pork-sliders
Korean BBQ Pork Sliders
One of the food trends I’ve enviously watched from afar, hoping desperately it would make an appearance in Southwest Florida, is the gourmet food truck craze. Any foodie worth their Himalayan pink salt, has undoubtedly been watching as these mobile bonanzas roll through Food Network specials and gushing blog posts.
But so far our region has been bereft of kitchens on wheels slinging kimchi tacos and duck-confit hot dogs. Well that’s changing a bit. The Nosh Truck has been circling the Gulf Coast for months now and is starting to gain a pretty loyal following.
After watching Facebook and seeing the truck bypass Naples for Fort Myers, Bonita Springs and Marco Island, I decided to make a road trip to the Saturday farmer’s market/flea market at the Promenade at Bonita Bay to sample some of the Nosh Truck’s cuisine.
mexiburger
Mexiburger from the Nosh Truck
I left impressed by their ambition and mostly satisfied with the results. I sampled the two most interesting sounding offerings—Korean BBQ Pork Sliders, with Asian slaw, and the Mexiburger with roasted poblanos, queso fresco, avocado, pico de gallo and cilantro sour cream.
The sliders were a little on the salty side thanks to a little too much of the soy sauce based barbecue sauce. But the flavors were pretty spot on and the contrast of the tangy, soft pork and the crunchy slaw was delightful. The Mexiburgers were certainly messy, but bursting with flavor. If the patty itself had been a little closer to medium-rare instead of medium-well, I’d say it was one of the best burgers in Southwest Florida.
Chef Scott Sophe has put together a smart, rotating menu that his high on ambition and big on flavor. Hopefully, he’s just the first of many local chefs to take their skills to the streets.