Trading Spaces, Trading Places

Returning to Austin after a three-month hiatus in Dallas has been like a breath of fresh air. It may be really hot, humid air, but it's good to be back nonetheless.

This fall I'll be balancing a healthy diet with exploring new food trucks (and visiting my old faves, of course!), so that means you'll get a balance of healthy and indulgent options from the trucks. This stricter diet is a goal of mine because I'm planning for a trip to Europe this summer! I want to be able to eat all the cheese and drink all the wine I want with a guilt free conscious. Annnd that's the last time you'll be getting a diet update from me!

Since I've been gone, not only have a few food truck lots shut down, but there've been other relocations and food trucks that have become (or at least plan to be) full blown brick and mortars:

Brick and Mortar:

Gourdough's
Prepare your pallet for the sweetness that is to be served up at Gourdough's Public House! The king of Big. Fat. Donuts. is going brick and mortar this fall, Relish Austin reports. I can't wait to see what kind of over the top cocktail recipes they come up with.

From the new Gourdough's Pub website.

Keep updated on the grand opening here.

Yumé Burger

Eater Austin reported a couple of weeks ago that our beloved Yumé Burger was closing permanently. Fans across the interwebz collectively mourned the loss of such a deliciously unique food truck.

From the YB Facebook page.

On the bright side, The Peached Tortilla & Yumé Burger may be opening as a brick and mortar restaurant. As soon as I learn more information, you'll hear about it.

East Side King

Paul Qui has been especially busy in the last year and a half, and he's not slowing down anytime soon. Qui told Eater Austin in August that he'll be opening a brick and mortar of ESK around March 2013. 

If you can't wait that long to eat some fried Brussels sprouts in the luxury of AC, then just hold out a little longer for the East Side King menu to take over the kitchen at Hole in the Wall off Guad. 

The caption says it all.

A review of ESK and more details coming soon!

Leaving Austin:

Star Co. Mobile Coffee House
The trailer is putting in a bid to move to the potential new "food trailer park" in Roundrock. Because Roundrockers want all the good Austin grub up North too.

Back in Austin:
Fresh Off the Truck 
They've been serving troops stationed in Fort Hood for the last month or so, but returned to Mueller Trailer Eats this week.

A happy customer from Ft. Hood! From FOT Facebook page.

Grab a Char-Sieu BBQ Pork Baguette this weekend and thank them for supporting our troops!
*Note: the truck is closed if it's raining.


Which brick and mortar are you most excited for? How bummed are you that Yumé Burger closed? Tell me whatcha think in the comments below!

New Trailers Around Town

This post may be a little un-kosher because I've never been to these trailers, but it's more of a "to-eat" list of mine. I thought I'd share it with you, so you can add them to your ever growing list of Austin places to visit. Let me know if you have a favorite menu item or recommendation. I can't wait...

Urban Cowboy
We've got another fusion truck on our hands. And I'm completely fine with that.
Cuisine: "Southern Fusion/Tex-Mex Fusion with Urban influences."
Open: Grand Opening TOMORROW - July 20 at 3 p.m.
Location: Jessie Street Eats lot.
Mouth-watering menu items:

• Smoky Chopped Chicken Taco- Mesquite Caramelized Onions, Avocado, Sweet Potato Straws, Cotija $3.75
• The Kind Cowboy Burger (vegetarian)- Our signature Soychorizo & Black Bean Burger, Roasted Corn, Peppadew Relish, Green Leaf, Go Texan Tomato, Tomatillo Sour Cream $6
• Cowboy Fries with Citrus Garlic Oil- Season Salt, Cilantro . Cotija $3

Tapas Bravas

I love tapas and the outdoor atmosphere somehow seems more fitting than a regular indoor tapas bar. Also their food comes from a lot of my favorite vendors in Austin: Antonelli's, Easy Tiger and Countryside Farms, to name a few.

Cuisine: "Authentic Spanish tapas" - basically small little plates of delicious Spanish food. You'll probably want to go with a friend or two (bring along your Sangria) and share several tapas, so you can try everything on the menu!
Open: Opened July 11
Location: 75 Rainey St..a couple blocks down from Lustre Pearl & Bar 96
Mouth-watering menu items:

• Cantimpalito de la Sidra - Pan-fried mini chorizos in cider glaze $6
• Albondigas (one of my favorite palabras en español) - Pork meatballs in a tomato brandy sauce $5
• Crema Catalana - Catalonian crème brûlée

Be More Pacific - Disclaimer: They're new to me, but have been around since at least February 2011

I don't think I've ever had, or heard of, Filipino Comfort Food. I'm down to try just about anything! (No pig intestines please.)

