SPAM is magical. Like unicorns…

Chris’ take: Sophie and I took today off to head up to Seattle and hit up Marination Mobile, another one of Seattle Met’s top 13 food trucks in the Seattle area. On Fridays, they are located right outside Uwajimaya, our favorite Asian grocery store in the Puget Sound, a definite bonus. Sophie is the vegetarian Korea-phile, so I’m sure she’ll have plenty to say about her experience today. Hopefully, it won’t include mentioning that we had to endure the amazing smells coming from this food truck as we drove past it several times, since I had some technical difficulties figuring out how to get into Uwajimaya’s parking lot. At one point, Sophie almost got out of the car to order before the line got too long.

And the line was long, but it moved along remarkably quickly, giving us just the right amount of time to peruse the menu and decide what to have. I couldn’t decide, so I decided to sample a variety of items: a kalbi beef soft taco, a spicy pork soft taco, an aloha (kalua pork) slider, and a spam slider. All of them were done perfectly, the meat juicy and tender, but not soggy or over-seasoned. It’s the toppings that really shine here, adding the perfect crunch of homemade slaw, with spicy, flavorful sauces. Out of the four, the spam slider was definitely my favorite. Spam is one of my favorite meats (I think it’s a meat), and the spam slider is put together masterfully, with the abundance of flavorful toppings and sauces, perfectly balanced, so the salty deliciousness of the spam could still shine through. All nestled comfortably inside a soft, fluffy bun, lightly toasted. I knew from the line and the aroma as we pulled up that we were in for a treat, and I wasn’t disappointed!

Sophie’s take: Lucky for me, I had plenty of time to get excited for this food truck-ing experience… Not only days before we went, but the time we spent continuously driving PAST the food truck itself. Countless times, I “mentioned” that we take “this road over here” or “that road over there”, but to no avail! There we were, spending our wonderful father-daughter time driving past our final destination.

But, this food was for sure worth the wait! Not only did it smell almost too-good-to-be-true, but it tasted like it too! I ordered the kimchi fried rice bowl, with a fried egg and tofu. Now, give me a second. I must love them for being vegetarian-friendly AND Korean. I have made kimchi fried rice quite a few times, and not once was it even close to as amazing as this. Their kimchi was at the perfect amount of fermentation, adding the perfect amount of sour and sweetness. Just imagine, a perfect mixture of sour, sweet, and spicy… All mixed together with warm, steamy tofu and a perfectly fried egg. Yes, it was that amazing.

The 411:

Marination Mobile moves around, plus they have a brick and mortar joint as well. Check them out here:

marinationmobile.com

Twitter: @curb_cuisine

Facebook: Marination

Sometimes, if you’re lucky, the donuts come to you

Chris’ take: As we mentioned earlier, the 45 best food trucks listed in Seattle Met magazine spend most of their time in Seattle, and show up mostly at mid day. So you can understand our excitement when one of their top 13 rated food trucks showed up at Meeker Days this weekend in our own little town of Puyallup! Now anyone who knows me knows that there is a food item that I am particularly passionate about. Donuts. Whether its posting about Happy Donut Friday at the hospital cafeteria on Facebook, or arguing over the merits of traditional donuts like Dunkin Donuts or Winchell’s, vs. Krispy Kreme (yuck), I take my donuts seriously.

But enough about me, what about Street Donuts? If you’re in a hurry, and don’t have time to read the rest of this, here’s the summary: You need to go to Street Donuts. Their mini donuts come fresh out of the oil with the perfect blend of firmness and softness, the type of donut that “gives” when you bite into it at exactly the right point. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you’re not truly passionate about your donuts).

But it’s not the perfectly fried miniature rings of awesomeness that sets these folks apart, its their toppings. We went with the obviously safe choice for our first batch, cinnamon and caramel. From the very first bite, the cinnamon and caramel donut was pure perfection. The kind of perfection that makes you close your eyes and wish the moment could last forever (I told you I’m passionate about donuts). But that was the easy choice. For our second batch, we went with their signature ginger and cardamom dusted donuts. Now I’ll be honest, I didn’t even know what cardamom was (its a floral spice!), but that didn’t stop us. With a little trepidation, I bit into the first ginger and cardamom donut, and… It. Is. The. Best. Donut. I’ve. Ever. Had. Period. I’m serious. When you go to street Donuts, try the ginger and cardamom donuts. If you don’t like them, I’ll buy the leftovers from you.

Sophie’s Take: Now, don’t get me wrong. I love sweets. But, they just can’t be “too-sweet”. Doughnuts have always been the happy-medium, the perfect mixture of sweet and savory. But then… today, I realized that throughout my doughnut eating carer, I have been cheated. Biting into that cardamon ginger street doughnut, I knew that from now on, I was going to be spoiled. There is no turning back to what I thought was a “good” doughnut. Nothing can quite compare to the perfect harmony those two spices create. It was a symphony of pure deliciousness. Yes, the caramel cinnamon doughnuts were wonderful as well, but nothing like those cardamon ginger dusted rings of heaven. So thank-you Street Donuts, thank-you for raising my ever high expectations of what a good doughnut is like. Thank-you. (By the way, if Dad offers to buy those doughnuts off you, I’ll pay you $2 more! Keep that in mind…)

The 411: Check out Street Donuts at streetdonuts.com, or on twitter, @streetdonuts. And if you’re free this weekend, Meeker Days is still going on Saturday and Sunday, 6/16/12, and 6/17/12 in Downtown Puyallup. Make sure you stop by Street Donuts while you’re there!