Eat At State Food Truck

Yesterday afternoon I was running a few quick errands, which included trying to track down a fox suit for an adult male who is begging me for one. Because he likes this song, a lot.

At lunchtime I thought about the Brody cafeteria, since I haven't been there in a year and a half. But then I saw a tweet that made me think about the Michigan State food truck, which I've heard mentioned and have never had the opportunity to experience. I checked their website, found their location, and headed to the MSU Auditorium. I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich from this beautiful young coed whose neon yellow skull cap made me really feel those eight years it's been since I graduated from college. I gave her my $6 and my name, although I was the only customer there, and went to stand at one of the nearby tables and contemplate where my youth went.

You can see the hat that made me feel like a real 31 year old.

She called my name. I was still the only one there, so this was unnecessary. She could have just made strong eye contact and I would have retrieved my lunch. Anyway, she handed me this:

I speed-walked to my car and opened it up.

Ohhh, mama. The plain chicken breast was completely unnecessary and, while of course I ate it, the stars of this little sandwich were the bread and the mayonnaise. The bread was a toasted ciabatta roll, so buttery and crunchy that I didn't stand a chance of making it home before the sandwich was totally gobbled. Truth be told, I didn't make it off campus.

I had my choice of the cilantro mayonnaise or BBQ sauce. I think BBQ sauce on this sandwich would be awful, and I'd like a jar of the cilantro mayo to smear all over everything that I eat for the foreseeable future. It was delicious and I'll be making it myself soon.

There was also this.

Ugggh.


What's your favorite Lansing food truck?

Fork in the Road

Last Saturday night I had dinner with my favorite veterans at Fork in the Road. FITR is the stand-alone incarnation of one of my favorite eateries, Trailer Park'd. I have always loved Trailer Park'd burgers, their wood-paneled truck, and the aromas that waft out of that little trailer, but unfortunately FITR has not yet won my heart.

I ordered the Brussels Sprouts, shown above. As they are ridiculously called on the menu, the Fried Brussels with Carmelized Onion Cheddar-Apple-Maple Mustard-Cider Vinny. I love Brussels Sprouts and I like that they were whole, not shredded or halved, but there wasn't any caramelization to speak of and the mustard sauce was overpowering. 

I also had the tacos, better known as the Ballin' Ass Tacos. I can't quite bring myself to say that. I can, however, comfortably assert that these tacos are the best thing on the menu. 

I have a couple of reasons for that claim: 1. unlike many of the other options at FITR, an order of the tacos gives you a pretty substantial amount of food; 2. I think that $7.50 is a reasonable price; and 3. these tacos are GOOD. Don't order them if you can't take the heat, because the chorizo is seriously spicy and I was straight chugging water by the end of the second taco. 

I also ordered the bread pudding. After it came to the table I realized that I've already had the bread pudding at FITR and wasn't in love with it, but I soldiered through and ate half of this. 

I like the chunks of chocolate and the pistachios, but it's quite dry and the bread pudding at Soup Spoon beats the crap out of FITR. 

Here's the rub- my total after ordering these three items was $20 and change. That. Is. Outrageous. I know, I know- local, sustainable, difficult to make a profit- I know. But let's get real for a second. This is Lansing, Michigan. This diner is a stone's throw from Sexton High School (heyyyy, shoulda been a Big Red!) and a recently-shuttered GM plant. The price point at FITR is way, way off. 

My vet ordered the ravioli. He asked the cashier (yes, you order your food at the counter, pay for it, then they bring it to you, and this is awful and I hate it) if he should get a side dish, and she told him that the entree was a "huge plate of ravioli." 

There were three raviolis on the plate. It was $18. 

Guys, I just can't get behind that. And believe me, I have no problem paying for delicious food when I think it's a good value and you're getting what you pay for. I just can't say that I feel that way about FITR, and I'm sad to report that. I hope something changes. 

In the meantime, Happy Veteran's Day, in particular to my favorite Republican, my favorite veteran, my political foe and my good, good friend. You're the best.

El Oasis Taco Truck

Last spring in Lansing came with the emergence of two new (and hugely popular) food trucks- The Purple Carrot, which will soon be opening a restaurant at the intersection of Mt. Hope and Hagadorn, and Trailer Park'd, which is now better known as Fork in the Road. They are both fantastic. Very different menus. They are also both pretty pricey, with Trailer Park'd/Fork in the Road really taking the cake in that aspect.

However, for those of us who have been eating our way around Lansing for a few more years, we know that there is an OG food truck- El Oasis. Permanently parked near Lam's Sweeper Shop on Michigan Avenue at Foster, El Oasis has been there, keeping it real, for years. They are there in the rain and in the snow. They are there early in the morning to serve up breakfast burritos. I'm not the world's biggest fan of Mexican food (my girlfriend KC takes that mantle), but even I love some El Oasis tacos.

A few weeks ago my mother called me and asked me to come have lunch with her at home. Whenever she does this I know she is trying to hoodwink me- she doesn't want to get her act together and leave the house and she wants me to bring her a meal, but she doesn't want to just order me to do it so she presents it like she wants to spend time with me. Or something. Anyway, I was just coming down MI Ave, so I stopped at the taco truck and picked up nachos

and chicken tacos

for us to share. I could actually have done with a little less cheese on the nachos, but that's a minor complaint and I know that I'm in the "less cheese" minority. The corn tortillas for the tacos are my favorite part. They are so good.

