Category Archives: Seafood

February Trip to Key West & Scattered Denver Food Truck News

Wow, I have taken quite the break from blogging.  The winter is fairly sparse time to find food trucks in Denver.  That being said, I am quite impressed with the tenacity of many trucks in keeping active through the winter- I caught up to several but failed to review them.

Strengthens my non-profound belief that the liquor sales laws in Colorado are beneficial to food trucks — all these microbrewery tap rooms that lack kitchens, and a ready army of fine food trucks to show up for dinner and lunch service on weekends.  A wonderful symbiosis. I think this is one of the most fun things going on in Colorado (besides all that skiing, hiking, bicycling, dog owning, Subaru-rodding, and ugh that other thing…)

Recently in News

  • Street Food Phenoms is a new food truck team that’s popped up on Facebook for the new 2014 season.  Members include Pink Tank, Steuben’s, Street Eats 5280, Capt’n Crabby, N.Z.’s Smokin’ Guns BBQ, Hey PB&J, Denver Cupcake Truck, and Coaches Scoop. Some of these are old members of the Denver Food Truck Row.  Looking forward to seeing what these guys get up to and the events they will come up with.  Follow them @ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Street-Food-Phenoms/
  • Announcement, of which I agree generously, that the Civic Center EATS, every Tuesday and Thursday (with some exceptions) during the summers in Denver’s Civic Center Park, will run longer this year.  Look for a massive food truck gathering in the heart of downtown Denver this year from May 20th through October 9th. Awesome.
  • Speaking of the EATS, it was named one of the Top 10 “Foodie” spots in Denver.  A high honor considering all of the fine restaurants here.  I tend to agree due to the wide ranging collective menu, owner personalities, and the famous Denver sunshine at the EATS. Story is here: http://www.usatoday.com/story/experience/weekend/denver/2014/03/10/10-best-foodie-spots-denver/5897311/
  • I will try to post more updates! I promise.  Stay tuned.

Garbo’s Grill – Key West, Florida – February 18, 2014

About a month ago, I was fortunately able to escape from that extremely cold week in Denver and get out to Miami, Florida to visit my wife’s sister and my brother-in-law.  We snuck down to Key West for a night, and I couldn’t help but notice one of the top Yelp rated spots was a food cart!  And I couldn’t resist heading there. Lucky my wife indulges my interests.  In chowing food.

Garbo’s Grill is a now famous food cart spot for lunch in Key West.  It is highly regarded on Yelp, and there you can find many reviews. So many. http://www.yelp.com/biz/garbos-grill-key-west-2.  And look at that star rating. Wow.  Walking up to the cart, you can see other people have used their iPhone devices to look it up too (that’s what I did!). Big crowd, but quick service.  Only waited about 15 minutes.

Garbo's Grill food cart located in Key West, FL on Greene Street near the old marina, end of Greene Street

Garbo’s Grill food cart located in Key West, FL on Greene Street near the old marina, end of Greene Street

The menu features several options.  Burritos and Tacos come in Cayo Fish, Kogi Korean BBQ, and “Yum Yum” Shrimp varieties.  The fish and shrimp come in a quesadilla format as well, along with “KP’s” Jerk Chicken and Mango Brie.  Garbo’s also offers up hot dogs dressed up with various toppings such as bacon, jalapeno, onions, mango, Caribbean sauce, citrus soy dressing, carrot, srircacha.. well you get the idea.  They also have a burger on offer.  On pure seafood mode, we went for those options.  The quesadilla was sold out early, so we went for the tacos.  Caution: this place is busy.  Get there before the lunch crowd if you are in that area! We ordered some of the Cayo Fish and Yum Yum Shrimp tacos.

Garbo's Grill - Key West, Florida - February 18, 2014

During our short wait, we observed that these mobile food slingers were pulling raw, fresh fish from the cooler sitting out back of their cart and grilling it right there before throwing into the tacos and burritos.  I salivated.  We got our food, and, well here it is:

Cayo Fish Tacos - Fresh grilled Mahi Mahi, mango, cilantro, onion jalapeno, red cabbage, and house Caribbean sauce

Cayo Fish Tacos – Fresh grilled Mahi Mahi, mango, cilantro, onion jalapeno, red cabbage, and house Caribbean sauce

 

Yum Yum Shrimp Tacos - Shrimp Marinated in Mango, Habanero, and Ginger, topped with house Caribbean sauce

Yum Yum Shrimp Tacos – Shrimp Marinated in Mango, Habanero, and Ginger, topped with house Caribbean sauce

This was some great food. Read the yelp reviews for more “great and awesome” synonyms.  But really, we enjoyed this meal. It tasted fresh, nice flavors, a bit of spice from the jalapenos.  And a good value for fresh food like this – about $9-10 per tray.  There is a little shade just off to the side of the cart and a few seating options which were on high demand.  The cart also pipes out some groovy tunes. Hah, groovy tunes (lame writing, sorry).

