Sweet on the B Sweet Dessert Food Truck

As a Filipina Food Blogger, I'm all about supporting Filipino-Owned Food Businesses. So when I got an invitation to visit the Filipino-Owned B Sweet Mobile Food Truck, I was happy to stop by.  Before I talk about the truck, let me introduce you to the Owner, Barb Batiste.

Barb has actually been in the food business for a number of years.  Past stints included working along side the Executive Pastry Chef at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel as well as being the head pastry chef for an LA Art Gallery. But, while she enjoyed making high end pastries and desserts, her real love was all about making homemade desserts the old-fashioned way.

That love was so prevalent that she even started a side business selling her own Chocolate Chip Banana Bread to local cafes, which got rave reviews. Eventually, Barb opened her own catering company and just recently, the B Sweet Mobile Food Truck.

Since the Chocolate Banana Bread was what started it all, I definitely wanted to try that.  I ended up taking a loaf home so that I could have a taste.  To be honest, I'm not much of a "sweet" bread kind of person, but I can see why this was a good jumpstart to her business.  It was moist and it tasted like fresh bananas were used in this recipe.

Other than the chocolate banana bread, you can take a peek at other items they carry below.  Those items are the standard menu items; however, there will also be special dessert items. Every night, there will be a "hot" dessert option like a cobbler or bread pudding. Their selection of specialty cupcakes will also change flavors nightly.
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B Sweet actually put together a selection of items for me to take home which included a Vegan Carrot Cupcake, Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes, an Angel Baby Cupcake (Vanilla Bean), Red Devil Cupcakes (Red Velvet) and Red Velvet Cake Pops. To those of you who are vegan, there will always be one vegan dessert option for you to choose from.  I was only able to try the Red Devil and the Chocolate Ganache Cupcake since everything else and the banana bread were pounced upon by my family and some visiting friends.

I've never been much of a red velvet fan, but I did like how moist the cupcake was; however, I totally fell in love with the Chocolate Ganache Cupcake, which is one of their specialty cupcakes.  The frosting was like a creamy pudding which I thought was awesome and the cupcake itself was moist and made my "chocolate" tooth happy.

Also on the truck was their Cupcake Bar. There's three steps to the Cupcake Bar.  1) Choose your cupcake.  2) Choose your frosting.  3)  Choose your toppings.

The one thing that my 7 year old grand-niece really loved about the truck was that Cupcake Bar. The packaging was such that the toppings were separate, which gives you the chance to add as much or as little as you wanted.  I actually picked one up for my 6 year old niece as well and both their cupcakes became mini art projects, which they were quite happy to devour once it was decorated to their taste.

When it comes to beverages, you have your choice of picking from the Milk Bar, Tea Bar and Soda Bar.  The Milk Bar will offer drinks like soy milk, chocolate milk, regular milk, Yoo-Hoo, etc.  If you're into tea, there will be 8 hot teas to pick from.  Finally, there's the Soda Bar, which will contain unique sodas like the ones I tried below.

Overall,  I'm happy to support the B Sweet Mobile Food Truck. However, I would have loved to see one or two Filipino-inspired desserts.  It's a missed opportunity to introduce a food from our culture.  When I asked about that possibility, I was told that bibingka may make it on the menu, so that's definitely something to look forward to.

ADDENDUM:  After some tweeting with B Sweet, it looks like there will be Filipino-inspired desserts and/or desserts using Filipino ingredients that will soon show up as specials! :)

B Sweet Mobile Food Truck
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B Sweet Catering
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First Look: The Go Chew Food Truck

With the plethora of food trucks in the Los Angeles area, it's very difficult to keep track of who's coming and going and which truck is new and which truck has said its last good-bye. To be honest, while I used to be an avid food truck follower, these days, I'm back to being a more sit down restaurant kind of gal. So when an email dropped in my in box with the subject header "culinary adventure with a not so ordinary food truck", it didn't interest me at first, but then I actually read it and it did get my attention.

The email was from Food Truck Owner/Chef Charles Slonaker and what I found intriguing was his culinary background.  For the last few years, he's been traveling around the world cooking at different fine dining establishments including stints at Noma in Copenhagen and Commerc 24 in Barcelona as well restaurants in the states like Nobu 57 in NYC, Valentino in Las Vegas, and Joule in Seattle.  That's a pretty impressive resume, but what threw me off a bit was in Charles' email, he included a menu that seemed very Asian and in fact, Korean-influenced.  Considering his cooking background and his last name, I was curious as where this Asian influence came from, so I decided to check Go Chew out.

