Food trucks: still worth it?
Whenever we come to Austin, we never fail to stop and eat at food trucks. If you didn’t know it yet, Austin is the food truck capital of Texas, if not in the nation. I was excited to try Kyoten, the sushi food truck after reading about it on Eater (22 Hottest Food Trucks Across the US Right Now). “Kyoten is commanding great attention in Austin’s trailer dining scene. Chefs Otto Phan and Leo Rodriguez have trained in kitchens such as Masa, Nobu, Uchi, and more and are offering sushi and rice bowls from their East 6th Street trailer”.
We were quite impressed with its location —it had its own lot unlike other trucks where they are all nestled together in one area. We ordered a few sushi rolls and I noticed the sign, “no soy sauce please”. I asked why. He said they have a certain culture that do not believe in soy sauce. I lived in Japan for 6 years and I know for a fact that it is almost a taboo to drown your sushi in soy sauce (the rice must never touch the soy sauce and the fish is dipped in it very lightly). But the difference is the fish in Japan is melt-in-your-mouth fresh that you really didn’t need soy sauce to enjoy it.
We ordered three items in the menu:
*California- real red crab, avocado, cucumber
*Masu-zushi (boxed style sushi)- ocean trout, citrus, herbs, red onion
*Spicy, Creamy, Crunchy- tuna, avocado, cucumber, serrano
Total price: $28 plus $3 tip= $31
The verdict: I really wanted to like the sushi (honestly) but none of the rolls stood out. We went out of our way to find the trailer, in spite of the violent rain we encountered in the city that day. Unfortunately, I didn’t have that ‘wow I can’t live without these sushi’ moment. But perhaps if I drowned them in soy sauce, it would’ve been more enjoyable!
Next to their lot was Patakon, a Colombian food truck. I was even more excited to try this trailer because I have many Colombian friends. Plus how often would you find a Colombian food truck! In Dallas, never! None of the items we wanted in their menu were available (arepa and empanadas). So we got the chicken combination (with rice and fried plantains). It seemed that that was the only thing in the menu that was ready to be served. Price: $9
The verdict: with the one piece of chicken thigh, two small plantains, and most of the rice was submerged in the chicken’s grease, I didn’t find this food as enjoyable as I thought I would. I wanted to brag to my Colombian friends that I found this truck but…
My two cents: I honestly don’t think eating at a food truck is as pleasurable as it used to be. Perhaps my excitement over this trend is fading. Eating outdoors in a piercing hot summer day in Texas is not pleasant at all. The prices do not make up for this inconvenience as well. They cost just as much as eating at a restaurant (or in fact you may pay even more). In addition, there are no bugs or flies to shoo away from your food when eating inside a restaurant. And the heat won’t bother your zen either.
It looks charming though. We have such trucks in the Netherlands as well but they only offer snacks not main food..I can imagine being outside in hot weather with bugs and flies while eating would not be comfortable experience!!
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It sure is t pleasant!! Especially I can’t stand the heat in Texas. Netherlands has beautiful weather in the summer but Texas is just incredibly painful during that time of the year!!
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🙂 oh.. we have the snack truck during winter here..and that would not be a pleasant one 😀 😀
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