Garbo’s is usually parked at 603 Greene St, Key West, FL 33040.  You can follow them at http://www.facebook.com/GarbosGrill

After eating these delicious street food offerings from Garbo’s Grill, we noticed a place across the street called Peppers of Key West.  My wife loves spicy foods, so I indulged her wishes and we crossed the street into what is literally a bar that offers a sampling course, customized to your wishes, of various hot sauces and marinades.  What a surprise– we had a lot of fun in this place.  I recommend it! The entry fee for the entertainment is you feel obligated to buy a bottle of hot sauce.  Not hard to pick one out given the selection. The worst part was our saucetender making fun of my profuse sweating. Ugh.

Peppers of Key West -- Greene, St. in Key West across the street from Garbo's Grill.

Peppers of Key West — Greene, St. in Key West across the street from Garbo’s Grill.

602 Greene Street, Key West, FL 33040

http://www.peppersofkeywest.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Peppers-Of-Key-West/

Not done yet! Right down the street at the corner is Kermit’s Key Lime Pie store… Perfect to cool your fiery lips, tongue, maybe prevent a heart attack…after the hot sauce explosion.  Key Lime pie slices are just a couple bucks and are a Key West must try if you are there.

Kermit's Key West Key Lime Shoppe is located just a half block down the street from Garbo's Grill.  If you still feel hungry after chowing fish tacos, this is a nice place to stop for a refreshing dessert.

Kermit’s Key West Key Lime Shoppe is located just a half block down the street from Garbo’s Grill. If you still feel hungry after chowing fish tacos, this is a nice place to stop for a refreshing dessert.

200 Elizabeth Street, Key West, Florida 33040

http://www.keylimeshop.com/

http://www.facebook.com/KeyLimeShop

Well, that’s about it. Looking forward to an amazing season of getting more fat eating food truck grubs at the EATS every week, and finding these trucks at the can’t miss food truck gatherings and brewery tap room events.  At the end, here are just two of my favorite photos from vacation in Florida.  Thanks for reading!!

Fairchild Tropical Garden - Coral Gables, FL

Fairchild Tropical Garden – Coral Gables, FL

A Bird. What kind? I can't remember. But it was awesome looking.

A Bird. What kind? I can’t remember. But it was awesome looking.

 

 

SNACK ATTACK — Food truck gathering, August 24, 2013

Went down to the Snack Attack food truck gathering in the Argonaut Liquor parking lot on East Colfax and Washington in Denver’s Capitol Hill on a warm but rain-threatened Saturday afternoon, August 24, 2013.  Heading down there just around 1:30PM, for a lunch time meal.  I came hungry, not having much breakfast.

Snack Attack - 8-24-13

https://www.facebook.com/SnackAttack2012

There were a handful of trucks here, along with live music and a beer tent in the middle pouring some beers. Capt’n Crabby, Hey PB&J, Barbed Wire Reef, Crazy Good Food, Little India Food Truck, The Panna Cotta Peddler, Crock Spot, and the Denver Bistro Bus were present and serving food.  There were several tables set up for eating, and a couple of promotional booths.

There were some chalk arts on the ground, including this one:

Snack Attack - 8-24-13 - Chalk Outline in Argonaut parking lot

After having witnessed a shooting about 5 blocks down on Colfax during lunch hour a few days before this, I thought this was a little bit crazy to have here!

But, back to the food trucks. I went for the Hey PB&J as my main course for the day.  I ordered The Barcelona after careful menu study and on the recommendation of the truck’s purveyors, who mentioned it was the staff fav.  The price: $7.25.

Hey PB&J Menu - Snack Attack - 8-24-13

After a quick wait, my meal emerged.

