Gypsy's Truckstaurant

I have been a big proponent of the Baltimore food truck scene since Day 1. I am fortunate enough to work near an officially city-sanctioned food truck hub, and if I wanted, could have a truck lunch every day. Many trucks have come and gone over the past several years, some I have liked very much. But my favorite is the long-running, award-winning, Gypsy Queen Cafe. Twice a week, one of their two trucks would park right in front of my building. I soon found myself spending a bit of time every Friday with Annmarie at the black truck known as "Little Gypsy."

Full disclosure: Annmarie provided recipes for each of our three books. We are friends, but it was the truck that brought us together.

Eventually, the so-called food truck hub in my area began to be overrun with renegade trucks. Trucks that didn't even have signage. Trucks that served mostly fried foods that were likely purchased in bulk at a kitchen supply store. They'd get to the hub at 7am and leave no room for the regular trucks that served more interesting and house-prepared foods. Little Gypsy stopped coming around, though I do see the original truck once in a while.

Food Trucks in Baltimore seem to be going strong, as seen by the recent Food Truck Week and various festivals. But I rarely bother to get a truck lunch anymore.

Now if I want one of Annmarie's crab cakes, I can go to the Gypsy Queen Truckstaurant. While it's not convenient to work, the hours are longer, so I can have dinner as well as lunch. Or both.

The Truckstaurant is situated in a former garage on Clipper Mill Road. If you're trying to find the place while heading south on Clipper Mill and have driven as far as Birroteca, you've just passed it. Turn yourself around and go back a few hundred feet; you can definitely see the sign when approaching the restaurant from that angle. Eventually there will be a sign on Clipper Mill, which will make finding the place much easier.

The restaurant is much like a Tardis--it's far bigger on the inside than it seems on the outside. Annmarie and Tom did most of the work themselves, including painting and decorating. The result is a fun and eclectic space that feels like its been around for ages. It's homey and comfortable, with booths, a back lounge, and a long bar. There's also a dining space with tables on the other side of a clever partition made from empty wine bottles donated by restaurants and friends.

The menu includes all of the food trucks' greatest hits, including various items stuffed into waffle cones. My favorite is the crab cone. Annmarie's crab cakes are "saucy," that is, very moist, which is the way I prefer them. They're also topped with her dynamite chipotle aioli, which is good on just about everything. Possibly even chocolate cake (though I haven't tried that yet).

There are all manner of other goodies on the menu, including chicken wings and fat dates stuffed with bleu cheese and wrapped in bacon.

One of the advantages of a brick-and-mortar version of Gypsy Queen is a liquor license, so one can have beer, wine, or cocktails with their noms. Additionally, GQ Truckstaurant has a ridiculous 7-hour-long Happy Hour Tuesday - Friday from 11am to 6pm, which seems like a damn fine excuse for day drinking.

Gypsy Queen Truckstaurant
3515 Clipper Mill Rd
Baltimore, MD 21211
(443) 869-5602

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Minxeats Best of 2012 Part One

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on January 2, 2013.






By necessity, we Minxes spent a goodly portion of early 2012 dining in restaurants. You'll find out why soon enough. For the most part, we ate well, and in some cases, very well. Without further ado, here are our favorite restaurant dishes for 2012.

In January, we had an incredible Restaurant Week dinner at Ten Ten, in Harbor East. Their ricotta dumplings in a cheesy sauce were just about perfect.

Also in January, I sampled several varieties of bao at Eddie Huang's Baohaus, a tiny storefront in the East Village (New York). While the pork belly version of this Taiwanese treat was delicious, I may just have enjoyed the fried chicken version more. But damn, I'd eat any of them again.

In March, we tried Republic Noodle, a pan-Asian joint in Federal Hill. Sadly the restaurant closed because they couldn't get a liquor license. Honestly - I really don't care about boozing it up with dinner, but apparently other folks do, I guess. In any case, the Northern Thai-style chicken wings were ah-may-zing. I want to eat them right now.

In April, we sampled the wonders of Aldo's, in Little Italy. Everything was excellent - decadent, rich, flavorful - so it's hard to pick just one course to love. My personal favorite was the Tournedos Rossini, a perfect little filet topped with foie gras. I don't generally like filet, but this piece of meat made me understand why other folks buy the hell out of it. Unfortunately, there's no photo, as we were trying to be nice and not use flash.