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Imagine my surprise when I showed up with a friend and it turned out that Charles is actually Korean. He was adopted by non-Korean parents and in fact, his proud mom was there taking pictures.  She's the one who told us that Charles took it upon himself when he got older to live in Korea for a year to learn the language, to learn Korean cooking and just in general, to get in touch with his cultural background. How awesome is that! As for the food truck name, "Go Chew" actually refers to the word, "gochu", which is Korean for chili pepper and Go Chew's food focus is on rice bowls and sides.

Now that you've learned a little more about Charles and Go Chew, let's talk about the food, starting with their Fried Chicken Bowl which had a jidori leg and thigh, green onion salsa, pickled daikon, egg yolk and rice. First, the chicken was fried just right with both a crispy skin and tender, moist chicken meat. I liked the tartness of the daikon and the poached egg was a wonderful touch.  However, I did have an issue with the rice, which was too mushy and when mixed with the egg yolk, it got even mushier.  So that's something that needs to be fixed.

Next we tried the Rice Cake Bowl with rice cakes, chili sauce, egg, pork, bean sprouts and sesame seeds. Hands down, this was my favorite.  I think the rice cakes were slightly fried, so there was a crispness to their surface that I liked.  Also, the chili sauce was so nicely balanced.  It was spicy, but not burn your tastebuds spicy and overall, simply delicious.  Everything just mixed together so well that every bite was a pleasure for my palate.

Another dish that I really enjoyed was Go Chew's Fried Cauliflower with fried garlic and Chinese chives. Cauliflower on its own is quite bland, but this bowl of veggies was a hit.  I have complained about dishes in the past that were supposed to have garlic but didn't taste garlicky enough; however, no complaint here. There was garlic love all the way.

Next to last was the Shorty Bowl with short rib, black bean and oyster glaze, shitake mushroom, kimchi, egg and rice.  I have to admit that I expected a bit more from this bowl.  The overall flavor was good and this rice bowl has potential, but the rice again was a big issue.  In fact, it had gotten even mushier since we had the Fried Chicken Bowl earlier.  As for the short rib, it was nice and tender, but dry.

Last, but not least was the Spicy Soup with a pork and chicken broth, tofu, kimchi, egg and shredded pork. The broth was absolutely wonderful.  It was initially light and clean; yet, it had a nice spicy kick to it.  When the poached egg was broken into and mixed into the soup, then it had an added richness which was really tasty.

Overall, except for a few things that could be fixed very easily, I thought the food coming from the Go Chew truck was really delicious. In fact, it's been awhile since I've enjoyed food from a food truck as much as I did that afternoon.  I only have one minor critique.  Simply, I would have liked to see more variety in terms of the dishes.  Specifically, I'd love to see food with inspiration coming from some of the restaurants that Charles has worked at. Maybe, that's what's coming next.

Go Chew Food Truck
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Tasting with The Manila Machine Food Truck

When the food truck explosion started getting bigger and bigger, the one thing that I kept looking for was a Filipino Food Truck. Where or where was my dream mobile truck that would be dispensing tasty dishes of chicken adobo and beef tapa? Finally, it happened. The Manila Machine Food Truck was born and owned and operated by none other than two fellow food bloggers, Marvin Gapultos of Burnt Lumpia and Nastassia Johnson of Let Me Eat Cake. So as soon as I could, I set up a tasting for my dining group, Pleasure Palate, where my members would get to try 8 items from their menu, which became 9 with a surprise coming from Nastassia.

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Our Filipino food odyssey started with Tapsilog, which was sweet calamansi beef served with garlic-fried rice and a fried egg. Before I talk about this dish, here's a little bit of information. When it comes to Filipino Breakfast, it's all about the silog. Basically, a silog is a combination of garlic-fried rice ("sinangag"), and fried egg ("itlog") plus your choice of a sweet or salty meat, all on one plate. The names of the breakfast dishes themselves are determined by which protein you pick for your silog plate. The Tapsilog is so named because Tap represents Tapa, which are fried slices of marinated beef.

Basically, we started our tasting with breakfast which actually seemed appropriate. As for this Tapsilog, I would have liked a little more garlic with my rice, but other than that, this dish was a perfect starter. I liked the sour citrusy notes of the beef that came from the calamansi juice it was marinated in and a perfect Filipino breakfast isn't the same without breaking the egg and mixing the rice with the yolk and a splash of banana ketchup, which I did after I took my photo.

