Tabor - SW 5th and Stark - Schnitzelwich!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls of both sexes - I proudly present to you, the Schnitzelwich.
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The name of this cart is "Tabor - Authentic Czech Cuisine" - but everyone knows it as the Schnitzelwich cart.

Their signature sandwich is HUGE, and absolutely amazing. I've pictured it, partially eaten, next to a Diet Coke can for size reference.

You can get it 'traditional' with breaded pork, or with chicken. It comes on a toasted ciabatta bun, with lettuce, horseradish, and a paprika spread.

Positive reviews for this sandwich and cart date back to 2006, this is one of Portland's most successful food carts... having been featured in local magazines, national reviews, placing in top 10 lists of America's best food carts -- you know, little things like that.

Aside from the spectacular Schnitzelwich, they feature daily soups, spaetzel, goulash, potato pancakes, muenster cheese sanwiches, sausages, and more.

If you have limited time to try out food carts, this is a "Must See" while in town.

I am very much a fan of this sandwich, the crispy schnitzel, the horseradish, the crisp lettuce - all of it combines to make a dangerously tasty meal that's hard to put down, despite being enormous*.

* Today, I noticed they've now started offering "half" Schnitzelwiches for $5, and for many people - this will be more than enough meal.

BBQ Pork with Rice and Kimchi - A Taste of Korea - SW 3rd and Stark

It's a very rainy day today, and I didn't want to travel far, yet I also wanted to try a cart I've not been to. There is a Korean cart, "A Taste of Korea" - conveniently located in the pod on SW 3rd between Stark and Washington.

All their dishes are displayed with full color photographs, which is helpful, but can also leave you standing there drooling on yourself for a good ten minutes before placing your order.

Spicy BBQ Pork for me today, please. Looks delicious.
Within 5 minutes, I was handed an extremely heavy container of rice, BBQ pork, noodles, and Kimchi (or gimchi, kimchee, or kim chee, depending on who you talk to) - plus a small salad with dressing.

$6, and definitely enough food for two meals.

Spicy, flavorful, delicious - all of it. If it weren't for the fact that there was SO much food, I'd have been upset that I ran out of Kimchi so quickly, as this was the best I've had, ever... cleverly hidden in a small condiment cup alongside the other items. Mmm. I even poured the remaining 'juices' over my noodles to keep the flavor train running.

I'm impressed. Good stuff, good prices, friendly service... and another cart I can say "wow, I can't believe I didn't try this out sooner..."

Green Curry with Duck and Avocado - Bangkok Duck and Chicken - SW 10th & Alder

I went for a walk today at lunch, up to the cart pods on SW 9th and 10th off of Alder. This is by far the most populous encampment of Portland food carts, and is home to some of the most successful of the bunch.

Imagine my surprise when I came across Bangkok Duck and Chicken.
If you have duck on the menu, I'm interested. This stopped me dead in my tracks as I looked over the menu of what appears to be a fairly standard Thai/Curry setup -- only, with duck. - Curry *and* duck... and this dish, #6 on the menu, the Green Curry with Duck and Avocado. No need to look any further, folks. This was where I was getting lunch today.

Served with a VERY generous portion of rice, the curry and other ingredients were placed in a separate container. Definitely enough for two meals.

While waiting on the food, I chatted with the owner a bit, who didn't hesitate to tell me this was the best curry around. I asked how long he'd been there, and, much to my surprise -- the answer was "two years" - and that he had, in fact, changed the appearance of the cart a tad recently.

At least 100 times, I must have walked right by this cart and never noticed. I reviewed the cart right next to it as one of my first posts to this blog. Yet, here I was, waiting on my food from what I thought was a relatively new cart... WITH DUCK. How could I have missed it?

My love affair with duck has only occurred over the last year or two -- before then, I'd never had it, to my knowledge. Now, if there's duck on the menu, I'll often order it, as I'm enjoying all the duck dishes.

This curry is no exception - this is AWESOME. The curry is, indeed, delicious - and may be one of the best curries in Portland, as the owner claims. A *lot* of duck meat, alongside crisp bell peppers, avocado chunks, and cashews. As much as I want to eat the whole thing, this is really enough food for two and there's no way I will finish it all at the moment, despite that urge that good spicy Thai food gives me to just keep shoveling it in until there's nothing left.

Bangkok Duck and Chicken, SW 10th and Alder.