Homemade Almond Butter & Date Jam, Manchego [cheese], Applewood smoked bacon, & Carmelized Sherry Onion / Grilled

Homemade Almond Butter & Date Jam, Manchego [cheese], Applewood smoked bacon, & Carmelized Sherry Onion / Grilled

The Barcelona - Hey PB&J - Snack Attack - 8-24-13

This thing was pretty delicious –and rich.  It included some thick cut applewood bacon, which was a highlight of the sandwich.  Here is a picture of it

Closeup of Bacon - Hey PB&J - Snack Attack - 8-24-13

Not too bad! I thought this was a really interesting sandwich concept.  I have never been a huge peanut butter and jelly sandwich eater.  But this was nice with the almond butter and date jam, and the addition of cheese and bacon.  The toasting of the sandwich was perfect.

As I plowed through eating this thing, I finished the first half feeling really satisfied.  By the time I got to the second half, the sandwich started to feel really rich and more dessert like as I went on.  Not being the biggest connoisseur of sweets, the heaviness of the almond butter, greasy bread, and sweet jam weighed on my ability to enjoyably finish the sandwich.  Glad for a bottle of water, I finished eating The Barcelona.

My verdict on the Barcelona — wow, amazingly interesting sandwich and a lot different than what you’ll find in many food trucks.  I think if one is a big fan of peanut butter and jelly, and you enjoy bacon, this is basically a can’t miss.  If you are a more casual fan of pb&j, this is something I would recommend splitting with someone, especially if there are other trucks around to sample from.  One of the nice things about food trucks is, when they gather, you can put together a multiple course menu by sampling and splitting items.  I will return to Hey PB&J to try their other offerings, but the richness of The Barcelona means I will probably try to find someone to share this and something else more savory with.   In terms of value and eatability– as easy to eat as any sandwich, and the price is low at just over $7.

Hey PB&J - Snack Attack - 8-24-13

https://www.facebook.com/heypbandj

Remaining strangely hungry after the sweetness of Hey PB&J, I chugged a bottle of water and went looking for a smaller savory treat for balance. Oh look, its Capt’n Crabby!

Capt'n Crabby - Snack Attack - 8-24-13

I head over to visit the Capt’n and ordered up a  petite Authentic Maryland Crab Cake Sandwich.  Capt’n Crabby offered a limited menu for Snack Attack, seen below:

Capt'n Crabby Menu - Snack Attack - 8-24-13

The crab cake is made from blue crab out of Maryland, and is formed and pan cooked in the truck before being loaded onto a toasted sandwich roll with old bay aioli, lettuce, and tomato. It is served with a side of Lays smothered in old bay seasoning.

Petite Crab Cake Sandwich - Capt'n Crabby - Snack Attack - 8-24-13

This looks bigger in the picture than it is– its about the size of a slider, maybe a touch larger. At $6, you get what seems to me a good value.  The cost of fresh crab is not cheap (go look at your local grocery story if you don’t believe me), and while you won’t necessarily fill up for your $6, you are getting freaking fresh crab out of a truck in Denver!  This is a fine crab cake sandwich and the sauce was tangy and tasty.  While warm throughout, this crab cake was not particularly crisped up.  I think this is because its mostly made out of fresh crab meat, instead of a bunch of bread fillers that would toast up. Delicious.

I am still waiting for Capt’n Crabby to come back with his Royale crab salad sandwich.  Come on buddy, make it happen.

https://www.facebook.com/captncrabby

Finally, I was filling full (remember, I didn’t eat breakfast! That’s my excuse this time for eating so much….yep)  Yet, my Snack Attack experience was not yet done.  The Panna Cotta Peddler was also there.  I love the name of this pedal powered bike-trailer based Italian dessert server.  Having seen the Peddler around town for a long time, it was long time to give it a try.  I ordered the Lemon Rosemary kind for $4. Free samples are offered of the flavors.  I didn’t grab a photo of the menu.

The Panna Cotta Peddler - Snack Attack - 8-24-13

The Panna Cotta comes in attractive packaging with a tiny little spoon. Wikipedia let this uninformed (uncultered) foodie know that panna cotta (from Italian cooked cream) is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set.

This is not a huge amount of panna cotta from the Peddler,and it was fairly light and refreshing.  Basically a chilled pudding, the flavors of the lemon rosemary were mostly faint, but noticeable, and did not overwhelm.  I found it an interesting alternative to the common cupcake truck or ice cream trucks that are ever present.