Cuisine: "Filipino-American Cuisine" or "Filipino Comfort Food"
Open: According to when their Facebook was created, around February 2011.
Location: Traveling trailer, but they seem to hang around 5th & Colorado quite a bit. Check their Twitter updates for their current location.
Mouth-watering menu items:

• Adobo- sautéed  chicken or tofu in a mixture of vinegar, soy sauce and oyster sauce .
• Sweet Garlic Fried Rice- Chicken or Tofu (Vegetarian) with scrambled egg, garlic, carrots, bean sprouts, onions sweetened with hoisin and garnished with green onion.  Add a fried egg or a longanisa pork patty for a $1.00.
• Traditional Filipino fried eggroll- (Vegetarian) stuffed with cabbage, bean sprouts, carrots, tofu rolled in a thin crispy wrapper served with sweet chili sauce

2nd & Congress Food Trailers Closed - UPDATED

I feel like it's happening on a monthly basis now. Trailer parks closing all over Austin for condos or offices to move in; it's truly a sad sight.

If you haven't heard, the food truck lot at 2nd & Congress closed about a week ago. Five trailers were forced to relocate and with the move, Congress Ave. will definitely lose some of the best lunch options on the street.

My office used to be off 4th & Congress, so every week I'd walk a couple blocks down the road to have a choice of turkish wraps, korean-mexican tacos, seafood po boys, a calorie controlled burger or a good cup of coffee. The lot catered to almost any craving. As we bid adieu to the trailers at this lot, make sure to keep your eyes out for their new locations. I've tracked down most relocation plans for the trailers, but I'll be tweeting and updating this post as I find out more.

Chi'lantro
Couldn't find any news of a the new trailer spot, but they have three other trucks in Austin and I'm sure you won't have trouble finding those Kimchi fries. (YUM)

Kebabalicious
This place is amazing- which is clear since they also went brick and mortar earlier this year. I recommend the beef/lamb kebab with hummus and zucchini fries. SO GOOD.
Their brick and mortar is off East 7th & Navasota, but if you want the true trailer experience, their new spot is going to be off 4th & Guadalupe by Republic Square Park. UPDATE: After what seemed to be a week's long fight with "power issues," Kebabalicious is set to open up Tuesday at 7th & Congress!

@Kebabalicious

Patika Coffee
I never had the chance to try Patika, but my friends all love their French press coffee. A close friend and fellow blogger, Austin Caffeinated, said she hasn't been yet either, but she's heard that "along with Franks they have some of the best espresso in Austin." This is something coming from the coffee aficionado. There's a post on their Facebook page that says they have a secured new spot, but to stay tuned. UPDATE: Looks like another member of the group is moving down the road!

@PatikaCoffee

Snap Pod
This trailer's dedication to serving local and organic food may not sound unique among the Austin local-food-culture, but their mission to serve healthy trailer food is. It's quite rare to find a trailer menu that allows you to order a guilt-free and calorie-conscious lunch. That's probably why there's such a huge rally behind the Snap Pod to find the trailer a new home. On Snap Kitchen's (the parent and brick and mortar of the pod) blog they're asking for fans to offer suggestions on how and where the pod should move. Help Snap Pod find a new home!
UPDATE: As of June 11, Snap Kitchen still seems to be on the hunt.

@SnapKitchen

UPDATE: They're still looking for a new place to call home.

UPDATE: Snap Pod has found a spot!

According to a recent article in ABJ the food truck will open sometime early this month (November) on the "northeast corner of Fifth Street and Congress."

Turf N Surf Po'Boy
Their new digs are off 4th & Congress - just down the street from the old spot. A post dedicated to this trailer's cajun deliciousness is coming soon!

G'Raj Mahal - Rainey Street Food Truck Review

I've been to Rainey a handful of times, but this occasion was special: my last day as an intern with the company I had been with since January, my first office happy hour and my finally turning 21 (I was the only underage intern all semester)!

After a few measly pretzels for lunch, I was ready to try a new food truck in the historic district of Austin. First we stopped off at Clive where I was comped a drink from the friendly bartender and forced to drink tequila far too early in the day. "But we're CELEBRATING" they said. Right.