Our second course and third dish was Chicken Adobo served with Lumpia (Filipino eggroll). The lumpia was nice and crispy and was tasty after being dipped in the sweet and sour sauce, but one thing I'd recommend is to have little containers of vinegar and garlic. That's actually my dipping sauce of choice when it comes to lumpia.

When it comes to Chicken Adobo, there are so many different ways to cook it and every Filipino mother will say that their version is the best. Basic ingredients for an adobo dish include vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaf, and black pepper, but how much or how little of each ingredient can vary from cook to cook. The Manila Machine's Chicken Adobo was pretty good and it hit the right flavor notes of what adobo should taste like. In fact, I always judge a good adobo by whether or not I want to pour the sabao (sabao refers to the liquids leftover from a dish after it's been stewed or sauteed) over my rice and eat it that way and yes, this was a good adobo.

Next up was the Longganisa Slider, which is sweet pork and garlic sausage topped with caramelized onions, arugula, and mango jam on a pan de sal roll. I totally have to give props to The Manila Machine. When I eat pan de sal, it's usually toasted with butter and sometimes a sprinkle of sugar. Perhaps, it's been done as a sandwich before, but it never even crossed my mind, except to eat it the way I grew up eating it.

I enjoyed how the flavors of all the ingredients went together, especially the addition of the arugula which added some lovely peppery notes to the slider. One minor thing is that I would cut back just a little on the mango jam because its sweetness was a tad overwhelming. I wasn't able to taste the garlic from the sausage as much as I had wanted.

It's been a lot of meaty goodness so far, but for a surprise, we were also treated to ice cream bars with flavors like mango and halo halo. Halo Halo, for those of you don't know, means mix mix in Tagalog and refers to a Filipino shaved ice dessert with milk, jellies, sweetened beans and fruits. I went for the halo halo ice cream bar and it was a nice cool treat.

Ok, ice cream bar break over and now it's time for Sisig, which is spicy calamansi-marinated pork cheeks, onions, and chicharon and is served over steamed jasmine rice. I thought the addition of the chicharon added a nice salty, crunch component that I really enjoyed and it went well with the softer texture of the meat. The only thing I thought was missing was the heat. When I read that something is spicy, I expect it to be spicy and the sisig wasn't quite there.

Next up was the Spam Slider. I love Spam. Growing up as a kid, I've had spam either for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Most of the time, it's just cut in slices and fried and other times, it's coated in egg batter and fried. Even today, I still eat Spam, so I was quite happy to see a Spam Slider on The Manila Machine menu.

I do have to say that when I fry Spam, I prefer it thinly cut, so the spam for this slider was a little too thick for my taste and coupled with an over easy egg, it was a little difficult to eat as is. Here's my tip. Take the egg off the slider. Break the yolk, mix a little more banana ketchup in that yolk and dip the sandwich into it before taking a bite. Repeat. When there's no more yolk, slide the egg back into your sandwich and finish it of from there. It worked for me. I'm sure it'll work for you, too.

As our last savory dish, we got to try the Carabao Wings. As of that tasting, we were the first to try this dish. I'm not sure if it's part of the regular menu yet, but it should be. The Carabao Wings are basically fried chicken wings with a sweet and spicy adobo glaze. It's a recipe that Marvin first posted on his blog in January of this year. Click here to get the recipe. This was one of my favorite dishes of our tasting. If I wasn't already so full, I would have snatched the tray from Marvin's hands and gobbled them up all by myself. As it was, I managed to enjoy at least a couple of wings before dessert.

For dessert, we had both the Ube Cupcakes, which are made from purple yam and Turon, which is a banana and jackfruit fried eggroll topped with a caramel sauce. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the Ube Cupcake, but you can see what it looks like on Nastassia's blog by clicking here and you can even see her recipe for it by clicking here. I thought the Ube Cupcake was moist, tasty and the coconut frosting rocked.

As for the Turon, I liked it, but it's different from what I've had before. I could be wrong, but it didn't seem like any brown and/or white sugar was sprinkled on the bananas or jackfruit before it was wrapped in the eggroll wrapper. The sweetness of this dessert then comes primarily from the caramel sauce that's drizzled over it.

What I love about the turon I've enjoyed in the past is because of that sugar that is added to the fruit. As the turon eggroll is fried, there's a delicious caramelization that permeates through to the surface of the wrapper itself. You get a "burnt sugar" taste that's similar to when the surface of a creme brulee is torched. However, my group went gaga over the caramel sauce for this version of turon, so on its own, it's still a tasty dessert.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable tasting event. Nastassia's and Marvin's enthusiasm for Filipino food and their truck was quite palpable and I just love the idea that more and more people can be introduced to a cuisine that is still very much unknown and under-appreciated. The Manila Machine is a great way to be introduced to Filipino food and hopefully, from there, people will seek out Filipino restaurants and get even more exposure to what our cuisine is all about.