Chicken Burrito with Spicy Chipotle sauce - The Burrito Box, SW 3rd and Washington

The Burrito Box is a bright yellow cart on the corner of SW 3rd and Washington. I've been there a few times, and enjoyed the food, yet hadn't been back since I started this blog.
(To be fair, this cart opens at 11:30 most days, and by then, I've already retrieved my lunch)

I was in search of the Wild West, which is their buffalo burrito. [Fantastic, by the way] - Unfortunately, their menu is somewhat rotational and this was not the day for buffalo. Not to worry, though, the mix of ingredients available at this cart give you some tasty non-traditional burrito options.

One clear point about The Burrito Box - This is *not* a Mexican food cart.

The owner/operator, Cameron, uses fresh local ingredients (which is a common theme here, of course) - throws your tortilla on the grill and whips up tasty burritos with mixtures of chicken, pork, tofu, red quinoa, hummus, rice, collard greens, pinto or black beans, etc. (and sometimes, buffalo!)

The portions are generous and the flavors are rich. You can also order a quesadilla, or soft tacos, if you've got a smaller appetite.

So, I had the chicken with spicy Chipotle sauce, and it was filling, delicious, and spicy enough to break a sweat. Perfect.

Skewed Concoctions on SW 3rd and Stark - Pork Satay

For today's adventure, I thought I'd try out Skewed Concoctions, which opened up in the spot of a former Thai cart on SW 3rd between Stark and Washington. I've seen it a few times while scouting out lunch, but nothing had jumped out at when casually strolling past...

I took a closer look at the menu this time -- They actually have a lot of offerings, for a variety of tastes. Chicken, Beef, and Pork Satay... Wings... Teriyaki -- all on sticks. (Those who prefer no sticks in their meat, they will kindly remove them after cooking if you'd like) - Pad Thai (veggie, even)- Papaya salad. Something for everybody.

You can order skewers of meat a la carte, or in a meal. I ordered the Pork Satay meal.

It was served with rice, a small cup of chopped up apples, cucumber, and onions, and what I thought was cole slaw - turns out it's served hot, and has broccoli in it. This was an unexpected and pleasant surprise. Very tasty, and perfect on a day like today where we had snow in the early morning and heavy rain following.

The eggroll was delicious - one of the more flavorful ones I've had (and there are plenty of eggrolls to be had from Portland food carts) - I didn't need to dip it in anything.

Same goes for the Pork Satay - it was wonderful all by itself, great flavor - then, I added the peanut sauce (of course) -- it had a very subtle smokey flavor to it that stood out - in fact, I almost want to guess there may be some coffee involved in its creation. HIGHLY recommended.

I kept eating rice just to add the peanut sauce, until it was all gone. Wow, that was good.

Try this place out. :D

El Cubo de Cuba

Today is "Occupy Portland" day, and I wanted to avoid any potential crowds that might be gathering and headed out shortly after 11. We'd been warned, at work, to be careful of protestors, hide our building entry badges, etc. "For our safety" - Wasn't this supposed to be a peaceful protest?

The carts were just slightly less busy than usual, and I was drawn to lively Cuban music coming from El Cubo de Cuba, located on SW 5th between Oak and Stark. They have another location on SW 10th between Washington and Alder, as well - which was their original location.... there are a few carts starting to appear with multiple locations around town.

This is the cart that turned me on to "Tostones," savory twice-fried green plantains. I was so impressed with these, I insisted we try making them at home later... leading us on a journey to figure out where in Portland to get green plantains. Seems most grocery stores only carry them occasionally. Ours were alright, but not as good as the ones served up from this cart.

The cart offers 'cubes' - boxes of your choice of marinated chicken breast or marinated shredded pork, black beans, rice, and your choice of sweet or savory plantains. I do like sweet plantains(Maduros), but now that I've had their Tostones, they're certainly the preferred style. Sweet potato fries are also an option. Sandwiches are offered, as well - though I've not tried those, as I tend to enjoy the boxes with the plantains - excellent to dip into your food with. I can never finish the whole thing.

I ordered the pork, and they served it up pretty quickly - then came back to my office and proceeded to practically inhale the Tostones, topping them with the delicious, tender, lime-tinged pork until they were all gone. I managed to get a few bites of beans and rice in before having to admit defeat.