The sweet Belgian beer I was sipping couldn't hold me over much longer, so three of us headed across the street to G'Raj Mahal. None of us had ever tried it and I had heard great things about the food.

Photo cred: Tracy Hunter

It was 6 p.m. on a Friday and the place was packed. I enjoyed the sheer hangings and lights that made the place feel like a little shaded vacation spot. We placed our order to-go and sat down in a few squat law chairs.

Okay, I know I said it was a Friday evening, and I even acknowledged that it was busy, but we waited 45 minutes for our 3 orders all the while watching plate after plate go out to the tables around us. If the conversation and company hadn't been so great, I would have definitely said something by the 35 minute mark.

On top of that, when we finally received our food, the hostess double charged my friend's card and asked if the other friend could just give her cash, so they didn't have to handle it. I thought this was unprofessional, especially having worked in the bar and restaurant industry since I was 15.

The food, though a little pricey for a food truck at $14 a plate, was delicious and hit the spot. I was advised against the non-cream sauces and went instead for the Chicken Korma. Cream sauce with cashews and golden raisins. I added paneer, a suggestion of the hostess, that reminded me of a slighty chewier, cube shaped mozzarella. I may be way off, but comparing Indian to Italian is what I've got to work with.

I didn't get to snag a pic, but this is close to what it looked like, with more sauce of course.
Photo cred: ERecipe

The sauce was creamy and just what I needed after a long day on an empty stomach. The Basmati rice was cooked perfectly, and the chicken was great too. Next time, I'd like to add a little spice to the dish though.

If I were a star-ratings kind of site G'Raj Mahal would rank as follows:

Ambiance 4/5 stars

Customer Service 1/5 stars

Price 3/5 stars

Food 4/5 stars

I hope the next time I go back, the one outlier will be brought up. I'll even order my food at the table if that's what it takes.

What are your opinions of good food and bad service? Is it worth it?

Food Truck Foodie, Gettin' Social

Hey guys-

Just wanted to let everyone know that I now have a Facebook fan page to make it easier to stay updated on my posts. 

Please go 'like' it!

Also a reminder that I tweet about food trucks and food truck news from my personal twitter account @rachaelsperling, but again it is mixed in with personal/random tweets if you can handle it.

If you're on Foursquare (I don't know why you wouldn't be!) I have a running list of the food trucks around Austin that you can follow here.

Lastly, I may be switching over to Wordpress. It's something I'm playing around with, but no big moves yet.

Thanks for the support and readership. As always, I appreciate comments and suggestions for reviews or whatever you feel like sharing!

Happy eating,

Food Truck Foodie

The mighty duck returns! - Odd Duck Farm to Trailer

Odd Duck Farm to Trailer Photo: Austin360,  by Mike Sutter of AMERICAN-STATESMAN

When I heard that Odd Duck Farm to Trailer was closing on December 10, 2011 (back before the lot of Lamar was shut down for good), I made it a point to pay a visit to the trailer that boosted Chef Bryce Gilmore into his chef stardom.

I actually had the chance to dine at Barley Swine (Gilmore's brick and mortar spot) before I went to the trailer. I knew if the trailer menu was anything like its sister restaurant, I was in for something good.

The atmosphere of the lot was like any other trailer lot in Austin: casual, friendly and homey, with a mixture of intriguing aromas in the air. But this lot also had that sad feeling of an old friend leaving town. Austinites were crowding to visit Odd Duck one last time, or for the first and only time, like myself. Entire events were set up to pay homage to this beloved trailer.

Parmesan grits garnished with a soft boiled duck egg, zucchini & mushrooms

Since the closure, Barley Swine has grown in popularity and has been ranked nationally as one of the best restaurants in America. Recently, Gilmore revealed that he will be reopening Odd Duck! This time however as a 100-seat restaurant.

What can you expect at the new place? The food will be "similar to the trailer...with lots of grilling and wood," Gilmore said in an interview with Eater Austin.

The "farm to table" concept of both Odd Duck and Barley Swine is serving 100% locally sourced, seasonal options.

I don't know about you guys, but I can't wait for this new addition to the Austin food scene!

Ms P's Electric Cock - "Peace, Love & Chicken Grease"

How many times have you driven by that glowing neon sign on Congress and thought,

"Man I really need to try Ms P's Electric Cock." 

You're right, too many times. You gotta try this place.

After a long week, my friend and I decided that it was time to reward ourselves. What better way than with down-home fried chicken? Comfort food at it's finest.

