OC Foodie Fest 2010

This past weekend, we attended the first ever gourmet fest of mobile eats at the OC Foodie Fest. The OC Foodie Fest was hosted by Taco Dawg/OC Register and OC Foodies at the Honda Center. The gourmet food trucks craze is in full spin in LA, and the my hometown the OC is finally getting a taste of it. I know what you all are probably thinking...its a "roach coach." What are you thinking? However, I will have to digress and argue that mobile eats is revolutionary for gourmet foodies - think of it as fast food that's gourmet and highly enjoyable by all. Food trucks is taking "fast food" to a higher tier of fusion food that's affordable and roaming the streets for your dinner. I love the concept of fusion food - you take the best of both worlds and combine them together. It can't get any better than foodie fusion heaven.

One of our favorite food trucks that we frequent maybe once a week is Kogi BBQ.  The fusion of Korean BBQ and Mexican food is pretty stellar and one of my favorite items to order is the Pacman. (I was sad that they weren't at the Fest but it gave me ample opportunity to check out other food trucks.) The social media of Facebook/Twitter and their websites elevated the hype and the search for the latest and greatest food truck. Foodies can check the location of each trucks and line up to enjoy their latest fusion cuisine.

This OC Foodie Fest showcased many of the other trucks hitting the streets that fly under the radar of the popular ones. Most of these food trucks frequent the LA areas, and I absolutely hate the traffic and nitty-gritty of LA drivers. (Sorry!) This was perfect for many of the Food Trucks to get some hype from the OC foodies. I did not get to try all 50 food trucks, but I was able to check out a small handful. I came with my husband and family and we were able to slowly divide and conquer some of the best of mobile eats that were offered. Here are some highlights of my day at the OC Foodie Fest. Enjoy!

There were general admission and VIP tickets for the event, and I chose VIP because for all the extra perks we got and it was well worth the money. We had a preferred seating area to watch the entertainment stage, we got free tasting samples for the VIP Food truck sponsors, free snacks from PopChips and Kind bars, free Fiji water and Honest tea, our own exclusive VIP bar, and a swag bag of goodies. We also got in a half hour early compared to the general admission and there was at a limited amount of VIPs. (500!) Getting in early was the key factor for a successful day of grubbing!

We checked out the Buttermilk Truck and ordered red velvet chocolate chip pancake bites and the Hawaiian breakfast sliders. The sliders were priced at 2 for $4 and filled with Portuguese sausage, sauteed onions and shoyu scrambled eggs - it was a great bite to start my day. The pancakes were perfection at it's best, and didn't need any syrup. The fluffy cream cheese frosting was the perfect topping.

The main plan of attack of the day was to check out various food trucks before our stomachs were full. Half of the group was in line for one truck and vice versa, and then we would meet up and share the treats. I only took a couple bites and was already looking for the next truck to stand in line. Think of it as a treasure hunt and a race for food! Maxine got some awesome Hawaiian-Korean sliders from Uncle Lau's BBQ. The brisket was so tender and the pork was so juicy. (I didn't get a picture of the pork slider because it was already in my tummy!) 

Maxine and my aunt Elen also got tacos from Komodo - an awesome Global food truck. I'm still dreaming about these skirt steak tacos with a spicy corn relish and the shrimp taco with the sweet dressing. I'm going to have to roam the streets to find you again. Wow...

Food Network also has a TV show currently on air called the Great Food Truck Race and I spotted Nana Queens and Nom Nom truck. I avoided them because I figured there would be another OC opportunity to enjoy them at a later location. I have had sampled the tasty crepes from Crepes Bonaparte at the Anaheim Farmers Market and they are featured on the show as well.

Eric wanted a taste of some of the Top Chef fried chicken from Ludo Bites. Chef Ludo Lefebvre is known as a mad genius and I loved his interpretation of fried chicken and the Ludo slaw with a touch of jalapeno...it totally hit the spot!

We also sampled some sushi from FishLips Sushi. It was fresh and looked pretty adorable shaped into little balls of sushi. It was ordinary, and nothing crazy as the other dishes we sampled.

Eric and I checked out Piaggo Gourmet on Wheels - we had tasty beef empanadas and wonderful chimichurri that I'm still drooling about. We'll roam the streets again for you, too.

One of Eric's favorites of the day was from Taco Dawg - the Cowboy hot dog. It had smoky bacon, onion strings, cheddar cheese and their tasty and tangy Tex Mex sauce. You know anything with bacon is always a winner.

I snuck away for some sweet treats over at Morsels Bakery Co. These guys ran their line the smoothest that I witnessed, and once I walked up to the front of the line- someone was immediately available to take my order and gave my ticket to the cashier. Then I paid and waited for my treats. They were really sweet and nice. Average waiting time was 10 to 15 minutes for the majority of the trucks, and this was one of the shortest wait times I had (5 minutes!).

Whenever we had free time or were waiting on our next VIP sample - we were under the VIP tent. Unfortunately, the Foodie Fest was held outside on the parking lot, and lots of people suffered from the blistering rays of sun. There was a nice cool breeze, but let me tell you - I'm glad I had shade! We sampled more food from Komodo, meatballs with romesco sauce. They were a little crispy but the red pepper sauce on top was full of flavor. I was bummed we didn't get some of those lovely skirt steak tacos.

Eric and I got a taste of Brazil from Ta Bom and met up with some of my spin class family. (Ta Bom translates to "It's good!). We waited the longest in this line for 30 minutes, and I think this was at it's busiest time of the day - everyone had started arriving around 1 to 2pm. We sampled their Coxinha - a chicken croquette with cream cheese. Very tasty!

After 4 hours of being at the Foodie Fest, I was spent and tired from the heat. The last item we enjoyed were some wonderful cool-irrific treats from Get Shaved in the VIP area. It was a great way to end the day. Monkey Brains (Strawberry and Banana Shaved Ice with sweet condensed milk) and Island Breeze (Mango, Coconut and Guava Shaved Ice) were absolutely delicious. I missed the dance performance from The Beat Freaks, and there were so many other food trucks to enjoy - but the lines were ridiculously long. I heard that some people waited 1.5 hours to order food, and another 30 minutes to wait for it. It was a sold-out event of 8500 people, but I left a very happy and satisfied foodie. I can't wait for next time, and there is certainly room for improvement for this event, but overall a great fest for foodies like me.

I also submitted some of my foodie photos to OC Register to the awesome foodie column that I read - Food Frenzy, check out the article here - Best Eats at OC Foodie Fest. Till the next food truck roams in our streets, I'll be muttering "nomnomnom."