It was a Sunday and we learned that most food carts and food pods aren't really open, but we wanted to try our luck...
SE 82nd is a really long street that is rife with ethnic eateries that reflect the immigrant population (Russian, Vietnamese, Chinese). It also has a lot of used car lots, strip clubs, and one establishment called, "Passionate Dreams" where you could get a "private show" from a lingerie model (wut?). So what if it's seedy...
Here's how it looked as we approached. I like the name of the cart, "Cake on a Hot Tin Roof"!
As expected, several of the carts were closed like the Blazin' Grill...
and the London Pasty Co (also recommended by KB). I was bummed since I wanted to try an English meat pie.
Our strategy was this...we'd get food from two or three different carts...This Thai place was open and that is what TC wanted.
Although she's pretty adventurous for her age, sometimes she just wants to stick with what's familiar. In this case, it was pad thai,
The cart was called "Anything Else? Asian Fusion"
We ended up just doing two carts. I spied this one, "Edna's". Upon closer inspection, I learned it was named after the owner's wife.
and when I saw that it was "Philippine" food, I knew I had to try it. Edna wasn't there today but her husband Alan was. For the record, Alan is not Filipino but Caucasian. Props to him for learning how to make and cook Filipino food!
Even though I can make this food myself, I wanted to give Edna's a shot. Gotta support the local economy here, right? Plus, it's Filipino food! I was listening to Alan talking to a couple ahead of me who never had Filipino food before. When I chimed it and told them that afritada and adobo were delicious, Alan seemed happy and then gave us some samples. I liked both but the the pork adobo was calling my name.
He was especially pleased that I liked his food and even told me that it meant a lot to him since I was "Filipino" (he'd asked my ethnicity earlier). He seemed to value my opinion. The couple ended up ordering the adobo and the afritada. The man was sold when he heard there was pork belly in that adobo.
As a snack, I also ordered three lumpias from Alan.
Our dinner - part one, ha ha.
TC's pad thai with Chicken. I thought this was rather bland. It was also pretty dry. Not very good in my opinion.
Here's that pork adobo, made with porkbelly. Sheeyit, the way my mom used to make it before she started cooking healthier way back when. I asked Alan what he put in his adobo because it had a different flavor to it...He admitted that he put basil! I think he may have put in dried basil since I couldn't detect the fresh basil leaves in here. He had the other ingredients down right - the vinegar, soy sauce, black peppercorns, and bay leaves. The basil was an interesting touch. I thought it was cool how he and his wife put their spin on this adobo. Served with white rice, this was a real filling meal.
Here's one of the long and crispy lumpias. The filling was pork with carrots. Hardly any filler. The wrapper was exquisitely thin and crunchy, shattering like glass with each delectable bite. Served with a vinegar and garlic sauce. I normally don't like my lumpia with vinegar, but this really hit the spot that evening.
Did I mention pork fat? Mmmm, you can see the bay leaf and black peppercorn fragments. Some people hate those, but I love 'em. Adds some flavor and heat!
We took our leftovers back with us. But...before going back to the hotel, we had to make another stop at yet ANOTHER food pod...
More on Cartlandia here:
"At Cartlandia - Food carts rush in where used car salesmen once reigned" (Mobile Food News)
Aaah, dammit! Fresh off the press, this is the first food pod to sell beer! We missed it by one month!
Gotta love the food scene here!
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