At Kit Land Nelson Park in Apopka there is a monthly food truck even that they call the Apopka Food Truck Round Up. Started in August of 2011, this event is on the first Thursday of every month from 5:30pm to 9pm. Over 10 trucks are present, providing a smorgasbord of culinary delights for people who attend to try. I had wanted to go since I heard what a large crowd this event attracted. It seemed like a lot of people were really enjoying themselves when they attended. From what I had researched the Winter Park Fish Co, The Crooked Spoon, The Crepe Company, Gator Country BBQ, The Flattery, The Yum Yum Truck, Gastro Truck, Fish Out Of Water, Treehouse Truck, Monsta Lobsta, Korean BBQ Taco Box would be there. I am sure there were more that I'm forgetting.
I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived. There were plenty of tables and chairs set up so that people could sit down and enjoy their purchases. There was also live music, provided by musician Wade Williams who was a wonderful singer, and engaged the crowd. He did covers of some country and rock songs while we were there, and I liked the fact that there was entertainment provided.
It was a gorgeous evening. I had intended to arrive right at 5:30pm. However, I seriously underestimated the amount of traffic between my house and the park. I ended up arriving just after 6pm, but much to my delight, the lines for the food trucks were not that bad. In fact, the longest line by far was for the Yum Yum Truck a cupcake truck that I've talked about in previous posts (for the two Oviedo Food Truck Bazaars I attended.
I had planned to try at least two trucks while I was there, both trucks I had not previously eaten at. The first was the Treehouse Truck. The second was one of the newer trucks, Fish Out Of Water.
At the Treehouse Truck, they has a special on pierogies. I grew up with pierogies because my mom's side of the family is Polish, and they are something we ate often. Basically, a pierogi is a dumpling. It's pasta (traditionally an unleavened dough) that is filled with potato, ground meat, sauerkraut, fruit, or cheese. I have always preferred the potato filled variety. It's basically mashed potatoes (and often the potatoes have cheese, like cheddar) in a pasta pocket. It sounds a little strange to have one starch stuffed inside more starch, but believe me, it's incredible.
The pierogies at Treehouse were delectable. They tasted just like ones I ate when I was younger. Stuffed with potatoes, these were topped with bacon bits and had an herbed sour cream to dip them in. I believe these were boiled (which is traditional) and then put on the flat top for a bit to crisp up the bottoms. When I make them (out of a package!), I boil mine, and then will usually fry them for a minute in butter, so Treehouse's method was similar. However, when I prepare mine I drown them in butter. These were definitely not drowning in butter.
The herbed sour cream was delicious. I don't normally eat mine with sour cream, but I have before and it's a good addition when you're eating the potato filled pierogies. I also liked that Treehouse added bacon. As I've said before, who doesn't love bacon? I don't think that the pierogies are normally on the menu, but if you see them on special, get them!
Also from the Treehouse Truck we tried a Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookie. It was a delightful cookie and made a nice sweet treat at the end of our savory sampling. A large chocolate chip cookie with sea salt sprinkled on top, the salt really cut the sweetness, but amplified the chocolate flavor. Very good.
The companion who came with me and I both like sushi and we were interested in seeing how sushi from a food truck would come out. Plus, the Fish Out Of Water Truck is right now Florida's only sushi truck, and only debuted in September. I had heard good things from other bloggers who had tried it, including Droolius, which is linked on this website.
The Fish Out Of Water menu had three rolls on it, and two appetizers. We tried two of the rolls, the Spicy Tuna Roll and the Hot Apopka Roll. The tuna roll was indeed spicy!!! I love spicy tuna rolls, but this one had more of a kick than the ones I normally eat. It was Yellowtail tuna, cucumber, scallions, masago (fish roe, also known as tobiko), and sriracha. What I really liked was that they serve all the rolls with wasabi, ginger, and soy sauce (and chopsticks!), just like you would get in a sushi restaurant. And honestly? Had you just given me the roll, and not told me that it was from a truck I would have assumed it was from a restaurant. These rolls are high quality products.
Before I go on with my food truck adventure in Apopka, I would like to say that eating at food trucks has definitely made me a more adventurous eater. Would I have tried sushi from a truck two years ago? Probably not. Would I have eaten pierogies from a truck? Very doubtful. But embracing the food truck revolution has prompted me to learn that it's not the location that makes the food, it's the people preparing it. It doesn't matter if it's a chain, a five star location, or a truck. You can find good food in a lot of different places if you open your mind, and your mouth.
Ok, back to the food trucks! As I mentioned, we also tried the Hot Apopka Roll. This roll had spicy krab, goat cheese, and cucumber and was topped with avocado, tobiko, eel sauce, and a chili garlic mayo. I really enjoyed this roll. It had spice and flavor, but didn't seem as spicy as the tuna roll.
The sushi truck also had a California Roll, which we did not try, but I will on my next visit. They also had edamame which we saw someone else receive and that looked amazing. And there was a seaweed salad as well.
As far as pricing, the pierogies were $5 for 3 pierogies and the cookie was $2 at the Treehouse Truck. At Fish Out Of Water, the Spicy Tuna Roll was $7 and the Hot Apopka Roll was $10.
We also were lucky enough to get to try another truck. The Monsta Lobsta truck was there, and I had not tried them yet. Since the lines were not long while we were there, we decide to go ahead and try the Lobsta Roll. It was different from other lobster rolls I have eaten, but it was good. It was not doused in mayo, it was more light than rich. That sandwich was $10.
I really enjoyed my time at the Apopka Food Truck Round Up. The weather was beautiful for the October 6th date. The music was pleasant and I enjoyed that we didn't have to lug our own chairs and/or table. The lines were very reasonable and the food was delicious. I will definitely return again, because I found it to be a nice experience. Plus, while we didn't imbibe, they also had beer for sale from I believe Shipyard Brewing. This is a great family event where people can get together and enjoy food.
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