Schnitzel and Things Food Truck in NYC, New York

Aren't food trucks wonderful and fun? I love food trucks, not only because they usually propose great food (for most of them) at a reasonable price considering the lower expenses they incur compared to a brick and mortar restaurant, but also because their owners have to be really creative to be different, having only a limited menu. 

My last discovery has been Schnitzel & Things. Schnitzel is normally some tenderized meat that is breaded and fried. At Schnitzel & Things, they propose either pork, chicken, cod or eggplant for the vegetarians. 

So I decided to try the chicken:

And the eggplant:

Quantity wise, it was of a good size. The chicken was fantastic: not greasy, it was perfectly cooked and tender. The eggplant was just ok for me: a bit tough, the breading was overcooked and it would have been maybe better if the eggplant have been cut just a little thicker. 

Know that when you order, it can be a sandwich or a platter. If you order a platter, you can pick two sides. That is what I did. I tried: 

- the Austrian potato salad that is Yukon gold potatoes, scallions and white wine shallot vinaigrette. 

- the chick peas in a balsamic pesto vinaigrette (lots of garlic!).

- the roasted beets and feta salad, served with a white wine shallot vinaigrette. It was in fact my favorite: very refreshing, the beets pair surprisingly well with the feta. 

I liked Schnitzel & Things and I am looking forward to trying some other platters!

Enjoy (I did)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Food trucks at Pier 13 in Hoboken, NJ

If you love food trucks and love walking along the Hudson River, overlooking the beautiful NYC skyline, then the food trucks at Pier 13 are for you. Ok, you never know what you will get, except if you check on their facebook page, because it is never the same food trucks, although some are coming more often than others.

We went few times and tried quite few dishes. The first time was pizza at Pizza Vita, from Summit, NJ.

This is crazy: they have a wood fire oven on the side of the truck and in a matter of minutes, you will get a delicious Neapolitan pizza. 

We decided to go first with the margherita pizza. 

And then with mushrooms and truffle. 

Both were personal pizzas, that were thin in the center and puffed up on the outside (like any Neapolitan pizza should!). They had a nice char thanks to the magic of the oven.

If I had to pick my favorite, it would be the truffled one: plenty of delicious fresh mushrooms (not canned) and that wonderful truffle oil smell (they put a lot of it). 

This pizza is definitely a must try!

The second truck we tried was Hibachi Heaven. 

When I think about hibachi, I think about the chef making a show in front of you while cooking. Well, in the truck, it is a bit difficult...so, no show!

Jodi got a vegetarian version, served with tofu. 

I got the one with shrimp. 

We asked for fried rice. The two dishes were made with the same vegetables. Then, for mine, I was excited because there were lots of shrimp (a dozen) of a good size. 

But they were just ok: they were a bit overcooked and, in fact, it tasted like the food you would get from a buffet, whether it was the shrimp, the veggies or the rice. The tofu was no better! 

So, definitely, this is no heaven!!!

The third truck was Shorty's. they have a brick and mortar restaurant near Port Authority, that I did not try yet. 

They serve hoagies, salads and...cheesesteaks with bread shipped daily from Philly and baked in the truck. 

So here we are ordering our sandwiches. Jodi goes with American cheese. 

I decided to go with cheese wiz. I know it is bad, but I had cheese wiz at Tony Luke in Philly and it was delicious. 

This time, it was not! Way too much of it and do salty! Too bad because the meat was perfect: tender and juicy; the bread was also soft and tasted fresh. I ended up eating more the half of Jodi's cheesesteak that she was not eating than mine!

So, Shorty's is recommended, but avoid the cheese wiz!!!

The fourth truck is a well known truck as well as restaurant: Luke's Lobster.

They serve lobster, crab or shrimp rolls. I went for the lobster roll. There, there is no choice: it is poached in butter, so there is no mayo to overpower the lobster! And for $16, they give you a lot of lobster!

It was heavenly buttery and the lobster, that tasted fresh, was perfectly cooked. 

The last truck we tried was The French Quarter.

There, while I was having my lobster roll, Jodi ordered a muffelata. What is great at the French Quarter is that you can order a whole, half or a quarter of it. She went for a quarter that was already a good size. 