We split a 3-piece order of fried chicken and  fried pickles. I wanted to order the truffle mac & cheese, but it's now sans truffle because - wait, are you ready for this? - too many people requested it WITHOUT the truffle oil. What kind of world are we living in? We got two orders of "Wow Waffles" instead because you can't go wrong with chicken and waffles.

The atmosphere was quaint and reminded me of a summer barbecue with the picnic tables and checkered tablecloth, the hanging string lights and old wooden fence surrounding the outdoor dining area. 

3-piece chicken fried, whole pickled jalapeño, sweet roll and lot's o' honey.

The basket came with a leg, wing and tenderloin. I liked the crispy wing the most.

The 3-piece chicken for $7.50 is a little pricey on a meager college budget, but this isn't Popeyes we're talking about. The chicken is local, free range, never frozen, with no hormones or anything added that makes you squirm. The two-step brining process makes the chicken juicy and tender while the combination of the peanut oil and 12 herbs and spices gives it a distinct and original flavor.

The fry wasn't as crispy as I like, but the flavor was delicious. The pickled jalapeño added a nice kick between bites of sweet roll slathered in honey. 

Fried pickle spears. My fave.

The special of the day, the fried pickles, may have stolen the show because they were the best fried pickles I've ever add. The spears are juicy, but somehow don't affect the crispy shell or make it soggy. The (I think) chipotle mayo was the bomb.

World famous 'Wow Waffles' with powered sugar. 

Our waffles came out last because they were making a fresh batch, but they made for a nice dessert. They weren't sweet, which is what I expect of waffles (that's the way my Nana makes them). It was great though because I drowned them in the maple syrup. I may or may not have finished off the bottle.

Overall, the meal was exactly what we looking for- savory, greasy, sweet and comforting.

Fun Fact: Eat Street filmed the truck back in November and their episode is set to air June 5th at 8:30 p.m. CST. 

Check out their Facebook here.

Dock and Roll Diner

I went to Dock and Roll with a friend recently for lunch. We were driving around Soco looking for something new and out of the ordinary and weren't having much luck. I turned down a random street, happened to drive by Dock and Roll and remembered that I had just seen a post by Trailer Food Diaries on their new spot on South 1st. We parked near the guys drinking 40s and playing harmonicas (wise choice I know) and decided to check the place out. 

The trailer's cuisine is described as new and traditional American, fused with seafood, southern and tex-mex. So it's definitely something out of the ordinary, and very uniquely-Austin.

The specialty or "Maine Event" is their lobster rolls, but I wasn't in the mood for seafood. The "South Westlake" sounded awesome: chicken breast, grilled corn, Rajas (a traditional Mexican blend of sautéed onions and poblano peppers), cotija cheese (one of my faves) and their signature Greenbelt Sauce (a Tomatillo-Avocado blend) all served up a on a sub roll. Sounds amazing right? Well, they were out of chicken. That put a smaller damper in my plans, so I opted for the "Infidel Castro" ($7).  

The Infidel Castro with jalapeños and Southwest Slaw

The Infidel is "cuban rubbed and smoked pork sirloin with Dock and Roll mayo, Prosciutto di Parma, Gold Label Swiss cheese, and pickles." I added the "ree jalapeños of course. I also tried the "Southwest Slaw" ($1.75), but they were out of their signature elote, which I was told was the real tasty twist to the slaw.

The Blue Bahn-ett

My friend tried the Blue Bahn-ett ($6) --caramelized smoked pork sirloin sliced thin (to mimic pork belly I suppose), slaw and pickles--and was really happy with her choice.

Lee, the chef and one of three co-founders, felt bad about being out of stock on so many items and comped my friend and I free jalapeño macaroni and cheese poppers. What we didn't tell him was that we wanted to order those to begin with, but couldn't bring ourselves to justify buying fried macaroni and cheese. For some reason eating free junk food doesn't feel as bad as purchased junk food.

Jalapeno Mac “N” Cheese Poppers

The food was delicious and the pork had an awesome smoky flavor. The fresh jalapeños added some real kick and I loved quite liked the D&R mayo. I would've liked the toppings to be distributed a little better, one side of the dog tasted different than the other side. The slaw wasn't anything to go on about, but I don't feel I can really rate it since there was no grilled corn. The poppers were a little too greasy for me, but I guess that's to be expected. Their signature house ketchup was SO GOOD though. I was dipping my leftover hotdog bun in the sauce because I liked it so much.