In May, we wined and dined at the Prime Rib. The Sun recently named it the #1 restaurant in Baltimore, and it's pretty easy to see why. The food is all of very high quality, simply prepared with care, and the service is perfect. Friendly, generous, welcoming, and on-the-ball, but without the coddling found at some other high-end restaurants. While I really enjoyed the enormous oysters Rockefeller, I loved the juicy prime rib even more.

Later that month, we ate the best crab cake in Baltimore at Koco's. 'Nuff said.

May was full of good eats. We tried Pabu, Baltimore's first izakaya, and enjoyed pretty much everything we put in our mouths, from the food to the delicious sake and cocktails. Even the sweet potato beer. But my favorite dish, which I think about from time to time, was the okonomiyaki, a cabbage-filled kinda-omelette with crab. I was even inspired to make a home version of the dish.

June took us to Great Sage, a vegan restaurant in Clarksville (near Columbia). We're obviously not vegans, or even vegetarians, but damn if we didn't love our meal there. I particularly enjoyed the "crab" cake, cleverly made with hearts of palm. It's not Koco's, but it was far better than many real crab cakes I've eaten in my life.

Our favorite burger of the year came from Hamilton Tavern. (Ignore those onion donuts on the plate - they were a disappointment.) The patty was the perfect size, and the horseradish cheddar and sugared bacon were the perfect accompaniments. I haven't eaten a burger with that much flavor in a long time.

In July, we paid a visit to the newly-opened Earth, Wood, & Fire. We sampled one of everything on the menu, and while we really enjoyed the thin-but-chewy-crust pizza, I think my favorite dish was the asparagus with shiitake "bacon." Not only was it really delicious, with a lovely grilled flavor, but it was also visually appealing.

We took a rather large hiatus from restaurant dining. It gets expensive! But in November, we went to the Food Market in Hampden and had some lovely pork belly with a brown sugar crust.

And finally, in December, I had a really swell truck lunch from Charm City Gourmet. The scallops with creamed corn and prosciutto bacon was really delicious, and satisfied the scallop cravings I'd been having for most of the year.

So that's it for favorite restaurant dishes of 2012. Stay tuned for our favorite home-cooked delights of the year!



Posted on Minxeats.com.

More Food Trucks!

The stream of food trucks cruising Baltimore City seems never ending. And that's a good thing. Recently several more popped up, including Noodlerolla. While it doesn't sell noodles, it does serve Korean/Japanese fusion lunches including this "banto" box filled with chicken, rice, pickles, dumplings, and California roll.

Even better is the Korean burrito filled with bulgogi beef or marinated short ribs and a dash of kimchi.

And then there's my new favorite truck, Busia's Kitchen. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the candy-striped truck outside my building. "Busia" is an Americanized-Polish name for "grandma," and I was excited that a truck would serve the cuisine of my people. I tried a sampler of three items of my choice (a fist-sized pierog, a potato pancake, and one of the stuffed cabbage rolls called "golombki").

They were all pretty terrific, very grandma-style. I was impressed and very pleased. For those folks who aren't quite ready to experience the food of Poland (wimps), there are egg salad and tarragon chicken salad sandwiches and a very un-Slavic Mediterranean chicken pita.

Another truck making the rounds is Karlita's, which serves Latino food like burritos, tacos, and quesadillas. I had a steak quesadilla that was very simply made with lots of melty cheese and found it to be extremely satisfying. Next time I'm trying a burrito, or maybe the tacos. Or maybe something else will catch my eye.






Posted on Minxeats.com.

Casablanca Halal

One of the newer food trucks to hit the UMMS area is Casablanca Halal, which might better be described as a food cart, since it's towed by a truck and sometimes finds itself on the sidewalk rather than at the curb. Like many halal carts, Casablanca Halal serves up chicken, beef, and lamb, pre-sliced and seasoned, alone or in combination, as a salad or a gyro-style sandwich. The portions are generous and the prices are inexpensive, making it a near-perfect lunch for the hungry and omnivorous.

 

My first sampling of Casablanca Halal's food came in the form of their popular chicken and lamb combination dish, which for $5.99 provided enough for two lunches. The gyro meat was tender, as were the chunks of chicken breast meat, both served over cumin-seasoned basmati rice. Lettuce, tomato, and onion were arrayed on top, with the option of adding "white sauce" (yogurt-based) or hot sauce as well.

Just as delicious but not quite as gut-busting is a gyro or chicken sandwich served on a freshly-griddled pita for the very reasonable price of $3.99. It's a bit messy, but worth the napkins.

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

The Gathering III

...will be held tomorrow, September 2, at 901 South Wolf Street. For more info, stay tuned to http://www.bmorefoodtrucks.com/

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.