Maracaibo Street Food

This is one of the newer Venezuelan food trucks in our area, located in the Plaza de los Food Trucks behind the Gosling Express.  Stopped in the other evening and got an Arepa Cabimera, and a cup of chicha for dessert.

The Arepa Cabimera was a very different and delicious food experience.  All kinds of things in it--shredded chicken, some sliced ham, slaw, hard boiled egg, what seemed like fried yuca (might have been the arepa), with two sauces, tomato and cheese.  The whole thing ate like a salad with not a lot of greens.  The flavors were very pleasant and complemented each other well.  I've never had anything like it and can very much recommend it.

Chicha (they called it Chichas) was another new thing for me.  It is a sweet rice drink flavored with vanilla and cinnamon that drinks like a milkshake.  The sweetness was just perfect, with the right amount of cinnamon.  Great finish to the meal.

The combination cost about $25 with tip, that's pretty much what it costs to eat at a food truck now.  Most of the items are $11-14, but they have a kids' menu starting at $6.

I have to mark them down a little for service.  The first time I went I was refused service because I didn't speak Spanish.  The second time the manager who spoke English was there and things were better, he is polite and helpful.  All in all it's quite good, with some different offerings from the other Venezuelan trucks.

My Yelp Review

Outback Steakhouse

We enjoy Outback Steakhouse and were looking forward to trying this new location in our neighborhood.  We mostly had traditional favorites--blooming onion, sirloin steak, ribs, a prime rib sandwich, their new brussels sprouts, and finished it with their new signature dessert, the Thunder and Lightning Down Under.

The restaurant has a simple interior and seems smaller than most Outbacks.  This location was originally set up for Hopdoddy Burger Bar so they didn't have complete control over the space.  The restaurant was just filling up when we arrived, but we got a seat right away in the bar.  

The Blooming Onion was delicious as always.  Our sirloins were done perfectly as well, and nicely seasoned. Love the salty baked potatoes.  Bread was good too.  I like Outback ribs, they have a great sauce and are very tender, and our ribs on this occasion were great.

The brussels sprouts were very interesting and tasty.  They were prepared with bacon and a sauce that added sweetness, which made for a really different flavor profile than most places that do them.  The sprouts were mostly cooked well.  I would definitely get them again.

There were a couple of issues that took away from the enjoyment.  We ordered the prime rib sandwich without mushrooms, but they put them on anyway.  They comped it and offered to take it back, and the manager came out and apologized, but at that point we just wanted to eat.  The sandwich wouldn't have been great without the mushrooms, it was chopped meat like a cheese steak so the tenderness of the prime rib didn't matter.  I don't recommend it.  

The dessert was a disappointment.  The Chocolate Thunder part (ice cream, brownie, and chocolate sauce) was good as always, but the Lightning part is a butter cake and it was awful.  Dense and hard, you couldn't even get a fork into it.  We weren't up to giving them more feedback so just didn't eat that part.

The waitstaff was trying hard.  Our server made an error putting in the blooming onion and told us it would be late.  She comped it in anticipation, but they actually had it ready before the food and if she hadn't told us we'd never have known.  The back of the house let them down with the sandwich and the dessert.

The bathrooms were not as clean and ready as one would hope.  The women's restroom was out of towels.  

Overall we had a nice evening, but it's an expensive night out (over $40 per person even with the comps) so you'd hope for better.  We had some similar disappointments the last time we went to Outback at another location.  I'd say we would come back here because they mostly execute the way you would expect but our visits might be less frequent.

My Yelp Review

Fujiya Ramen Sushi Bar

This place went in the Grand Parkway where Ichigo was and kept some of the decor.  There is menu overlap as well.  We had a family dinner there to give it a try though it is still in the soft opening phase.  We started out with the cream cheese puffs and the chasu buns.  Then had the curry spicy miso ramen, the veggie ramen, and the house fried rice.  Finished with a tempura cheesecake.

The cream cheese puffs were good, freshly fried with a good crunch and flavorful insides--not a lot of crab meat but a good start.  The chasu buns were very disappointing.  They were dense and chewy.  I think they were microwaved, which you can do with a baked item if you get it out at exactly the right time.  These were way over.

The ramen soups were the highlight of the meal.  The broth in both soups had great depth of flavor, with the miso complementing rather than overwhelming the other ingredients.  The added vegetables were very tasty. There were some signs of rushing--the eggs started out cold, and relied on the soup to warm them up.  The texture in the egg yolk was a little off but the flavor was great.  The spicy miso soup came with a chicken curry--some chicken breaded with panko and fried, and a very nice and not spicy curry sauce.  On the other hand, the soup really brought the heat.  If you like it when your throat burns then their spicy dishes will deliver.  Very large portions, definitely 2 or 3 meals.

The fried rice was fine, a pretty standard version.  Good flavor and mouth feel, not a huge portion but plenty for one.

The tempura cheesecake was a nice idea but this recipe doesn't work yet.  The tempura was not very crunchy and the cheesecake was warm inside.  The cheesecake has to be frozen very hard in order to make this recipe work, much like a baked Alaska.  I think they will figure it out.

The soft opening is still very real for the restaurant.  They are not fully staffed yet.  The waitress apologized a lot for the slow kitchen, even bringing a complimentary seaweed salad (it was OK, Sushi Haya's is better). She didn't really need to, I've seen a lot worse.  But the rushing caused some problems as noted.  The decor is cute--they kept one of Ichigo's murals and pasted their name over it, and put in a new mural on the opposite wall.  The men's room was clean and ready, no decoration there.  You might wait and let them get past the grand opening for a special occasion.  Definitely get the ramen.

My Yelp Review

Mr. Sweet Update

Mr. Sweet has added meat pastries and empanadas to their menu, so now you can get a full meal at their little food trailer in the Plaza De Los Food Trucks on Gosling.  I gave them a try the other day.  Got a chicken pastry, a beef empanada, a passion fruit agua fresca, and some cookies for dessert.

Have to say that the chicken pastry was a bit dry, though the flavor was good.  The very good dill sauce that came with the meal was a big help for the pastry.  The empanada was a step up.  It was freshly fried and not too greasy, excellent flavor and mouth feel.  The passion fruit drink was a great complement to the meal--sometimes passion fruit drinks are pretty thick, but what I was looking for this time was a thirst quencher and I absolutely got it, it was the perfect thing.  The cookies were nice--I have unfortunately lost the name, but they were a kind of shortbread cookie with powdered sugar on top, and a caramel syrup filling.  Only five in a serving but were very satisfying.

The menu was a lot more limited than was indicated on their sign board.  Only one choice of three available for puff pastry, and two of four for empanadas.  One of two for drinks.  Plenty of desserts.  

Many of the trucks at the Plaza De Los Food Trucks are not open for weekend lunch, but Mr. Sweet is open pretty consistently, so if you're there at noon on a weekend it will be a decent choice.

My Yelp Review