice so I went for it. The beans were cooked till they almost completely broke down to gravy. They spiced them with a lot of black pepper, I like a heavy hand on the black pepper so it was just right for me. I was told the beans where over dirty rice but it looked line plain rice. The sausage seems to be the same hot link used on the Hot Mess Soulwich which gave it a nice bright spicy note. I dipped my Sweet Potato Fries in the beans and that was great too, in fact let me suggest this to Soul Cat Cuisine, why not offer the a Soul Food Poutine, your great Sweet Potato Fries topped with your great Red Beans. Synopsis, these were some of the best red beans I've ever had.


We also tried on this trip the Soul Cat Soulwich and Sweet Potato Fries both of which I reviewed last week. I can say Soul Cat is consistent, the both were about the same, especially their excellent fries.

Coreanos - The OG

Truck: Coreanos
Location: University of Houston
Date: March 1, 2013
twitter: https://twitter.com/coreanoshtx

The OG

Beef short ribs, french fries, Korean slaw, onions and cilantro, caramelized kimchi, sesame oil vinaigrette and garlic spread. Tasty beef. and the fries gave it a sort of creaminess. sesame oil was there in the background and I found the slaw very tasty too. I had to look pretty hard for some green bits that I guess were cilantro, sure wasn't enough for my tastes, I keep seeing this on food trucks almost no cilantro. Is there a great cilantro shortage? I've eaten a couple of other times from this truck and it was really hot, but the heat on this item was just the right amount. Synopsis: There is a reason this is the first item on their menu, its on of their best dishes.