Korean, at Urban Street Grill

Ok, I'm not going to lie, normally I come up with some tacky title when I start writing these reviews, but I could not think of anything for this one! So, if you have a better one, let me know, I would love to hear it!

First impression that we had when we first walked up to the truck and saw their menu...is this Mexican food? Ok, that sounds bad but hey, I'm an honest person and don't mean to be rude! The reason why that was the first thought was because the menu options were burrito, tacos, rice bowl and cheesesteak (ok that's not Mexican, it's just the odd one out). I said in a previous post, we are not very familiar with Korean food, so we are not sure what is popular but we do know many of the flavors and spices that a Korean cuisine would normally have...and I would definitely say Urban Street Grill has the flavors!

You can find them on Facebook and follow them so you know where they are going next.

One thing I did like about their menu is that it is small. The truck states it was established in 2013 (congrats on 8 years), so they have had several years in the food truck industry and it seems, they know their audience well. They know what sells, they know what their customers like, they don't need a large menu (and honestly for me that's good because I can be so indecisive when there are too many options and honestly, so can Eli because he is so picky and usually only looks for specific food items and when he can't find them, it forces him to make a decision to venture out).

But honestly, lets really talk about that menu....it's kinda confusing. I don't think it is self explanatory. Eli thought that everything that was listed under burrito, is what comes in the burrito. It's not. You pick your protein and the + sign means what the protein is flavored with (the sauce and spices used) in addition to the toppings also added to the dish. Me on the other hand, I was looking at all of it thinking it was some foreign language (which it is) and you had to pick one thing (which you do) but those + signs are hard to see (ok we might need glasses soon). Luckily, the gentleman behind the window could see we were confused and asked us if we had any questions (that's always nice and is very good customer service instead of just starring at us)!

I told Eli I needed to take a picture of him for the blog. He asked why? I replied with "so I don't have to add a picture of me" (confession, I don't like taking pictures of myself, I am no selfie lover)! We didn't wait long. Seriously, I think it might have been 5 minutes, which is awesome considering there looked to be only one worker. Plus I do think there was pre-made items (I saw them). I'm not saying that's bad, it shows preparation (I just hope it was either night before or early morning since fresh is best)! I only say that because I do hold food trucks at a high standard because I know they are perfectly capable of doing so. We look for this stuff when we are rating, tasting and experiencing all the unique flavors that food trucks bring.

This is the Ribeye Bulgogi burrito. It's a decent size (I mean not as big as Chipotle but that's a plus for me because I can't finish those damn things)! First impression, good but there is a lot of rice. I actually think there was too much rice. In fact, I feel there was hardly any meat, or maybe there was enough meat but too much rice? I'm not sure. The flavor is good. There was crunch from the onions and cabbage, however, there were some big cabbage pieces that I did not care for.

Next impression, a little dry. I'm not sure if it is supposed to be that dry....I feel it needed some extra sauce or at least some offered on the side (not like smothered just in a little container for dipping). It says that avocado is in there, but I honestly don't think I had any in mine. Now that I think about it, I should have unwrapped the burrito and looked and took a picture of all the insides. The picture on the left is about a quarter eaten and that is pretty much how it looked like the rest of the time.

Next, Rice Bowl. They advertise the Sesame de Arbol Salsa Roja as spicy. It definitely has a bit of spice to it, but not enough for myself or Eli to say it was too spicy. I love spicy food, so I'm always like, bring it on! However, if you have any intolerance to spicy food, this dish is not for you.

The taste was very similar to the burrito, however, the tortilla takes that spice away (at least we thought it did). This rice bowl actually reminded me of a Mexican dish...I feel bad for saying that but with the cilantro and avocado, that are more traditional there than Korean (I know other cuisines use those but it usually doesn't over power other dishes, it's more garnish like). But, like I said earlier, the flavor is there from a Korean cuisine (which is very different from a traditional Mexican cuisine). I guess what I am trying to say is, I am looking for more authentic.

My favorite thing about this dish (not so much Eli's favorite thing), the fried egg. I would have preferred it be over easy (because I like runny eggs) but this worked too! It added something different but completely worked (I am always looking for something unique). Out of the 3 things we ordered, this rice bowl was our favorite.

Last but not least (because we didn't order the cheesesteak, next time though), Tacos! We ordered 3 different kinds; Ribeye Bulgogi (I don't even know the correct way to say that word), Spicy Pork and Ginger Chicken. Now when we ordered this Eli said to take all the good stuff off (onions and radish). As you can see, that didn't happen. Of course it didn't bother me...imagine Eli taking off all those individual onions (he was not happy), he actually almost didn't even bother eating it. As for the radish, I wish it was chopped up so the flavor was throughout the whole taco.

The ribeye was ordered in both the rice bowl and burrito so that was not a new flavor. I will say about the ribeye, it was not dry but I do wish it had more of the flavor (I actually think that is mainly embedded in the rice).

The Spicy pork was not dry. It had a spicy flavor, which I enjoyed. I will say however, the 2 corn tortillas that all these tacos are wrapped in, I feel took away from this particular taco (because I like spicy food). This taco, Eli liked the most because he felt the spice was perfect. 2 different people, 2 different opinions that give it a rounded view.

Our least favorite taco was the ginger chicken....why? Too much ginger. Ginger is a very strong flavor, so a little goes a long way. I felt it tasted like all I was eating was ginger (besides the texture of the chicken). But, I'm glad for this taco, it was wrapped with a couple more corn tortillas because it helped take away some of that ginger flavor.

The only other thing I would add about the tacos, I wish they weren't only warmed up but had some golden brown from a little pan fry...why? I have said it a million times, I don't like soggy food. It's not that it was soggy, but it was getting there with both the ginger chicken and spicy pork tacos.

All in all, I would definitely order there again, the flavor was there, I just wish there was more presence of it. It is unique, but lacked the pop we always look for. Another plus though, I love when things are not served in styrofoam containers!

One last thing, normally I can get my kids to try almost anything but they would not try these dishes. They didn't smell bad, they didn't look bad but my kids described it as weird (I think they got scared when they saw the egg in the rice bowl and the radish on the tacos). But that's ok...they are still developing their open minds about different foods and flavors. #foodtruckmania

Overall rating.......