The Panna Cotta Peddler - Snack Attack - 8-24-13

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Panna-Cotta-Peddler/

 

 

East Coast Joe’s – August 15, 2013 at Lone Tree Brewing Company

East Coast Joe's - Lone Tree Brewing - 8-15-13

Following attending Civic Center EATS on this Thursday, I got home and checked in Facebook and noticed that East Coast Joe’s was going to be over at Lone Tree Brewing Company.  Decided that a lobster roll and a peach wheat beer sounded kind of good out on the patio on a Colorado evening.   I convinced my wife to head down there with me to sample some of the offerings of East Coast Joe’s.  I really like the styling of this truck.  It stands out.  Here is a look at the menu, which is rife with delicious options.

Great menu

Great menu

I decided to go with the Lobster Roll, of course.  This baby clocks in at $15 and just comes by itself on a tray.  It states on the menu that it is to come on a New England Style Hot Dog bun, which is the way lobster rolls are served in Maine and such (see below)

Blurry Bread Close-up - Lobster Roll - East Coast Joe's - Lone Tree Brewing - 8-15-13

The Lobster Roll comes on a thick New England bun, roughly resembling mix between a regular dog roll and a thick slice of bread that was toasted, buttered, and folded. The roll was quite tasty (mmm.. butter).  Based on my Googly research, this appears to be the legit way to serve this (http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/food-dining/2013/07/02/top-loading-buns-typical-new-england-for-lobster-and-clams/QiEC0fUGxJl2MwNizjYxdL/story.html)

Lobster Roll - East Coast Joe's - Lone Tree Brewing - 8-15-13

But here it is. Look at that thing… you are probably salivating on your keyboard.  Joe’s does not skimp on the lobster.  And it is amazing.  I am not really big lobster eater– I will usually get a nice steak (we do live in proximately to ranch land).  The last time I got a lobster roll was at Steuben’s restaurant, and it was $22 and had less meat that what Joe’s served up (different setting obviously– and it had sides and table service).  But this thing was just plain good eating.  Joe’s lobster is not heavy on the mayo, and has plenty of claw meat – which is wonderful.  It is the type of meal that you savor each bite slowly, due to its luxury and its flavor, which is one of my favorite kind of meals.  A lot of food truck meals are the type of thing you are scarfing down — a slice of pizza, a hamburger with all kinds of toppings, a sandwich… but with something like this, it is natural to really take your time to enjoy it. It’s like how one would appreciate the quality of gala dinner audio visual equipment, enhancing the experience and making every moment special.

I paired the Lobster Roll with the seasonal Peach Wheat from Lone Tree Brewing Company. This is a nice light summer beer, which complimented the lobster and the patio setting.   I really like this brewery, which has been improved by the recent addition of a large outdoor seating area.

East Coast Joe's - Crab Melt - Lone Tree Brewing Peach Wheat - 8-15-13

One thing about the lobster roll, is that it is not huge and it may not cover your dinner needs entirely (maybe the lobster roll would be complimented by some fancy chips or fries as a built-in side or a cheap add on). Fortunately, the truck was still there… So I ordered up the Crab Melt to split with my wife– a $12 sandwich consisting of hand picked jumbo lump crab and 3 cheeses on sourdough bread.  Here’s what it looks like– it came with a big ear of fried cheese jutting out of the side (mmmm):

Look at that ear of fried cheese hanging off this delectable crab filled grilled cheese sammie

Look at that tantalizing fried cheese hanging off this delectable crab filled grilled cheese sammie (pictured at bottom).  Here is a look at the cross section of the Crab Melt.   Sorry, I am not much of a hand model. I’ll get a manicure next time.  (Just kidding).

Cross section of Crab Melt - Lone Tree Brewing Company - 8-15-13

This was another tasty treat… the cheeses (not sure what kind or type of cheeses these were.. probably a strong cheddar and maybe jack) were pretty strong flavored. It was a perfect grilled cheese sandwich– stuffed with crab.  I thought the crab was nice where it was thick and you could take a focused bite into it to get a mouthful of crab.  In the event it was subsumed by the strong cheeses, the crab added mostly texture and a hint of crab flavor.  Not sure how this could be improved (maybe add less cheese, or a weaker cheese). The sourdough bread was nice on this.

Crab Melt - 8/15/2013 --- close up of sandwich internals

Crab Melt – 8/15/2013 — close up of sandwich internals

I would order both the Lobster Roll and the Crab Melt again– but I think if you had to choose, go with the Lobster Roll.  The Crab Melt is a good follow up if you are still hungry  to split with a fellow diner at dinner time.

https://www.facebook.com/eastcoastjoes

http://www.eastcoastjoes.com

https://www.facebook.com/LoneTreeBrewingCo

http://www.lonetreebrewingco.com