I liked the taste of the olives and the freshness the veggies were bringing to the sandwich. It was pretty good. 

With it, we ordered some beignets, with some nostalgia from the time we went to New Orleans and had beignets at Cafe du Monde every morning (they were so good that we could not resist). 

The beignets from The French Quarter were made to order and really looked like the ones from Cafe du Monde. Unfortunately, there was this overpowering almond taste to it. Why? I bet that without it, it would have been a hit!!!

Ok, the beignets were not great for me, but I am ready to try their jambalaya next time...

So, as you can see, there are things for all palates there! My favorite is definitely the pizzeria, but all the other trucks have interesting menus at affordable prices that I will surely discover!

Enjoy (I did)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Hoboken Arts & Music Festival - September 29th 2012

Jodi and I went to the Hoboken Arts and Music Festival today. Jodi for the art, me for...the food (let say "the art of the table")...

This festival takes place several times a year in Hoboken and is a big thing there. It had, according to the organizers, close to 350 stands, for art (photography, painting, handcraft...), but also associations such as the Monroe Center for the Arts, or companies like Verizon or The New York Times....

Food wise,  there were few choices: the usual stands that you would find in any street fair (zeppoles, fried oreos, mozzarepas, Italian sausages...) as well as local restaurants such as India On The Hudson (my favorite Indian restaurant in Hoboken) or The Old German Bakery.

Even pets could find some good stuff there! Me & My dog offered some pretty interesting treats!

They had Chicken & Cheese rollovers, Bacon & Cheese Taco or Lamb & Brown rice bone. I wish I was a dog at that point...

First thing we tried were some "Authentic" Wisconsin Cheese Curds.

Cheese curds are pieces of cheese that are deep fried. As they mentioned that they are "Authentic" Wisconsin cheese curds, I suspect the cheese to be purely cheddar, hopefully not processed! 

It was freshly made, but unfortunately very, very greasy...I had them all though...But not worth the $7 I paid.

Then, we tried the crab cake sandwich from Sherri's crab cakes.

While waiting online, I could smell the delicious odor of crab. Unfortunately, that was the only thing that was close to crab! The crab cake was full of fillers and did not taste that much of crab and they were mushy! Adding to that the bread, I was hopeful to have some tartare sauce so I had the impression to eat... bread with tartare sauce...Sad for $7.

Across the street was the Texas Smoke BBQ. They are there each time and even cook their meat in their pit located next to their stand.

I ordered the beef brisket and added tons of BBQ sauce (mild). Eating the sandwich was messy and I finished the meat with my fork, leaving the bread. It was pretty good for (again?) $7.

Then, we decided to stop by the Taco Truck.

We got a portion of their fantastic guacamole with chips, as well as a grapefruit juice from Jarritos (I prefer the pineapple one).

The last part was dessert. At first, I wanted zeppoles. But, when we realized that they were serving zeppoles that were not freshly made, we proceeded to the mini donut stand.

These donuts were made on the spot in the machine showed above. We got a dozen for $5. We were excited as the last time we had mini donuts freshly made at Sil's in Milwaukee, it was delicious!

They were sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. The smell of the freshly made donuts was awesome. Unfortunately, the donuts were very doughy. We did not finish them...

So it was a bit disappointing, not that I had high expectations, but considering the fantastic food you now get in food trucks, I was expecting better! Fortunately, there was art and music, a bit spoiled by the rain, but this is a different story...

Enjoy (I did)!

CoolHaus Ice Cream Sandwich in NYC, New York

I heard about the Coolhaus truck for a while and always wanted to try it! I noticed that the truck was often at Union Square, where many food trucks are now lining up to feed a crowd eager to try some delicious food at a reasonable price. So, that day was the time to try it! The concept is simple: an ice cream sandwich made of a scoop of ice cream in between two cookies! Ideal for the sugar lovers!

The concept is simple: first choose your cookie, then pick your ice cream!

We decided to go with two chocolate chip cookies and the chocovivo salted chocolate that is as per the description: a rich dark chocolate base swirled with fudge and sprinkled with chunks of dark chocolate from chocovivo.

