The Bombay food truck

The Bombay food junkies truck is awesome and it is as simple as that.  What you have here, is a food truck, not filled with young men cooking on the line, but some older Indian women, working love into the food they sell.  Everything is home made or at least made from scratch and while the truck is entirely meat free, it can make a carnivore seriously consider becoming a vegetarian.

The food is amazing and when I had ordered, the woman asked me if I wanted a little spicy or a lot of spicy.  I said "a lot of spicy".  Most of the time, the spiciness contributes to the overall flavor, when in moderation.  When my brother-in-law orders his pad Thai at our favorite Thai restaurant, The Thai House, and orders spicy level 50, I don't see how it could possible improve the flavors, or if his numb tongue can even distinguish flavors at that point.  But, at this truck, the spicy levels are there just to add a hotter context to the food along with additional flavorings.  Spicy food was perfect and the items were had ordered were perfect as well.  Meaning: that I have ordered and or tried at least 2/3rds of their menu and have liked every bit of it.  I highly suggest finding them and ordering some food of your own after looking at these pictures:

Find them and eat their food for a 4 out of 5 stars experience.
https://www.facebook.com/BombayFoodJunkies

And..............I'm back

A lot has happened in this past month so far and attempting to find time to even get on here and type things up, is becoming difficult.  I have good news and bad news.  The good news, is that my other hobby, which is playing around with making jewelry, has apparently gotten some people to like it enough that I have items for sale at the Club Tattoo location in Las Vegas.  I did sell things in the St. Louis Curio Shoppe in downtown St. Louis, but the store in Las Vegas means that my items can be sold for more and I will get a lot more people to view my work.  I do know, that this site doesn't pay me at all, so at least the jewelry helps.

Now, as if designing and choosing 30 items, packing them up and shipping them to Las Vegas from the St. Louis area in 3 days wasn't close enough, try keeping the food writing going on while doing that.  So, I think the first thing that I have to spring back is a new energy drink flavor.  I am slightly addicted to energy drinks so when I see a new one, that isn't full of High Fructose Corn Syrup, I'll buy it and try it.  This is one such instance.  Also, since I have had a mojito in my life and have a friend from Cuba, I thought it would be fitting.

So what does it taste like?  Is it good?  No.  It tastes like the regular Monster fruity flavor with a strong fake lime flavor and it has something else.  I know what they were trying for, making a refreshing lime flavored Monster drink, but in the end, don't make new flavors if they are not good.

Now, while wandering the streets of St. Louis, particularly around the Hospital area, I saw a food truck.  It was one called Sarah's Cake Stop and the truck sold pre-made cupcakes, cakes and cookies.  You know, having a truck drive around, selling sweet sugary things from the side of it sounds like a really good idea. This company makes everything in their main location and then packs it up for moving and selling.  I felt hungry so I got a quick cupcake, of each kind they had.

So, the one in the upper right corner was a gluten free one, a flourless chocolate cake, which tasted fine to me.  What I liked about each and every one of these, is that the icing was more of a whipped cream icing.  It was light, fluffy and wasn't laden with this heavy-ness like regular powdered sugar and water can provide.  They were very moist as well.  The flavors were very spot on as there was a carrot cake one and a red devil cake and vanilla/maple flavored and so forth.   Even though I do make cupcakes at home from time to time, I wasn't filled with this feeling of "oh I can do that", which sometimes permeates my mind when looking at other people's versions of baked goods, but I can say that everything tasted really good for what it was supposed to be.  This isn't like another cupcake company in the area whose cupcakes are just not that tasty, because Sarah's Cake Stop isn't all about hype but instead about the flavor.  A lot of some of the best of St. Louis didn't make it to a television show or didn't pay to run giant ads and articles in periodicals.  A lot of the best of this city, is hidden and you have to brush aside the hype and the junk to see it.  This truck, and more importantly the people of the company, make very good cupcakes and for their price, I am happy.  I would give their cupcakes a 4 out of 5 stars, for being very good and if you see them on the street, you should take a stop and try them out.

The Hot Aztec downtown...

I know, I got your attention didn't I?  I'm sorry, there is no hot Aztec girl downtown.  (Or hot Aztec guy, if that is your angle.)  The Hot Aztec is a food truck, the OTHER taco truck or Mexican food truck downtown.  This one is difficult to miss as it is painted a pink and purple motif.  This truck can easily be seen driving anywhere downtown; possible even through the thickest of winter fog.

