Last night's Choice Streets food truck event drew massive crowds to the West Side, where the hungry hordes took over Pier 86 next to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. It's the second year the Village Voice has gathered a caravan of food trucks for an evening of sampling, and though they've had greater success with crowd control at their Choice Eats series, lines at yesterday's feeding frenzy were intimidating. Of the 26 trucks on hand (though we didn't spot announced attendees Gorilla Cheese or Phil's Steaks, among others, so it was probably fewer) we only made it to seven trucks in two hours. Unfortunately, multiple trucks ran out of treats before we could get to them.
Nonetheless, we did score some really delicious grub, so we'll definitely be seeking out the following trucks in our 'hood or at a Food Truck Rally in the near future:
Puri Bhaji from the Desi Food Truck (Nell Casey/Gothamist)
Puri Bhaji from the Desi Food Truck: If the exuberant cries of the truck's owner Alamgeer Elahi don't draw you to this colorful truck, the smells wafting out from the service window definitely will. The tender, fluffy puri stuffed with creamy and slightly spicy potato filling is the perfect handheld bite. Yes, it's a little on the greasy side, but that's what napkins are for! Definitely ask for some hot sauce if you enjoy a little extra heat, as we did when we made our second round to Desi at the conclusion of the evening.
Lemongrass Chicken Empanada and a burger from Thong Tiam (Nell Casey/Gothamist)
Lemongrass Chicken Empanada from Rhong Tiam: This Thai food truck just hit the streets this spring, with three trucks focused on different dishes like burgers and pad thai. The "Supreme Burger Truck" made an appearance last night, but it wasn't the burger that piqued our taste buds. The rich, intensely flavorful Lemongrass Chicken Empanada blew the boring burger out of the water with its moist filling of chicken and veggies. The tender and flaky pastry had the perfect balance of richness without being overly filling. Rhong Tiam also has several brick-and-mortar locations, so if you have trouble hunting down the truck you'll have a backup.
Guava BBQ Pulled Pork Tacos from Miami Food Machine (Nell Casey/Gothamist)
Guava BBQ Pulled Pork Tacos Miami Food Machine: Tacos are a staple of food truck cuisine for their ease of assembly and portability, so we're always a little skeptical about another taco joint. We didn't really get much guava in these tiny tacos, but the mojo roasted pork was appropriately moist and given some extra zing with red cabbage, slaw, cilantrol, lime, crema and "Secret Sauce."
Spicy Pork Tacos from Big D's Grub (Nell Casey/Gothamist)
Spicy Pork Tacos from Big D's Grub: Yup, another taco. As one of the last bites we enjoyed at the event, we weren't expecting to be blown away by more pork-in-tortilla. But Big D's Grub makes a pretty great taco, especially the super saucy and tasty pork, which was marinated in a "Secret Spice Mix" that had a vaguely Korean bent to it. The accompanying cucumbers added great crunchy bite of vinegar—though we did remove about half before diving in as they really loaded up on them. The kimchee puree and scallion relish added more heat and lots of salty, unctuous flavor.
This is 1/4 of the line for the Seoul Food truck (Nell Casey/Gothamist)
Overall, we did have a pretty good time—the Barefoot Wines and Bulldog Gin helped out—but the intimidating crowds and trucks running out of food put a bit of a damper on the evening. If you have $40 ($50 for VIP) to burn on admission for next year's event then go for it. Otherwise you'll save money—and time!—tracking down the vendors and buying your goodies a la truck.