When they gave it to us, it was huge! And when it is warm outside, you'd better hurry to eat it before the ice cream starts to melt!!! It is a bit messy to eat, but fortunately, you hold it with and edible wrapper.

The cookie was very good: not too sweet and soft with a bit of crunch from the chocolate chips and the chunks from the ice cream. The ice cream was divine with intense chocolate flavors! Definitely a very good combination, picked by Jodi!

What is great is that you can swap cookies and ice cream in many, many combinations, making your experience new each time! They have plenty of flavors that I guess they alternate from time to time and some are original, such as candied bacon, chocolate chipotle or nutella almond (I love nutella and will definitely try this one!). If you love sugar, cookies and ice cream, try Coolhaus and let me know what you think!

Enjoy (I sure did)!

Delicious food at The Food Truck Festival in South Street Seaport - NYC, New York

Yesterday, Jodi and I went to The Food Truck Festival in South Street Seaport. This festival takes place couple of times a year, always at the same place, and features close to 30 food trucks from all over the city!

We decided to go in the morning, at around 11:30am as last year we went later and it was packed! This year, we picked the correct time! Not that many people, so limited wait! Our plan was to go to different trucks and try one of their dish on the menu.

We started with Chinese Mirch.

Mirch means chili in Hindi. This truck is a fusion between chinese food and indian food. We decided to try the Tibetan Momos, that are hand-rolled pan fried dumplings. We picked the vegetarian ones, made with cabbage, potatoes, carrots and some "secret" spices. 

The dumplings are served with a hot or sweet sauce. We chose the sweet as it was hot outside. The dumplings were pretty good: the shell was light and well cooked (I was surprised to see it steamed as they advertised pan fried!). The stuffing was delicious and flavorful. The only negative was that there was not enough sauce. Besides that, I really enjoyed it! The 5 dumplings costed $4.

The second truck was The Kimchi Taco Truck.

I love Korean food and was eager to try a fusion taco! What was great is that they proposed a tasting of 3 tacos for $7. Our pick was (top to bottom on the photo):

• Tofu edamame falafel: tofu, edamame and chickpea blended with Asian spices with kimchi infused refried beans, cucumber kimchi, pickled daikon and pico de gallo.
• BBQ beef short ribs served with their signature marinade, topped with red cabbage, apple, pear kimchi slaw.
• Fried chicken, battered in sweet rice flour tossed in organic blue agave nectar and ginger, garlic Korean pepper sauce and served with pickled diakon, queso blanco and sesame seeds.

They put the tacos next to each other and the shells were too small for the quantity of stuffing, so it was a bit messy to eat! The tofu edamame falafel was a bit mushy: I did not like it. The BBQ short rib was pretty good: it was tender and not dry thanks to the marinade. The last one I tried was the chicken one: I would have never thought it was fried chicken! Last, the taco shell was a bit hard on some parts of the tacos.

I was a bit disappointed: I think they put too many things on the taco and you lose the main flavors.

The next truck was Nuchas truck that serves empanadas.

They offer different types of empanadas: meat, veggie or sweet. We ordered the Argentine empanada ($3): ground beef, onions, pepper, scallions, potatoes and olives.

When the empanada came, it looked like the cocas that my family cooks with sheshoukah! It really liked it although it was a bit greasy. It had nice flavors and was just a bit spicy, but not too much. 

Then was the long awaited Valducci's pizza truck!

We were looking forward to get a slice from that truck since we tried it last year! It was so good! So we reordered the same slice: thin crust, pizza sauce, just a bit of cheese and olive oil.

This pizza is the proof that less is more! The crust was incredibly crispy and the sauce amazing! I think it is one of my favorite pizza in New York! I would not have liked to try other trucks, I would have gone for another slice! The slice costed $5.

Next to Valducci's was the Gorilla Cheese truck, specialized in grilled cheese.

They have standard grilled cheese as well as more elaborated ones. I decided to try a standard one and picked the Cheddar grilled cheese with white bread.

For sure there was a lot of cheese.

But, for $6, you can expect a better cheese and a better bread! I can make a better grilled cheese home for cheaper! Disappointing!