I really don't and won't argue and compare and contrast this Mexican food truck with the other Mexican food truck I checked out last week.  I think that should be something for you to see for yourself.  All I can do is tell you about my experience and what the food was like here.

The Hot Aztec is a family owned and operated food truck serving family recipes that are Mexican street food items.  Hot Aztec uses only organic or local ingredients, if they can get them.  Also, the food items are also biodegradable.  I did like how the Hot Aztec people set up a sandwich board, and used that to show some explanations of what some traditional Mexican ingredients are.  If you are going to order a taco and it has something called "Cotija cheese", you can see the definition and then understand what it is and whether or not you want it.  Pretty good idea.

Now, after looking at the menu items, I made a decision.  I picked the al pastor.  This dish, is just the same name as one I ordered in a Mexican restaurant in the Lake of the Ozarks.  The dish is supposed to be a baked chicken, perfectly seasoned and served with some grilled onions and pineapple.  This is what I received for $4.

It was a taco, made on two corn tortillas, and with little cubes of juicy, perfectly cooked and seasoned chicken, with some chopped onions, grilled pineapple and cilantro.  It was good.  It was just as I remember it supposed to have tasted and was right on the money.  Everything was cooked fine and I had no issue with it and it was an easy 3 out of 5 stars for me.

Unfortunately, this is all I had a chance of trying.  They have more menu items and serve items for breakfast as well so I will have to come back and try more.  The only issue I have with them, is that they say that they serve "authentic Mexican street food" on their Facebook page and yet on the showmefoodtrucks.com page, they say that they serve "gourmet Mexican cuisine!".  Then they suggest that you will not find the "beans and rice Mexican food...", which is sad because I tend to enjoy the beans and rice more-so than the proteins.  Still, I suggest checking the Hot Aztec out because from what I can tell, they do change their menu from time to time.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hot-Aztec/294502627247572

Mexican style

Until today, I was a food truck virgin.  I knew that there has been a huge number of food trucks stalking the workers of St. Louis for a few years now and there is even one street dedicated to the food trucks serving people downtown.  What I never did, was experience them. I don't work anywhere near downtown, so when these food trucks are out and about, it is impossible for me to leave work and track them down to get a bite.  Yesterday, I had a rare opportunity to spend some time in downtown St. Louis from about 9am to 1:30pm., which was a perfect chance to check some of these out.  I always wanted to try a food truck and my thought was that every chance I get, I will try one out and talk about it.  I tried two out this morning but will only focus on one of them.

While relaxing and taking pictures for fun in the City Garden, I saw the Taco Truck.  The Taco Truck is owned by Tomas Pedro and serves what I think is authentic Mexican food.  It is not your Taco Bell tacos being served here, but real Mexican food that tastes fresh and delicious.

It was my first time there and I just wanted to try the food, so I ordered the Mexican Tacos with steak and within minutes I was handed a large container with 3 tasty tacos, some fresh limes and some fresh pico de gallo.  I had what I thought was a good amount, for $7.00 even.

Without mentioning other taco locations or other Mexican restaurants, it is important to note that some places sell tacos this same size and weight for about $3 each.  This would make the meal from Taco Truck equivalent to a $9 meal at other spots.  So, the amount of food for the amount of money was a good deal. Now, the pico de gallo was good and tasty.  Everything tasted like it should, so the vegetables were fresh and crunchy and you could tell that it didn't come from a can.  The steak was juicy, tender and well seasoned. The onions were perfectly browned and tender and yummy.  The tortillas were warmed up and everything was easy to eat with little to no food falling out while munching on these.  Oh yeah, you have to try their hot sauce and a good squirt of fresh lime juice on them.  The lime juice picks up a citrus side of the cilantro and the whole thing explodes with happiness in your mouth. This was good, and furthermore: it was really good.

You can find Tomas Pedro and his Taco Truck, Monday through Friday on Market Street downtown.  While there are other places to get Mexican food downtown, I seriously would recommend skipping them and doing all of your business at the Taco Truck.

Now, you can find out what is happening or where the Taco Truck is by checking their Twitter: https://twitter.com/tacotruckstl

And don't forget to visit their facebook page for more information and photos:
http://www.facebook.com/tacotruckstl