Food Truck Brigade, Irvine

It's been awhile, but I have a good excuse. School is crazzzy! Anyways, today was a wonderful day! Sunny, breezy, and easy. My roommate and I decided to head down to the Foodtruck Brigade on Teller near the intersection of Teller and Michelson off of Jamboree in Irvine. We got lost because I didn't make a left off Teller and ended up going towards the airport. Probably should have double checked the directions, but OH well. There were maybe 9 food trucks there and a LOT of people, mostly the business lunch crowd and some college students. My roommate and I tried out 3 of the trucks.

The first truck we stopped at was called Ranchan Ramen. Since it was so hot and sunny, we didn't really want ramen and decided to opt for the Shrimp Ball Yakitori which was $2 for one stick. WHAT A RIP OFF! It literally was a shrimp fish ball from 99 ranch or any asian market, put on a stick, and dumped on a grill. A pack of 10 shrimp balls costs $2 and they only put 3 on a stick! It tasted just as boring as it sounds.

The second truck we had was called Rancho A Go Go Barbeque. I ordered the Carolina Pulled Pork Sliders ($5) and my roommate ordered the BBQ Beef Sliders ($6). The truck advertised the pork was slow cooked for something like 12 hours, and indeed the pulled pork was sooo soft and tasty. It melted in my mouth... (that's what she said). The sauce was really sweet, just how I like it. 

The last truck we ate from was called The Lime Truck. I was between the Carnitas Fries ($7) and the Ultimate Taco ($3 each) but I ended up going for the Ultimate Taco (cue fire explosions and lightning bolts). I also got the Crispy Gnocchi with kale and Spicy Parmesan Sauce ($7). The guys at The Lime Truck are the BEST! First, my total was $10.87 so I handed the guy $11 but he gave back my dollar because he didn't want to deal with change. CHA-CHING! Then the guy manning the pick-up window gave my gnocchi to some other lady by accident. So he decided to give me 2 free Ultimate Tacos for his mistake and my waiting time. CHA-CHING CHA-CHING. So basically I paid $10 for food that should have cost $17!! The guy kept apologizing because he felt bad. A+ for service!
The tacos were the first thing I ate. They had a slight kick because there were peppers in the pulled pork and the slaw had a bit of paprika. I don't normally enjoy spicy foods, but this had the perfect amount of spice. YUM. I had a bit of the gnocchi but I saved the rest for dinner tonight. The gnocchi was so cheesy, garlic-y, and yummy. My boyfriend, George, would have loved it.

I didn't realize how many food trucks are based out of Orange County. Tonight at the Irvine Lanes there will be another food truck gathering. Then tomorrow in some business technology center there will be yet another food truck gathering.

There's a party in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy...

Where's Rigo?

Living in hipster city a.k.a. Los Angeles, George and I see some odd people. One odd person that we both love and adore is George's brother, Rigo. Lately there seems to be an increase in beard growing and mustaches. They've become trendy. This brings me back to Rigo. He has a large bushy beard and since more and more people are growing beards, George and I run into Rigo look-a-likes everywhere!!! So we've decided to start taking pictures of Rigo look-a-likes in honor of Rigo.

This photo was taken on 3/4/2011. My MacPro adapter died so I had to go into the Apple Store to exchange it for a new one. Thank goodness I paid for the AppleCare Protection Plan, otherwise I'd have had to fork over 79 clams + tax. Anyways, this guy was working the floor at the Apple Store. On a side note: How easy would it be to be an Apple Store salesperson or genius for Halloween?

More Where's Rigo pictures to come!

Worst Soda Ever...ever..ever...ever..er!

I was strolling through the aisles of my local Ralph's with George on Sunday when we came across this soda that was up for sale. 45 cents a bottle! Now I've tried some questionable sodas, but this by far is the worst one ever! I've had Cel-Ray, different asian sodas, and variations of cream soda among others.
My first issue with this soda is that it is called CHUBBY soda. Who call's their soda CHUBBY? On top of that, as if the name wasn't horrific enough, there's a graphic of a short and chubby boy under the word CHUBBY. Why would anyone want to buy a soda that advertises itself as being chubby and will probably make you chubby with 130 calories and 32 g of sugar per bottle. The name of the flavors was hilarious as well. I picked up purple power! Something a Powerpuff girl would say.

Another product I don't recommend is Tio Pepe's frozen churros. I microwaved them in the crisp wrap but it was disgusting. More stale than crispy with a weird cinnamon taste. Do not buy these! However, I do recommend Tina's frozen bean and cheese burrito. Pretty moist tortilla for being frozen. It's easy to make too! 40 seconds on each side right in the microwave!

On a side note, Itunes is offering the official Dwight Schrute music video for free! It is Schrute-tastic!

Saturday night, my boyfriend, George, and I got our Chinese chow-down on at Tasty Garden. We started our dinner with taro milkshakes. A bit too sweet for my taste, and I LOVE sweets. It came with a tasty roll/cracker thing though.

Then I ordered crunchy walnut shrimp...my favorite! However, at Tasty Garden they deep fry the shrimp in batter before tossing it in the tangy mayo sauce. Yummmmmy!

George ordered beef lo mein with the lo mein fried on both sides so that it's crunchy. The sauce was delicious and a lot thicker than the ones served at other chinese restaurants. Other restaurants tend to make the sauce runny, which I hate since I like the sauce to coat the noodles.

Anniversary

Yesterday my boyfriend and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary and Valentine's Day. He got me an AWESOME gift, which I can utilize for my blog, and took me to King's Fish House in Downtown Long Beach. My boyfriend hates seafood so we always go to King's Fish House on my birthday and our anniversary. Then on his birthday we go to a steak house.

For apps, I ordered a crunchy lobster roll. It had asparagus, imitation crab, lobster, and cucumber in it. Then it was topped with panko and a sweet eel sauce. I devoured it which is why I have no pictures of it. 

I've written about my craving for lobster before, and I finally got one last night! I ordered a 1.25 lb. steamed Maine lobster with a baked potato and macaroni and cheese as my "sidekicks". The lobster was very yummy. I've found that Maine lobsters aren't going to be as good as if I'm actually eating it in Maine, but this lobster was delicious for California. I ripped that lobster apart like it was the last one in the world. Mmmmm. Lobster smothered in butter. I believe it is the perfect pairing. I gave my mac n cheese to my boyfriend but I did eat my baked potato. It was really soft, almost as if they cooked the potato outside of the skins and dumped it in. However, I still had to scrape the potato off the skin and it had that soft texture. How do you mess up a baked potato??

My boyfriend, the non-seafood eater, ordered a medium well top sirloin. He doused it in A1 sauce, which I dislike, but I did get a taste of a non-sauced piece. It melted in my mouth. It had the perfect char and was cooked to perfection. My boyfriend went into a state of euphoria.