The protesters are gathering along the waterfront, apparently they're hanging out down there for two and a half hours before intentionally taking to the streets on the way to Pioneer Courthouse Square, along the transit mall, to disrupt in order to make a statement about corporate greed and taxes... or something.

Hopefully this will bring some unexpected business to the carts that sit along that stretch.

Portland's own Eurotrash food cart....

Today, I strolled up to the carts on SW 9th and 10th, and wandered around both pods fully before deciding to try "Eurotrash" - Right on the corner of SW Washington and 10th Ave.

The spot, and maybe even the cart itself, were once home to "Hot Wet Beef," a cart I never stopped to try, as their business model was based on a pet peeve of mine, namely "Your sandwich should not dissolve in the au jous."

This cart's food is much different. The menu definitely stands out as unique, including "fishy fries," a serving of breaded, fried anchovies.... a prawn baguette, curried squid sandwich, and even a bacon-egg-waffle dish.

I chose the "Piri Piri Chicken" - loaded with mild horseradish coleslaw, jack cheese, and capers. It was served with a fork. I figured it was to eat the enormous amount of coleslaw on top of the sandwich, which did take me a few minutes to consume... then as I reached the more 'sandwich' portion of the dish, I realized -- this thing was not going to be consumed in typical sandwich fashion - it had to be eaten with a fork.

It was quite tasty - the coleslaw was very crunchy and fresh. The chicken and cheese melted goodness complimented the horshradish-tinged sauce from the slaw quite nicely. It was a messy dish, but I was given my fork and a set of about 5 napkins - which were necessary.

Today was what will probably be one of the last of the 'nice days' before Portland enters its fall and winter season and six months of rain, so I thought I'd stop in at the park that is to the Northeast of the cart pods, and have my meal there. (O'Bryant Square)

The park has seen a bit of an improvement due to food pod customers, but - I'd recommend sticking to the SW and SE corners in order to avoid the street cretins, who still seem to claim the NE corner of this particular park -- engaging in the standard random yelling at nobody in particular, getting into arguments, throwing things (one particular individual repeatedly came back and picked up, then threw back down, a backpack, apparently not getting the results he desired) - Either way, it would be nice if that element would disappear... everyone knows what they're up to, despite them seeming to think they're being inconspicuous grown men loitering in a park on BMX bikes and ducking behind trees in pairs for long enough to exchange some cash and tinfoil.

... but I digress, this is supposed to be a blog about food, food carts, etc.

Eurotrash was a good experience, and now that I've had some time to look over their menu more extensively, I will be interested to try some of their other offerings -- though I'm not so sure about the 'fishy fries.'

Friday is Thai-Day! Gin Northern Thai.

Today, I felt the urge for Thai food. It's become one of my favorite types of cuisine since I moved to the Pacific Northwest. There are MANY places for Thai food in Portland, brick-and-mortar restaurants and carts alike. You're guaranteed to find at least one, if not four, Thai carts in any reasonably sized cart pod in Portland.

The one that stands out to me the most, and in my humble opinion, hands-down, the BEST Thai food I've had in Portland is from Gin Thai, a cart on SW 3rd between Stark and Washington. ("Gin" means 'eat,' and is pronounced with the 'g' more like the word "go" instead of a 'j' sound)

Their menu is not the standard fare you'll find at most Thai carts, as the Northern Thai style they offer differs in many ways. They have many noodle based dishes, as well as stir-fry options. The meat they use is much more tender than you get in most places, and the vegetables and seasonings are incredible. One particular dish, Shan Noodle, is unlike anything I've ever had from a Thai place before - typically I avoid noodle based Thai food, but every single time they've recommended one and I've tried it, it's been amazing.

When you ask for it "HOT" - you better mean it. They don't screw around. Within 1-2 bites of a "hot" dish from Gin Thai, expect tears to be rolling down your face and sweat forming on your brow. Just like I like it... and my current state writing this blog entry.

The people who run the cart are very friendly, and love to talk about their offerings and give you suggestions if you let them know your tastes... the almost intimidatingly pretty Amika, and the exceptionally skilled chef, Nok - They greet me by name when I show up at their window, another reason I love coming back here outside of the outstanding food and service.

Today, I had the spicy cashew stir fry with chicken.... certainly not the most exciting offering on their menu, but... cashews sounded really good today. They use carrots, onions, bell and jalapeno peppers, crushed red pepper flakes - and the sauce is phenomenal.

**Highly Recommended! If you like Thai food, this is a must-visit cart.