Then, we were on our way to leave when we saw the Red Hook Lobster Pound! Last year, I ate a fantastic lobster roll there! With all the food we ate, I was not sure I could have one. But Jodi knew how to find the good words to convince me: "If you do not get one, you will regret and keep talking about it!". I did not need more to order the $16 Connecticut lobster roll:

It is pricey, but there is a lot of lobster in it (I got 2 claws for sure as you can see on the photo), making it a bit challenging to eat! I love the Connecticut one: it is poached in butter! Better than with tons of mayo that could overpower the lobster taste!
The bread was deliciously buttered and toasted. If you do not like butter, it is not for you! I love this place!

After that, I was full and could not even try any of the desserts trucks. This is a great festival and I am looking forward for the next one!
On a side note, it was funny to see people eating at the terrace of the restaurants next to the festival: why would you pay overpriced food when you have an incredible event like this next to you?

If you went to the Food Truck Festival, let me know what you think!

Enjoy (I did)!

Yogo Frozen Yoghurt Truck in NYC, New York

Within the madness of the food trucks, I found this Frozen Yoghurt truck called Yogo (I guess Yoghurt on the Go). 

You can often see this pink truck at Union Square. If you do, get some: it is delicious and refreshing.

I really like the idea of frozen yoghurt: a good healthy treat. It is more and more popular in fact in the City, with chains like Red Mango or  Pinkberry opening everywhere. 

According to Yogo, here are some of the benefits of frozen yoghurt:

• Low cholesterol, low sodium and low carbs.
• Live and active probiotic cultures.
• Boots the immune system.

There are two flavors: tart (80 calories - my favorite) and vanilla. Of course, the healthy aspect can be eliminated depending on the toppings you will pick! 

My favorite is original tart with M&M's.

The small size is a good quantity.

They also have sprinkles.

And for a healthier treat, strawberries!

Of course they have other toppings that I am sure will suit anybody!

Enjoy (I did)!

Gobuki Korean BBQ Food Cart in NYC, New York

In the past few years, New York has seen Food Trucks and carts popping up all around. The beauty of it is that it is not just the hot dogs cooked in dirty water, but different types of cuisine, from all around the world. Some used it as a way to start a business and opened later a brick and mortar restaurant, like the Taco Truck in Hoboken. Others just opened food carts / trucks in different locations like The Hallal Guys or Yogo (Frozen yoghurt).

Of course, some people might still be worried of the sanitary conditions and when the restaurants grades were introduced in New York, some people advocated to have a similar concept for food carts and trucks. I am not really scared of trying food cart and so decided to try Gobuki.


It is a Korean BBQ Food Cart, that popped up approximately 6 months ago on the corner of 52nd and 6 avenue in New York. Their food is a typical Korean food, so do not expect any twist like Korean Tacos! Their traditional menu offers:

• Kalbi plate or sandwich: marinated beef short ribs.
• Bulgogi plate or sandwich: marinated beef rib eye.
• Spicy chicken: marinated chicken with spicy sauce.
• Stir fried noodles and vegetables.
• Udon soup: Japanese noodle soup.
• Vegetable fried dumplings.

Prices are pretty reasonable, going as low as $4 for the dumplings and as high as $8 for the Kalbi plate.

I decided to go with the bulgogi sandwich.

When I ordered it, they first steamed the bread that was kind of an amoroso bread, similar to a cheesesteak. At the same time, they heat the meat, the onion and some sauce for few minutes. Then place all of it on the bread and added a delicious sauce. When ordering, they ask if you want to have it spicy or not. I decided not. 

I really liked it: the bread was very good, although at some point the sandwich broke down because of the juiciness of the meat and onions mix. The meat was delicious, tender and there was no fat. 

My friend Bill chose to go with the bulgogi plate.

It is equivalent to the sandwich but without the bread and with some slaw and rice. He liked the meat, but said that there was not enough sauce for the rice. I guess you can ask for more sauce!

Overall, I like Gobuki Korean BBQ: the sandwich was tasty and delicious! Definitely a food cart to go back to or to try!

Enjoy (I did)!