Vina Street Food

Tried out this new food truck at La Plaza de los Food Trucks the other night. Got the fried Vietnamese egg rolls, crispy chicken with fried rice and a traditional milk tea.

The egg rolls were ready first. These were excellent, perfectly fried with a nice fish sauce. There are four pieces in the order so easy to share and nice to enjoy before the main course. The chicken and rice dish is rice fried with corn and green onions, with a dark quarter chicken deep fried (not breaded) on top. An interesting presentation but a little hard to eat. All components were cooked just right--the rice was just a little crispy and chewy with the corn, which is perfect when these are done together. Not much seasoning. The chicken was fried just right, so I could pull the leg and thigh apart easily. The chicken was juicy. It was not seasoned, so the salt, pepper and soy sauce had to carry that load. I would say the great cook on it made the dish.

The milk tea was OK but again difficult. It was served with lots of boba and a lot of syrup, so the syrup went down into the boba and was hard to stir. I actually don't like boba and was for some reason not expecting it, so next time I will specify and that should go better.

The truck is new and still getting its legs under it. There was one guy to cook and serve. My food took 30 minutes, which is understandable for cooking the chicken properly but a bit of a lag. I think it is promising and worth a try.

My Yelp Review

Turquoise Coffee

This coffee truck just opened in the Dave's Express center at Root and Gosling. I stopped in one morning to try them out. I got the black vanilla latte, which is made with activated charcoal, vanilla, and a double espresso shot.

You can absolutely see the charcoal. The drink is gray before the espresso is added, and pretty much stays that way. I got it iced, and it tasted quite good--not too sweet. Charcoal does not change the flavor. I often get a sour stomach from drinking coffee later in the morning, as I did here, but did not experience that this time. Charcoal isn't known as an acid reducer, most people that use it do it to remove toxins before they reach the kidneys but the benefits are not clear. in any case, it's something that's not on the Starbucks menu!

Service was friendly and enthusiastic. They have a wide variety of coffees, including cold brew and chemex as well as espresso. They have teas as well. The owner prepares the drink in front of you, which would be particularly fun with Chemex. There are a lot of coffee options around but if you live near here it's definitely worth a try as a change from the chains. It's also a nice looking truck.

My Yelp Review

Wingbay

This is a family-run shop that showed up in our neighborhood a few months ago but was closed for a bit. They are back open and we tried them for a take-out lunch. Got a mix of sweet hot peach (recommended by the owner) and mild boneless wings, some cajun fried corn, some hot honey tenders with fries, a fountain drink, and some cookies.

The sweet hot peach wings (sort of wings--boneless wings are nuggets to me, but I'm fine with that) had a unique flavor that I wouldn't mind getting again. They are a 3 on their heat scale and I think that's fair. The mild wings were indeed mild, no liquid sauce on them. The breading was nice and crisp, I liked them. The tenders were cooked nicely, crisp outside and tender inside, I'd say the cook might be better than Cane's. They were also seasoned well, but there was just a tiny hint of sweetness. I was expecting a sauce more like what was on the peach wings.

The fried corn was disappointing. It's a cob cut into rounds and deep fried. No breading or seasoning so quite bland and chewy. I'd skip those. The fries were pretty good. The fountain was working fine (they are a Pepsi shop). The cookies were decent, tasted store-bought but nothing wrong with them.

This is a family-run shop--the daughter was handling the register when I was there. A couple of things make it a good option for particular markets--it is halal, and it is open until 4am (you can get food after you close the bar!).

The interior is very basic, they do have tables but it's geared toward takeout. They promise that chicken sandwiches are coming but it's been a few months now. The single bathroom was clean and ready. I'd say it's a good option if you know what to get, and what not to get, on their menu.

My Yelp Review