Since then, two other Filipino food trucks have come on board, but The Manila Machine will always be known as the first Filipino Food Truck in LA and the first to open the doors for other Filipino Food Trucks that are now part of the Los Angeles Food Truck landscape. Salamat to Marvin and Nastassia!

The Manila Machine Website
Follow The Manila Machine on Twitter
Join The Manila Machine Facebook Page

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Tasting with Frysmith Food Truck

Last month, I set up a tasting with the Frysmith Food Truck for my dining group and we got to sample 6 items from their menu. Before we get into the food itself, let's talk a little about the family and it truly is a family behind Frysmith. Frysmith is the brain child of Eric Cho, a native Angeleno who having exposed his palate to the diverse ethnic dining scene, used to dream up of how those flavors could be translated as french fry toppings; hence, the birth of Frysmith.

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Along with what's currently on the menu, he'll also dream up specials to ensure that there's always variety for Frysmith customers. With his wife, Brooke, who came aboard to handle the business side of things, to bake delectable cookies as well being the head driver and his father, Ed, who maintains the truck and ensures that they never run out of canola oil, this family really knows how to get things done in the fry world.

One thing that I also like to point out about this truck is while they do sell canned sodas, they also have bottled craft sodas available. I'm not sure if these sodas change every week but for our tasting event, I enjoyed sips from both a Squamsco Sarsaparilla and an Original China Cola made with Chinese Herbs. I tend to think that bottled soda actually tastes better than the canned version and smaller distributors usually have more interesting flavored sodas anyway.

Ok, now let's start with our tasting. First off, we had the Chili Cheese, which is regular fries topped with Angus all-beef chili made with beer and chocolate along with cheddar cheese and onion. At my first bite, I already knew this was a good start. No, it was a great start. This is the first time I've had beer and chocolate chili and the flavors were amazing. I could easily eat that chili in a bowl by itself and pronounce myself a very happy woman.

Our next sample were off menu Poutine fries, which were basically fries topped with Ballard family farms cheese curds and smothered in a porcini gravy. That gravy was rich and I could really taste those mushrooms. Even though this was just the second dish we tried, it was already my favorite. The combination of the semi-soft curds, the crispy fries and that gravy was a perfect example of fry heaven.

Third up were the Rajas, which were fries topped with fire-roasted poblano chiles, caramelized onions, marinated Angus skirt steak and Jack cheese. I enjoyed the smokiness of the poblano chilies and how the steak had a nice little char to the meat's surface.

What came our way next was their Kimchi fries with Kurobuta pork belly, onions and cheddar. Cheese and kimchi would seem an odd coupling, but it works and when you add the pork belly, you have a triad of spicy, cheesy, meaty goodness.

Only two more french fry creations left and the next item was the second off menu item of our tasting. The fries came with calamari, burrata, shredded basil (I think) topped with a ponzu dressing. I think our group was the first ever to try this dish. Unfortunately, this wasn't a hit for me. I did like the tartness of the ponzu dressing, but the burrata didn't really melt and part of the joy of cheese and fries is having the cheese be at least a little gooey. As for the calamari with the long tentacles, I felt like I was eating seafood spaghetti. I think calamari rings may have been a better option. Regardless, while I liked the components separately, I didn't care much for them together.

Last, but not least, was the SweetPo, which was free-range chicken in tomatillo-tamarind sauce over sweet potato fries and topped with mixed nuts. I was actually already getting full by this point, so I just had a little of the SweetPo. Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling this dish either. The sweetness of the potatoes pairing with the slightly tart/sour tomatillo-tamarind sauce was a disconnect for me. It didn't quite jive; however, I'd like to replace the sweet potato fries with just regular fries and I have feeling that I'd like it much better.

Our tasting included dessert, so everyone got 3 different cookies baked by Brooke. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos but they were: Green Tea Cranberry (green tea cookies with cranberries and white chocolate chunks, Oatmeal Cranberry (dark chocolate, cranberries and pecan) and Apricot Curry (apricots, almonds, white chocolate and a touch of curry). My favorite were the Apricot Curry cookies. The curry just added a different flavor nuance and ensured that the white chocolate wouldn't be too sweet. I wish I had a cookie jar full of them right now, but then, they probably wouldn't last long.

