Eat Real, Not Fake!!!

It's been ages since I last posted cuz I started culinary school in July and have been so busy ever since! All excuses aside, I'm making up for my literary absence with a post about the awesomest Street food festival that's going on this weekend at Jack London Square in Oakland: Eat Real Festival.

Here's a play by play of all the food carts we sampled today:

Cart #1 Sweetface Bakery


What we ate: Chocolate cupcake with Caramel frosting & pecans


Rating: YUMMY. The cupcake was very moist but the frosting was a little too sweet for my taste. Overall a very good cupcake.

Cart#2 Chaac-Mool, Yucatan cuisine


What we ate: Yucatan braised pork taco and Vegetable tamale in banana leaf


Rating: YUMMY. The pork was extremely tender and had great flavor. The tamale was very light but lacked the "umph" factor.

Cart #3 Poleng Lounge


What we ate: Tonkatsu ramen with sliced pork belly


Rating: NOT YUMMY. I am a ramen addict (and I'm talking about authentic ramen, not the kind you get out of a package with instant soup MSG crap). This bowl of ramen was so disappointing for me. The broth lacked flavor - couldn't taste the pork and needed salt. The noodles were mushy and did not have the usual bite that proper ramen should have. The only saving grace for this dish was the pork belly which was very tender and flavorful.

Cart #4 The Pie Truck (is this not the cutest logo???)


What we ate: Steak and gruyere pie


Rating: SUPER YUMMY. OMG, this was sooooooooooooooo good. The meat was so tender and flavorful. There was a little veg that added a hint of sweetness. The gruyere was not overpowering. The crust was super flaky and buttery. I could eat 100's of these. Gimme more!!!! Definitely the best item I consumed the whole day, hands down.

Cart #5 5 e 5: Dario Barbone


What we ate: Farinata (chickpea pancake)


Rating: YUMMY. I wanted to try this because Farinata is the Italian version of Socca (refer to my "Adventures in France" post for my ravings on this French/Nice delicacy). It did not disappoint - the flavor was excellent. My only complaint was that while the top was very crispy, the bottom of the pancake was soggy, which was not the case for the Socca I had in France. But given that they were using a portable oven, they did a nice job.

Cart #6 Creme Brulee man


What we ate: Lavender creme brulee


Rating: SUPER YUMMY. I tried to sample this at the SF Street Food fair (which was a horrendously planned affair might I add) but he was sold out. I was not to be thwarted this time and was not disappointed. Custardy, not too sweet with a lovely lavendar essence. On a side note, I hear his brother runs a curry cart, called Magic Curry? I wish he'd come to the food fair too. Boo.

Cart #7 Sexy Soup Cart


What we ate: Chilled Miso & Ginger Tomato soup (unfortunately we forgot to take a picture of this before I gobbled it down :(...)

Rating: YUMMY. I love miso, ginger and tomatoes independently and it was SOOOOooooo hot in Oakland so this was very refreshing. I am going to try making this on my own while tomatoes are still in season.

There was so much awesome food, we simply could not try it all. I was quite a pudgy camper after sampling just these 7 carts! I can't wait until next year's fair - the venue was perfect. Although there was a lot of people, it didn't feel congested or crazy like the SF venue did. The lines were not long at all, so much variety and it was just a great way to spend the day. There was live music too. Oh, check out "Shovel Man" - he had a guitar that was crafted out of a shovel. Very interesting....



Here's an aerial view:



An interesting contraption that we saw at the Chop house cart....It's called a "La Caja China" and it's a roasting box where the coals sit on top and underneath (inside the box) lies the meat. YUM. My hubby wants to build his own box now (looks pretty doable actually).



Well, that's it for now! Hope you enjoyed this little street food adventure :). I'll be catching up on posts over the next few weeks with some of the recipes I've been trying out over the past months, so please stay tuned!