A year into working at Seaport and I’m already looking for new lunch inspiration. The food trucks are back at Dewey Square, and also at Rowes Wharf Plaza (unsure if this is new or not), so care to share any updated experiences on the food trucks you’ve visited? It doesn’t have to be in Boston since they do wander. I imagine most will be clustered in the city or Cambridge, but if there is a worthy food truck elsewhere that deserves a shout out, would like to know about them too.
I’ll start: Bibim Box at Rowes Wharf yesterday - ordered spicy pork bulgogi bibimbop with gochujang sauce.
Decent heat on the gochujang sauce! Portion size was filling for $13.99 (pre-tax). Pork was a bit dry, and the fried egg on top could have been more runny, but not a bad lunch box. Service was quick.
Looks like a few trucks swap spots and the line up varies by day, so a handy way to check out who’s there at the Dewey Sq/Rowes Wharf sites:
At Dewey Square I’ve enjoyed the oxtail and the goat from Jamaica Mi Hungry (used to be Mondays, but Thursdays now, I believe, which no longer fits my schedule). The dumplings from Moyzilla are decent, as is the coconut lamb curry from Indulge India (Wednesdays). There’s only the faintest hint of coconut in the curry, and it’s not very complex, but the lamb has been nicely tender the two times I’ve had it.
The Jamaica Mi Hungry truck was at the Rowes Wharf plaza today, which is just a few minutes away from Dewey Sq. My friend and I are going to Dewey Square tomorrow, so we’ll check tomorrow’s crop of food trucks.
Today, I tried Bees and Thank You at Rowes Wharf. “The Fire” grilled cheese and I added a slice of tomato. 9.00 for a grilled cheese! That’s quite a mark up for a regular sandwich bread sized grilled cheese. With that being said it was nicely grilled and the cheese was pretty good. I wanted the spice, but wish they had a better option than buffalo cheddar cheese. They add honey to their grilled cheese and I think I like it. It’s not overwhelming, but just a hint of sweetness in the cheese.
One thing I will note - on their menu board they show some of the sandwiches with bacon on them, but apparently they do not come with bacon. You can add on for +$2. Not a deal breaker, but it confused several people while ordering.
Oh how I wish I could contribute to this thread. I haven’t gone to an office since pre-pandemic but when I did (Central, Kendall, and DTX), lunch was the sole reason for being. Happily following along @kobuta!
PS I love how you skirted controversy by adding “GBA” to the post title.
Gogi on the Block simple menu of grilled protein on either rice or a salad base. I opted for the spicy chicken (+2 for spicy chicken) on top of the regular rice base with a spicy sauce. They consistently have long lines, which is what deterred me from trying them at other times. But the line actually moved quickly. They ran out of spicy chicken, so they had to make a fresh batch which added about 5-7 minutes of wait time, but getting the freshly cooked chicken was worth the wait. Really enjoyed the bowl and was quite filling with the rice base. Would definitely go back.
And as a not a real review… tried to hit Zaaki, which offers an Egyptian street food/Mediterranean street food menu. They only had a subset of their menu available - namely the schwarma and falafel offerings that day - and not the koshari which is what I really wanted. I don’t know if they rotate their menu, or may have just pared down their menu permanently. I was thwarted though because they literally took the order of the guy before me and then shut me and everyone else off. I assume they had some issue going on with the equipment, because it took a good 5-10 minutes for them to even acknowledge the folks waiting to order. I’ll give them another shot one of these days.
Adding another review from Tuesday – Hometown Poke, the traveling truck with a main restaurant in RI (Hometown Cafe and Poke Bar). It was a beautiful, warm sunny day and poke sounded good. They have 6 options on their menu, 1 of which has cooked chicken and another being entirely vegetarian (didn’t catch if it was vegan).
Ordered the Hometown Classic, which is a mix of tuna and salmon, on a bed of rice, with a ‘classic’ dressing (tasted soy based), with seaweed salad, some fried wonton strips, sesame, crab and furikake. I opted for a scoop of avocado (mashed) on top for + 1.50. The poke was very tasty - as with all foods these days, would have liked a slightly larger portion – but it was fresh and well seasoned. I generally find fried wonton strips or chips to be a throwaway to make things sound more Asian, but in this case they did add a nice crunch and didn’t get soggy with the dressing.
The Dewey Square Monday truck offerings have dwindled to two, in principle: Tandoor & Curry on Wheels, and Smoke. I say in principle, because I’ve yet to see them. Two Mondays a few weeks ago were rainy and I attributed their non-appearance to that, but today was a warm, sunny day, yet neither was in sight at 1:45 pm.
Weather is warming up so food trucks are trucking back in (ducks).
New to Dewey Sq - Butter “UR” Biscuit truck. They have a restaurant in Beverly, MA described as Latinx Soul food.
Menu today was chicken empanadas, fried plantains, “Winner Winner”, rice bowl, chicken and waffles, and brioche sandwich. Rice bowl and brioche sandwich was a pick your protein option wtih grilled chicken, fried chicken or pulled pork.
Went with the Winner Winner - 2 fried chicken tenders, side of fries, and a biscuit. I really wanted to try their biscuits. Normally wary of fried anything to go, especially a 16 min walk to the office, but surprisingly the coating stayed crispy! Kudos to the team! Was a little dry, but still very tasty. Comes with a good aioli sauce.
Edit: Biscuit review! Nice butter taste, with a hint of salt. Smaller than I thought (and would have liked). A bit overbaked, and therefore not as tender and flaky.
I ordered two chicken empanadas for home, so the verdict on those will come (and hopefully they reheat ok). All entrees were $15, and the empanadas were 2 for $10. Side plantains were $6.
Hope that’s true. The Monday schedule at Dewey Sq has Tandoor & Curry on Wheels, Zaaki, and Bibim Box on the schedule, but this past Monday only Bibim Box was there.
I think today’s sunny weather helped a lot. Lots of people out, and the crowds were good for a lot of the trucks. The rainy gray skies probably meant less custsomers, so maybe some skipped.
Chicken empanadas from them were a bit drier than I’m used to. Decent spices though. To be fair, could be because I reheated them at home, so maybe they’re different when eaten shortly after being prepared.
We had sunny weather the last two Mondays (4/14 and 4/21). Two trucks of three showed on 4/14 (no T&C – see above), and only Bibim Box on 4/21.
A lot is related to whether downtown business has bounced back. Train travel certainly has. Amtrak trains have been more packed in recent months than I can remember in 30 years and prices sky-high. But travelers seem willing to pay triple for crap on the train than normal outside.
[I didn’t actually try any of the truck food. I only looked. What did I eat on the train, you ask, all aflutter with concern? On 4/14 I ate slices of Mamaleh’s gefilte fish loaf, with slivered red onion, on some excellent Hi-Rise bread. On 4/21 I had very good fried sticky-rice from Great Taste, and their so-so congee.]
Good intel. I agree that while many offices have issued some return to office mandates, I’m not sure that this has brought everyone back into the city at the same times. I’m still hybrid, and I only come in Tues-Thursdays. A lot of that is also based on when people tend to come into the office, and those 3 days are the busiest. This coincides with what I experience on the subway - trains are more crowded those 3 days too. When I have made a rare visit to the office on a Monday or Friday, it’s soo quiet on the trains.
I see that Jamaica Mi Hungry is on the Friday rotation, and I still haven’t had a chance to try them yet. Wish they would pick one of the more popular days.