I would definitely recommend this place- the food was great, prices are reasonable and the guys that run and own the airstream are super friendly. They're in the Elizabeth Street Cafe Lot and open Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. and Saturday, 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. Closed Sunday, sorry all you brunch goers. Follow em on Twitter or Like them on Facebook if you're already a fan!

Leave a comment below of your favorite menu item or what you thought of the Maine Event! Or if you have any other seafood recommendations in Austin, please let me know, because this picky seafood lover would love a new place to try!

SXSW Food Truck Highlights

Three days of SXSW and I'm beat, but a sweet list of free concerts, free parties and free food spots is what's keeping me going (rough life I know). This has been one of the best weeks of my life and a big part of the experience has been surviving off all of the food trucks downtown. So, a big thank you to you guys for keeping me and the rest of SXSW fed!

Here're the highlights of where I've chowed:

mmmpanadas
THE Mashable food truck (mmmpanadas wrapped in the Mashable logo) was the first truck I spotted last week when I left from my last day of work before Spring Break. I snapped this pic from the balcony of Cohn & Wolfe.

The pic was later posted on the Mashable site as I was informed via Twitter. I didn't actually sample the mmmpanadas though, I'm going to have to catch them soon.


Yumé Burger at Foodspotting Street Food Fest
We braved the rain and stopped by the Foodspotting party Saturday with a wide assortment of trucks including, Surf n Turf Poboy, Yumeburger, Peached Tortilla, One Taco, Lucy's Fried Chicken and others.

Yumé Burger has been on my list for a while now, so naturally I got this bad boy:

The Original with the awesome jalapeno-onion relish and "pink sauce."

It wasn't on their SXSW menu, but I want to go back and try the Chicken Katsu: panko encrusted deep fried chicken, Asian slaw Tonkatsu sauce and Japanese pickles. It sounds so good.


Coolhaus
Can you say free ice cream sandwich!? Not before someone jumps on you and asks where they get their own. Thanks to a startup app, PayGo (for iPhone and Android), a visit to the bing lot and a quick download of the app, and I got a chocolate chip cookie with Nutella ice cream sandwich. FO FREE.

The cookie was tasty and soft, but the Nutella ice cream was a little much for me, I'd get traditional vanilla next time.

This tweet from Coolhaus actually drew me to the truck. #pandalove

Coreanos
The same app got me a free Coreanos taco--which I later was told was a bug in the app because I was supposed to only have a $5 credit-whoops. I made up for it with a second visit to Coreanos later in the week. Seasoned fries + korean bbq chicken taco make for great refuel food.

Sidenote: Coreanos was recently named the #1 food truck in Texas and the 8th best food truck in the nation by Smithsonian Magazine. So, if you haven't tried this food yet, get moving!

**UPDATED**

Chupacabra
I've never ventured inside Chupacabra Cantina off East 6th, but I did visit the Chupacabra stand after I danced my self starving at the Jay Z show Monday (see pics below!).

My order was a version of the Yucatan Pulled Pork Tacos, but on a hoagie roll. The slow smoked pork shoulder, jack cheese, jicama slaw and habanero-sour cream hit the late-night spot.


Squarespace - P. Terry's
Squarespace, a seamless site that allows users to build sophisticated websites for their company, blog or personal business, visited SXSW again this year, but stayed for the full 9 days. So the question I have for myself is, why the heck did I not make my way to their amazing free food truck everyday?

The line up included, The Peached Tortilla, Salt & Time, Three Little Pigs, Izzos Tacos, East Side King, Man Bites Dog, Foreign and Domestic, and others. Clearly, these guys did their research and pulled together some of the best food in Austin.

The first day I stopped by was for P. Terry's, a "local chain" if you will, serving up some of the best burgers in Austin. I was having a momentary bout of insanity and ordered two veggie burgers that I made into one large burger. This was to make myself think I was being 'healthier' than ordering the real beef, which I immediately regretted. My friends all raved about their 100% all natural black angus beef patties, so at least they were satisfied!


Squarespace - FRANKLIN BARBECUE
I had planned on visiting the highly praised Franklin Barbecue (that people have a cult-like devotion to) during Spring Break/SXSW because I thought I'd have the time to wait in the 2 hour long line, but that plan never panned out.

When we went back to Squarespace the second and final time around, I nearly started crying with joy when I found out we were in line for FREE FRANKLIN BARBECUE. Free. And with only a 20 minute wait.

