Renton is getting into the mobile kitchen frenzy, first with and then this past weekend at Uwajimaya's first International Food Truck Roundup on S. Grady Way. Eight diverse trucks, a glimpse of sun above, and hoards of hungry food enthusiasts made this the place to be in Renton on Saturday.
I think some of the trucks were taken off guard by the crowd's response as items were getting erased from their mobile menus left and right. Case in point, I missed out on one of the foods I really looked forward to trying: Lucky Devil Doughnut Co's Malasadas, which were sold out by 1 p.m. Malasada's are akin to Portuguese doughnut holes, sprinkled with sugar and nutmeg, costing a mere dollar for a fried Hawaiian-style treat.
I'm excited to try Lucky's unique specialties like the Bangkok Dangerous, savory vanilla cakes with a Sriracha and sweet chili glaze, the POG, an orange-filled doughnut with passion fruit inside and a guava frosting, and their namesake Lucky Devil with chocolate cake and chocolate frosting dusted with infamously spicy ghost chiles and a cherry drizzle. I may just have to drive to West Seattle to get the chance to taste these exotic doughnuts. Lucky Devil's plain jane Maple Bar was good, but I had my heart set on at least trying a Malasada.
By and large, the longest line was for Lumpia World, whose stellar fried cigars of flavor we thoroughly enjoyed at the Biker Bite. I opted to stand in a much shorter line for some 'que, and arrived just in time to score the last Dude special ($9) at Raney Brothers BBQ, also of West Seattle. The Dude is a food truck masterpiece that require two hands, a big mouth, and a lot of napkins. Take a Macrina ciabatta roll and load it with a slice of Cajun Meatloaf, 24-hour fruit wood-smoked Pulled Pork that's dry-rubbed with Uncle Pauly's secret spice blend, grilled onions, cheese, and red cabbage slaw. That's a lotta love on a sandwich. I have a feeling this would have sold out in a split second at the Harley rally...
I got refreshed with a frozen fruit smoothie from Athena's truck, before standing in line at Kirkland's The Box. The Box is the inspiration of Reis Llaneza, a vet of the Yarrow Bay Grill. With a shifty economy, Llaneza sought out an alternative to a traditional restaurant when venturing out on his own. I will say that the quality of the food is excellent, but the speed of the kitchen is slower than most trucks.
Sadly, I missed out on the soy-mirin Pork Belly Humbao ($2.50). Kahlua Pork Humbao's were left, but I decided to go big and go home, and I'm glad that I did. The Chicken Karaage plate ($8) had us fighting over the leftovers hours later when our stomachs had an ounce of room. Chicken Karaage is a Chinese-inspired Japanese dish which involves deep-frying chicken marinated in ginger, soy and sake—you better believe it's delicious. These golden nuggets are lightly drizzled with "box sauce", a soy ginger glaze, beside two mounds of rice and a fresh chop chop salad with an Asian twist. With bits of apple, black forest ham, provolone, chopped romaine and red onion tossed in a miso dressing, this substantial European salad distracted me enough to let my husband eat the lion's share of our Karaage plate.
The food trucks will be making their way back to Renton on June 23rd & 24th for the Uwajimaya Summer Festival. Renton's pride and joy, the Bistro Box will be pulling up along with Tacoma's Ali'i and Sumo's Hawaiian Grill. Mahalo, and keep the food trucks coming!
Food Truck Round Up at Renton Village:
- Dave's New England Coneys
- Raney Brothers BBQ
- The Box
- Lucky Devil Doughnut Co
- The Jerk Station
- Athena's