The taco truck might be cash-only. I'm not sure on this point. However, if you get there and don't have any cash, run yourself right across the street to Quality Dairy and hit the MSUFCU ATM. No fees. Then get back to the taco truck, where your food will be waiting for you, and eat everything in sight.

Trailer Trash? Try Trailer TREASURE

I thought Monday's food truck experience was extraordinary. And don't get me wrong, it was good. Really good. But on Tuesday I hit another truck and that's when sh!t got real.

I'd been following the whereabouts Trailer Park'd on facebook for about a week, and before my weekly 1pm Tuesday board meeting I decided that the day had come. I grabbed a friend of mine from the law school and told him to get in the car. It wasn't until we had driven a few miles that he even thought to ask me where we were going, which I thought was a testament to his faith in my lunch choices. Dig it.

We got to this parking lot and sure enough, trailer. I felt like my name was Heavyn and I was about to either hit the pole or start mixing up a fresh bath of meth, but stay with me.

The aromas coming from that trailer were decidedly un-trailerlike. It smelled effing GREAT. We went to the window and read the menu/mini chalkboard, which listed maybe six or seven items. Everything is locally grown and produced, so the selection reflects what's going on on the Michigan farms right now. I asked one of the two dudes in the trailer what his favorite thing was and he said the torta. It's a sandwich that is on a roll that it shaped like a croissant, but is much harder. It's stuffed with smoked chicken, beans, avocado, tomatillos, cheese, cilantro, and Lord knows what else. That's all I remember, anyway.

As I was standing there drooling and honestly thinking about getting two whole meals because I am a fat hog, the guy mentioned that they also had SIDES OF ASPARAGUS and did I want one.

Obviously. I'm cutting my teeth on the side of your trailer.

He threw the asparagus on the grill while he made my sandwich. When the asparagus was perfectly charred, he topped it with S&P, shredded Parmesan, and balsamic. I died. The sandwich came out looking unbelievable and he handed me a little cup with sauce in it for the torta- it tasted like smoked tomato (is that even a thing?) and I ate the hell out of it.

My friend actually had the balls to do what I wanted to do and ordered both the torta AND the tacos. He took a page out of my book and told them to prepare the tacos how they like them best, which turned out to be loads of chorizo, cheese, and cilantro on a corn tortilla. The tacos were the bomb, but nothing could beat that sandwich.

We walked back into the law school with our bags of food and holed up in an office to tear into lunch. I've never seen anything like this- no less than 10 people stopped us to ask us where we got the food. And these fools couldn't even see the food, they were basing it on smell.

Get thee to the trailer park'd. Eat everything in sight. Repeat.

The Purple Carrot Truck

Last week, the Lansing social media scene was all a-twitter (and a-facebooked) about The Purple Carrot Truck. Locally grown food that comes to you in a truck that changes locations daily? I'm into it.

Today, I tracked them down at Hannah Center near Mt. Hope and Hagadorn in East Lansing. Be advised- this is NOT Hannah Plaza. It is the office complex just south of Hannah Plaza. The truck is orange, and is much smaller than I thought it would be. I don't know how they contain so many different food items in such a little vehicle.

I asked for a little run-down of the menu and learned that they had a special sandwich today- a smoked chicken salad. It sounded wonderful, but after hearing so much excitement about the tofu banh mi last week, I had to try it. I got the full sandwich ($7) and beet borscht soup ($4). I could have gotten a combo (half the sandwich and the soup) for I think $7, but I was staaaarving at lunch today.

The banh mi comes on a hoagie roll and is kind of a tofu salad with lots of cilantro, shredded carrot, and Vietnamese spices. Fun fact- when I was eight years old, a Vietnamese refugee family moved in with my family and that kicked off a series of about two years of Vietnamese people living with us. I have had some Vietnamese food. As a matter of fact, we probably have a bag of egg rolls in the deep freezer right now, just waiting to be dropped into a pot of hot oil.

The banh mi was great. Spicy. Bread was good. Fantastic sandwich all around. I had never had borscht, but I LOVE beets and have been thinking about this soup since I read a recipe for it a few weeks ago. The soup is beautiful- a deep ruby color swirled with cream (?) and topped with dill. It was fragrant and tart and delicious.

I also got a carrot cake pop ($1) that didn't make it home because I shoved it into my mouth as soon as I drove away. The cake seemed like it had a good flavor, but the sickly-sweet purple frosting did nothing to add to it. I'm a purist when it comes to carrot cake- no nuts, no raisins, no canned pineapple, and I like a nice light cream cheese frosting. Of course, that didn't stop me from eating the cake pop in about three bites.

I really hope this food truck is successful. Follow them on Twitter or like them on Facebook, which are the only ways to find out their daily location. Go there, bring cash (because they don't take cards), and keep them open. Lansing should be making better use of our local produce, and The Purple Carrot Truck is leading the charge.