The brisket slider with was my favorite. I probably could have had 12 of those little bites of heaven.

Other nommings
Easy Tiger
I also had the chance to pig out sample the Cooking Channel + Easy Tiger Bake Shop & Beer Garden party. The garlic sausage on a pretzel bun and the beer cheese were my favorites of the many, many things I tried.


Frank
I'm not sure if the 50 minute wait was worth it, but the Beer Soaked Brat from Frank was delish and held me over for the majority of St. Patty's Day. I also got two free coffees out of it because the bartender felt so bad about how long my two to-go hotdogs took.

And here are a few of my fave pics from the past week:

The Studio by HGTV

Jay Z at ACL Live

Gary Clark Jr.

fun.

fun.

Santigold

Mac Miller

Lil Jon

Steve Aoki

Chiddy Bang, Lil Jon, Steve Aoki

Rubblebucket

Sahara Smith

Whiskey Shivers

Bright Light Social Hour

Love Balls Bus

There's something about the East Side Drive-In that makes me want to try new food. The last three times I visited, I went for a specific cuisine and ended up getting something completely different, like when I went in for an egg sandwich and came out with chicken souvlaki. This time it was breakfast tacos for love balls.

Takoyaki with kewpie mayo, powdered seaweed, bonito flakes & "Japanese sauce"

Love Balls, is a food truck bus that brings Japanese street food to East Austin. Their specialty and namesake are the Love Balls. The sign outside the bus describes them as a savory fried pancake balls, but I think it's a slightly more comparable to the savoriness of a hushpuppy. A cornmeal-less hushpuppy sometimes filled with octopus.

I decided to try the Love Special, an order of eight Takoyaki and one large yaki-onigiri, for only $7 or $8.  I braved the Takoyaki at 11 a.m. because I knew it was the big menu item and I felt like it was just necessary that I try these crazy looking things, and the smell coming from the trailer was delicious. 


Another small part of my hankering to try this bus out was that Bizarre Food's host, Andrew Zimmern, visited the truck back in November. 

Photo source: @AndrewZimmern

You can read more here about the places around Austin he dubbed bizarre enough for his show. Still no word on when the show will air.


Back to our regularly scheduled programming, THE FOOD. 


So, what is Takoyaki? It's the savory pancake ball/hushpuppy filled with octopus ("Look the suction things are still on them!" my pizza-eating friend said in shock), pickled ginger and green onions. The octopus was tender and not too chewy- I'm curious where they import it from as I usually avoid any bargain priced seafood in central Texas. What really made the meal were the toppings: takoyaki sauce, kewpie mayo, aonori and bonito flakes. 


I'll admit I had a very small inkling of an idea what all of these things were, but after a little digging: Takoyaki sauce is similar to the ketchup-Worcestershire sauce you may be familiar with, but with sake and other Japanese spices added. Kewpie mayo is a popular mayonnaise in Japan and the only difference between it and regular mayo it's that it's a little creamier and made with rice vinegar. Aonori and bonito flakes is dried green seaweed and thin mackerel fillet. 


All together it is one of the most unique, yet tasty dishes I've ever tried.


The special also came with garlic yaki-onigiri aka rice balls grilled with garlic soy sauce (YES) and wrapped in seaweed. It looked like a weird rice sandwich. It was good, but I just ate the rice from the outside that had all of the garlic soy sauce-y goodness. 

Yaki-Onigiri

My friend tried the Caprese Love Balls which are good for vegetarians or someone looking for a slightly more familiar dish, but the cheese in combination with the deep fried batter got pretty heavy for me. The tomatoes were SO good though.

Caprese Love Balls with preserved tomatoes and kewpie mayo-basil pesto combo

I asked the chef how well the love balls would hold up in the fridge, but he didn't really recommend bringing them home. Not that they would go bad, he said, but that they'd get soggy and lose their distinct flavor. Of course I didn't want all of that octopus to go bad, so I just at the good stuff from the middle and tossed the last two fried shells (don't yell at me).


If you try out Love Balls, let me know which dish you try and what you think! I really want someone to try the Texas Takoyaki Roulette challenge. Your choice of the Takoyaki or The Veg. Seven balls are served, but one is filled with a "ghost pepper laced habanero." The 'winner' gets a free bottle of water. It sounds like sick joke challenge for the people working the truck on a slow day, but definitely something I'd love to witness.


Love Balls is located in the East Side Drive-In off East Sixth & San Marcos. Go try some balls!