Year ends with Spaceship tamales

For their year-ending outing our explorers finally made the trip across the loop to Wacker & Adams and found a season's worth of trucks lined up on the west side South Wacker.  We had delicious pork tamales from Chicago’s Tamale Spaceship.

Block-long lineup of food trucks on a cold, windy mid-day

Here's the Spaceship story from a May, 2013 post by The Latin Kitchen:  "With a theme of great food and Lucha Libre Mexican wrestlers, Chicago’s Tamale Spaceship food truck is serving Mexican cuisine with character!"

"The truck’s specialty is tamales, serving eight to 10 variations every day. All tamales are gluten free. Vegan options are available."
 

"'Our homemade-style food features flavors from all over Mexico,' says Manny Hernandez, the truck’s co-founder. 'From complex Oaxacan mole to simple sauces, our food is all house made, we use local and seasonal ingredients to reach the quality needed to satisfy the Chicago foodies.'"

Lucha Libre bobble head perched on the food truck counter.

Masked vendor.  Such colorful masks are de rigueur in Luca Libre Mexican wrestling

Pork tamale before unveiling

Two tamales seemed like too many but suddenly they were gone

Convenience, and Arepas, prompt return to La Cocinita

That's a cornmeal patty stuffed with meat (spicy sausage, in this case) and cheese.  That was one reason for a third time at the same truck.  And it was cold and windy.  And the truck was parked just outside the building.   Another round of "The Bowl" was also consumed, appointed with chunks of avocado.  (Debbie Murray from the Tulsa office joined in, regaling us with tales of Tulsa food trucks, as if there could be such things!).

 

 

 

 

The bowl

 

Arepas

 

 

 

 

 

La Cocinita - a happy repeat

Last week's outing was a repeat visit to La Cocinita food truck  (" 'The Little Kitchen,' is dedicated to serving fresh, authentic, gourmet street food from Latin America") - cold windy weather kept us close to the office and the truck was on our block, Randolph and Columbus.
 

Here's a valuable reference, the truckside formulary:

Step 1: Choose Your Vessel

AREPAS  White Cornmeal Patties Stuffed with Meat & Cheese
TACOS  White Corn Tortillas Stuffed with Meat & Cheese
“BURRI-TACOS”  Flour Tortillas Stuffed with Rice, Black Beans, Meat,  & Melted Cheese
“THE BOWL”  Rice, Beans, Meat, & Cheese

Step 2: Pick Your Protein

POLLO ESTOFADO  Braised Chicken
CARNE ASADA  Grilled Steak
LECHON  Braised Pork
ROASTED SWEET POTATOES & BLACK BEANS
ROASTED CORN & BLACK BEANS
BLACK BEANS & QUESO FRESCO

Step 3: Select Your Sauces

GUASACACA  Creamy Avocado Vinaigrette
ROASTED RED PEPPER SAUCE
SPICY MANGO SAUCE
CILANTRO & GREEN ONION SAUCE
CHIPOTLE CREMA
ROASTED JALAPEÑO PEPPER SALSA
SALSA VERDE
ROASTED GARLIC SAUCE
“STUPID HOT” SAUCE

 

Pictured is The Bowl with pork and salsa verde.   Very good!

 

 
 

Odyssey continues, but for how long?

 Thursday, November 5.  We had a fair but very windy outing, but with the onset of Fall, is food truck season coming to a close?  Again, we realize our ignorance in the ways of the trucks.

Bruges Brothers advises via Twitter "The truck is off the road until spring. See you then!"  (@BrugesBrothers) but others continue to work the streets.

Today it was a repeat: Milt's and Happy Lobster on Columbus.

Food truck row on Columbus

Josh with burly beef brisket sandwich from Milt's (below)

Which is better?  Happy Lobster of Da Lobsta?  Must...keep...testing.

Finally, Fat Shallot

Long sought by the voyagers, the Fat Shallot truck was finally run to ground on Friday, at Riverfront Plaza.



Fabulous sandwiches but what
you really need to know about are
the fries

Fries, and turkey sandwich



Fries, and cheese sandwich (avocado, not bacon)

Fat Shallot's take on the Chicago flag.  All the
time we thought those were stars.

La Cocinita

Here's their story (from http://lacocinitafoodtruck.com/ ) - La Cocinita, literally “The Little Kitchen,” is dedicated to serving fresh, authentic, gourmet street food from Latin America. We offer an array of delicious and inexpensive options, ranging from traditional Mexican tacos to less familiar South American fare such as arepas and patacones.

“THE BOWL”  Rice, Beans, Meat, & Cheese

TOSTONES  Crispy Smashed Green Plantains

"With 100% Sugar" -- no kidding!

When is a sandwich not a sandwich?

Simple - when it is made with a baguette.



The truck

 
 






The bread



The product

41st floor ambiance

DönerMen latest F.T.O. stop

They call it German street food.  Our adventurers went for the Staff favorite Döner Box - "All the goods of a Doner Kebab served over a bed of fries and fresh greens instead of bread."

From the DönerMen website:

 

Our menu items contain some unfamiliar although delicious ingredients that we always make in house.

Tzatziki - The most familiar of our ingredients, we mix strained yogurt with cucumbers, garlic, dill and mint to make this creamy sauce.
Shirazi - Also known as Jerusalem Salad, we mix cherry tomatoes and cucumber with fresh lemon and parsley.
Harissa - Our North African Harissa, is a spicy chili paste,accentuating the flavor of chili peppers, lemon, garlic and the spice mix, with heat.
Curry Sauce - A sweet and tangy savory sauce with mild curry spices.

 

Menu. The truck was on Columbus.

The Box.  Very good.

The Ginger Ale says "Hot" and it is that.

Back to Bruges for more fine frites

As the summer winds down, the trekkers are revisiting trucks that have been haunting their dreams.  Today it was Bruges Brothers, pitched up in a parking lot at Rush & Illinois. (First visited at the end of July).

Fine stand-up dining in the parking lot (Bruges Brothers, right,
drew the crowd; Da Lobsta, left was not busy).

Eric went for the Croque Madame, again.  
And he'd do it again, and again, and again...
Frites, cheese, ham, egg and some devilish sauce.

Philly Frites and an admiring customer.

If someone had the imagination to order something other
than the Croque Madame, this would be an option.

All you need to know is here.

Empanada - encore appearance

One encounter with 5411 Empanadas was not enough.  We needed to re-visit.

Milt's ("Barbeque for the perplexed")

Brisket Sandwich - recommended for the novice.
Kathryn suggested sauce connoisseur Kunal would have liked this sweet stuff.

Scene of the crime - Riverfront Plaza.

Why is abbreviation such a long word?  There's a lot
that troubles Milt, and it is written all around the truck.