Food trucks have become all the craze lately and when there is a new one that pops up that gets everyone hyped, I am always looking forward to trying it!
A couple of weekends ago, I went to the Renton Uwajimaya Polynesian festival where Sam Choy's Poke to the Max foodtruck was present and I took this time to try as much as I possibly could!
First I have some brief pictures of the festival which had booths for t-shirts and Hawaiian paraphernalia along with other vendors.
Then there were performances by various groups and even contests.
And of course there were more food vendors. I only had one malasada (portuguese doughnut) that someone had shared with me and I didn't try any of the Hawaiian grilled food (but the people that did try it loved the huli huli chicken).
I did, however, have a 'local style shaved ice' and had one on Saturday and another on Sunday.
I heard that they make their own syrups and they do have really good tasting ones.
The one on Saturday had ice cream and azuki (japanese sweetend red beans) on the inside and for the syrups I had Guava, green watermelon, and Tigers blood (this flavor has a hint of coconut and I really only liked it for the name!) The portion is huge and the ice is nice and finely shaved so it isn't chunky like a typical snow cone.
On Sunday I had another snow cone with mango and li hing mui (dried preserved sour plum) with a snowcap (condensed milk poured over the top). The best part was the snow cap since it hardened over the ice and was just tasty goodness all around!
Now the good part comes Sunday, when my friend and I waited 30mins before the food truck opened to be first in line to try Sam Choy's poke truck!
Pokē is the Hawaiian verb for "to slice or to cut" and for food wise, it is a raw salad (usually with raw tuna, or salmon--can also have tako (octopus) or tofu.
Being as I would probably not have another opportunity soon to try it, I went ahead and got 4 different things.
From L to R, T to B:
Salmon poke over salad, Loco moco, Ahi tuna over rice, and a shrimp boat sandwhich.
The Salmon and salad had marinated raw salmon on top of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, pickeled beets, shredded carrots and fried wonton strips. I usually don't like salmon poke but I really enjoyed the flavoring of this one. I just didn't like that the salad cost more than if I had it over rice. My mom thoroughly enjoyed this one though, mainly because she really likes fresh salads.
The one I mainly ate was their version of a loco moco. It is a bit different than the ones I'm used to (white rice instead of friend rice and more gravy) but I like this one a lot. The fried rice wasmade out of brown rice I believe (which is a plus) and had all sorts of veggies in it (though I couuld do without the green beans). The burger patty was moist and the friend egg on top had an oozing yolk, which is my favorite. It was topped with grilled onions and some gravy (which sank to the bottom). It was a very generous portion and I even took some the next day for my lunch at work. The best part was mixing the egg all around the patty and rice making it a good combination.
Next up, I wanted to try the ahi tuna (what the truck is known for). I had the spicy version and I really did love the flavor of this poke. I'm not sure if I liked it as much over rice but it was brown rice so I always approve of that! The only down side is that some of the tuna was cut with the chewy tendons in the way so it made it hard to eat some pieces. Other than that, the flavor was excellent, but should be eaten more quickly if its over rice in case the eat ends up cooking the tuna.
The last thing I wanted to try was the Shrimp Boat Sandwhich. I think this was my favorite item. I love shrimp and french bread, so this made for an excellent sandwhich and reminded me of a po'boy ( a traditional sub sandwhich from Louisiana using french baguettes). The shrimp itself was a good size and had a nice soft crunch on the outside but wasn't dried on the inside. The sauce on top was a little tangy and had a sweetness to it that just melted on top of the shrimp. I was indifferent about the cilantro and could have had it with or without it but since they added it on top of the sandwhich, it reminded me of a banh mi (a Vietnamese sandwhich also made with french bread and usually with cilantro inside). They weren't cheap on the shrimp either and loaded it in.
Overall, I was highly pleased with the food on this foodtruck. In total, for 4 dishes, which were a decent sized portion, I spent a little over $40 (the poke ones cost the most). They have other dishes such as the poke in wrap form, and tonkatsu (pork breaded cutlet) and I believe yakiniku as well ( I think??)
You can check out their Facebook page HERE for their future locations!
I think you should try them at least once especially if you like trying new foodtruck
