Tiki Truck for lunch…

Street food is everywhere these days. Of course it’s not a new idea. Hot dog stands have been around forever…well maybe just since the late 1800’s when hot dogs made the scene, but their predecessors in open markets and busy corners the world over have been with us as long as we’ve been hungry.
So far my favorite places to eat street food are Bangkok – Pad Thai and fresh fruit, Mexico City – tacos and tortas, New York – the aforementioned hot dog, and now…Honolulu.
Actually we’ve had lunch wagons in Honolulu for years and years, mostly serving up variations on the local plate lunch, meat, rice, and macaroni salad. Generally they are good, but not something to write home (or in my case, away) about.
Lately though we’ve seen a renaissance of grindz available. There are now trucks serving all manner of food. Today for lunch I discovered the Tiki Truck. Tiki here refers to Taco Inspired Killer Ingredients. Yep, that about sums it up.
I had Bahn Gyro which starts off with a warm pita, mine had steak though pork and chicken were available as well, and then most of the ingredients of our local Vietnamese sandwiches (Bánh mì): cucumber slices, cilantro and pickled carrots and daikon. Hmm…good.
It was a rainy day on Keeaumoku Street where I work and I’ve got to tell you this was the perfect comfort food for me today. I’d have eaten two if one hadn’t done the job of filling me up – at $6 it’s real good value in my book.
Abe, the owner and chef, is a cheerful and chatty host, who clearly enjoys what he is doing. You can find out more about the Abe and his truck on Nonstop Honolulu where there’s a YouTube of an interview done by Mari Taketa.
You can find the Tiki Truck on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/tikitruck, or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/TIKITRUCK.
I sure hope the Tiki Truck makes Keeaumoku a regular stop! You can see the blue and white truck right behind the Puffettes (egg puff) truck. I haven’t tried them yet but I’m looking forward to it!

You can find the aggregated twitter feeds of several different wagons at HiFoodTrucks.com.