Overall, this was a great sampling of menu items from the Frysmith Food Truck. I really loved the crispy fries. Soggy fries are a no-no for me. The various toppings were delicious and while a couple of them wouldn't be considered faves of mine, they were at least interesting and unique. So the next time you see the Frysmith Truck parked close to you, be sure to check them out for some of the best gourmet fries in LA.

Frysmith Website
Follow Frysmith on Twitter
Follow Frysmith on Facebook

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Tasting with Mandoline Grill Food Truck

Last March, while standing in line to check out the Dim Sum Truck, I struck up a conversation with Mong Skillman, Owner of the Mandoline Grill Food Truck. New on the scene, her truck had only been around for a few weeks at the time. We had a really nice conversation and in the midst of it, I asked if she'd be willing to do a tasting for my dining group. It took only a few emails and we were set a month later.

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So on a gray Sunday, we met for what was going to be a delicious event. It started with Mong telling us a little bit about her inspiration. First and foremost, all the recipes for the food are based on family recipes, many of which are used at her Mom's Vietnamese restaurant in Honolulu, Hawaii. She also talked about how she got her start interning and training with Mama's Hot Tamales and the Dosa Truck and eventually serving her food at the patio of the Verdugo Bar. In regards to her menu, Mong also mentioned that she's very supportive of the vegan community and that shows in that she offers vegan bread and vegan "fish" sauce as options.

After Mong's intro, we went straight into our tasting which started with Chả Giò which were vegan crispy spring rolls served w/herbs, lettuce wrap and traditional Vietnamese dipping sauce. We were instructed to wrap the spring rolls and the herbs with the lettuce leaf and enjoy it that way. I've never done that before and I have to say that there's something about eating something fresh with something fried that was appealing. As for the spring roll itself, I really liked that it was crispy and not oily.

From the crispy spring rolls, we had the Chicken Curry with a Baguette. This was my first time having Vietnamese curry. I've never seen it at any Vietnamese restaurant I've been to, but maybe, I need to check more out. This curry was more on the sweet side with chunks of sweet potatoes and just a hint of heat. The addition of the bread to soak in that curry was genius. I liked this curry, but would have preferred it to be spicier than it was, but there were also members of my group who thought it was just perfect the way it was. Maybe, there should be both a non-spicy and a spicy version on the menu? I'd definitely go for the curry with the kick.

The next three items on our tasting menu were their banh mi sandwiches. Before I talk about each individual sandwich, I have to tell you that the bread was superb. The bread was golden, crusty and not soft and sweet, which I've experienced before. I thought the toppings were fresh and crunchy, although I would have liked them to be a bit more vinegary, but that's just my preference. First up was their Grilled Beef Banh Mi Sandwich, which was generous when it came to the beef itself. The beef had a good flavor to it. I couldn't quite identify the seasoning used, but I enjoyed every bite.

Our second banh mi was the Grilled Pork. The quality of the pork meat itself was good, but I thought it needed more flavor, perhaps a stronger marinade? It would also have tasted even better if there was more of a char to it. I had asked Mong about the pork and she had mentioned that the griddle available in the truck doesn't allow for much charring and that normally, she doubles the marinade for the pork to ensure that it absorbs the seasonings better. Perhaps, this just wasn't one of the better batches.

The third banh mi we tried was the vegan Lemongrass Tofu. I liked the fact that the tofu was fried, which gave it more of a firmness than if it was served otherwise. The tofu had a nice light refreshing taste to it with a hint of ginger. I actually liked it the best of the three banh mi sandwiches we tried, which says a lot, since I don't eat tofu on a regular basis.

To end our meal, we had the Grilled Pork Bún which is rice noodles served with traditional Vietnamese dipping sauce. I was actually getting full at this point, but I went ahead and poured the sauce in, mixed it up and took a couple of bites. If I hadn't had so much food already, I would have finished the whole thing. I enjoyed the fresh crunch of the vegetables and the chew of the noodles. This would be a perfect light lunch on its own.

Overall, I really enjoyed the Mandoline Grill's food. Everything tasted fresh and I appreciated how Mong cooked and/or prepared everything to order. The general consensus of all the food truck diners in attendance was that Mandoline Grill is a truck worth chasing and even better for me, they tend to stay in the Eastside part of town, which means I don't have to go too far if I want to get another Lemongrass Tofu Banh Mi.

Mandoline Grill Website
Mandoline Grill on Twitter
Mandoline Grill on Facebook

Check out Pleasure Palate's Two Upcoming Food Truck Tastings Below:

04/25 - Southern BBQ Dinner with Qzilla BBQ Truck
05/02 - Dim Sum Tasting with Dim Sum Truck

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