Sunday, June 10th, marked the first Food Truck Festival of 2012. I, along with what seemed to be about half of Greater Boston's population, had been highly anticipating this event.
Held at UMass Boston, over 30 different trucks were there and prepped to serve a limited menu to some very hungry people.
The set up is quite smart, everyone gets a little, red booklet with a number corresponding to each Food Truck stop - only one portion is allowed at each stop.
Although this helped reduce the number of repeat customers, by about 1 o'clock, the lines were so long leading to each truck, that they all came and met in the middle of the field. They were also not moving - it seemed that Truck staff could not get their items out fast enough to keep the lines moving.
The immobile lines combined with the baking hot sun made it impossible for my friends and I to get to more than three trucks. This being said, what we did have was truly delicious. Jerk chicken and fried plantains from Irie Bites was authentic, smoky and sweet - it had all the complexities of the traditional Jamaican dish.
It was so disappointing to have to admit defeat...and to leave hungry!
Luckily however, we were not far from Local 149, one of my personal favorite restaurants. It is quirky, local and fun - all three things that helped make us feel better about bailing on the Food Trucks. With chalk available at all the tables, our youngest companion took the opportunity to visually represent his feelings...mind you, there is no better way to arrive at Local 149 than 1000 percent hungry:)
We ordered a round of milkshakes right away. I got their ginger milkshake, it was DELICIOUS: fresh ginger root infused in a creamy frappe so thick you almost wanted to ask for a bigger straw...except then it would disappear faster...
We ordered a few other things including their Hog wings, mini pork shanks smothered in Hoisin BBQ sauce and their charcuterie platter, a daily spread of house-cured meats, local cheeses and house pickled veggies.
It was just what we needed to reboot after battling the sun and the lines at UMass.
Although our trek ended with great success, I am still sorry I missed out on all the great things coming out of those Food trucks. Hopefully, the trucks will figure out a better way to expedite items for upcoming festivals - either that or I would highly recommend the VIP tickets which get you in 1 hr early.
No comments:
Post a Comment