Last week we heard about a new food truck called Vic’s Bagel Bar.  Over the past week, we’ve stopped by twice for a NYSF First Look, once for breakfast and once for lunch.

At the truck, I found out that Vic’s Bagels has a store at 544 Third Ave (36th St), where the cream cheeses are made up in the morning and the bagels are cooked.  You didn’t really think they could cook bagels on the truck, did you?

As you can see, they converted an old Mister Softee truck into Vic’s Bagel Bar.

The menu had some interesting items, such as the Tokyo Tel Aviv Express, Backyard BBQ and The Vermonter.  When I went for lunch, it was only their 2nd day out, and none of these items were available.

Today when I stopped by for breakfast, they were available, but I’m not about to have wasabi or bbq for breakfast.  Guess I could have had the Vermonter, but I wanted to try the more traditional stuff before trying the funkier stuff.

For lunch last week, I decided to get The Traditionalist, which had cream cheese, red onions, tomatoes, chopped lox and scallions for $7.  If you’re trying a bagel place for the first time, lox and cream cheese is a good place to start.

I’m not a big fan of tomatoes, so I asked them to leave off the tomatoes.  Unfortunately, she said the cream cheese was made up that morning at the store, and the tomatoes were already included in the mix.  I got it anyway.

After a few minutes, I was handed the bagel wrapped in paper, and I asked for a bag – but they didn’t have any bags.  It was only their 2nd day, and things were still being worked out.

When I got back to the office, I unwrapped the bagel, and it looked pretty good.  There are several choices of bagel types, and I got a multi-grain bagel.

There were a lot of ingredients in the cream cheese – lox, red onions, scallions and tomatoes – and it was thick and creamy.  The bagel was decent, but it was cold, and would have been much better toasted.

That was my fault though because I forgot to ask for it toasted.  (When I went back for breakfast today, the guy asked me if I wanted it toasted.  Yes I do, thank you for asking.)

The main ingredients of the bagel and cream cheese were good, and there was plenty of lox and scallions, which is why I got it in the first place.

I realize lox is expensive, but for $7, you should get slices of lox on the bagel, not chunks mixed into the cream cheese.

There’s a really good bagel store near where I live, and it costs $6.25 for sliced lox and cream cheese on a bagel, and lox cream cheese spread on a bagel only costs $3.25.  Shouldn’t a food truck be cheaper than a store?

Since it was only their second day out, I went back today for breakfast, about a week later.  I got a toasted everything bagel with scallion cream cheese.  Thankfully, they didn’t charge extra for toasting, because that really pisses me off.  Good business decision.

The menu was a little confusing because it said each bagel was $1, and the scallion cream cheese was $3, so I expected it to be $4, but I was charged $3.  Was the bagel price included in the spread price or did he make a mistake?

I hope it was the former, because $4 for a bagel with scallion cream cheese is too much.  Food trucks are supposed to be cheaper than brick and mortar, not more expensive.  $3 is about right for a quality bagel and scallion cream cheese.

By the time I got to the office, the toasting had made the cream cheese nice and soft and yes, creamy.  It was a little messier this way, but very tasty.

There were plenty of scallions in the cream cheese, and plenty of toppings on the everything bagel.  The bagel was a little toasted, but still soft and easy to eat.

We’ll see if Vic’s Bagel Bar catches on.  Bagels and cream cheese aren’t exactly hard to find in New York,but the quality of the bagels and cream cheese is good.

There are some interesting twists on the menu.  Next time I’ll have to try one of the non-traditional items, such as the Tokyo Tel Aviv Express or the Vermonter.  If you have tried Vic’s Bagel Bar, let us know what you thought.

You can follow Vic’s Bagel Bar on twitter here or on our Mobile Munchies twitter feed.

Yesterday I stopped by the Eggstravaganza cart on Park Ave & 52nd St to congratulate Arturo on his Vendy Award nomination.  I remember how happy he was last year when his friend Rosa from El Rey del Sabor was nominated for a Vendy Award, and I know how much this meant to him.

Since I have been to two Vendy Awards events in 2009 and 2010, Arturo asked me a few questions about how certain things worked, and asked my advice on a couple of things.  It felt a little stange giving a Vendy Award Finalist advice, but I guess at this point, I have more Vendy experience than he does.

At Eggstravaganza, Arturo started out making great breakfasts before expanding into lunches.  Yesterday I had a Mexican Wrap ($5), which is in the same family as a breakfast burrito.

Arturo fries up two eggs on the grill, adds home fries, chorizo, onions and cheese, and wraps it up in a large tortilla.  He will also put in hot sauce if you ask for it, which I always do.

Every once in a while, I enjoy eggs for lunch or dinner.  A Mexican omelet in a wrap is a great lunch, with all the ingredients for a hearty, tasty meal.

What I didn’t realize until today was the chorizo at Eggstravaganza is homemade.  Arturo told me his father is a butcher who makes the chorizo served at his cart.  Nothing like homemade chorizo to spice up a Mexican Wrap.  His father will also be at the Vendy Awards tomorrow giving him a hand, as his sister does every day at the Eggstravaganza cart.

Best of luck to Arturo and the Eggstravaganza family at the Vendy Awards tomorrow.  We’ll see you there.

I was on my usual route yesterday morning to the Houston St station when I spotted a yellow truck on Hudson St just below Houston.  I’m used to seeing the blue Sweetery NYC truck there, so I went over for a closer look. (Sweetery was back there today.)

It turned out to be Big D’s Grub Truck, who started serving breakfast about a month ago.  I’ve really enjoyed their Korean tacos and grinders, but I’m not usually much of a breakfast eater.  My lunches are so calorie-filled that I try to have just a yogurt for breakfast.

Nevertheless, a breakfast burrito from Big D’s was something I couldn’t pass up.

The breakfast burrito comes with eggs, peppers and onions for $3.50 and you can add bacon, sausage, spam and cheese for $.50 each, or corn cakes for $1.50.  Big D also offers Spanish omelets and corn cakes with similar options and prices.  You can see the full breakfast menu here.

I got sausage and cheese in my burrito, which also comes with a small container of salsa on the side.

I didn’t eat the burrito until I got to the office, but it was still hot, and the cheese was still melted.  The small bits of peppers and onions added some flavor, and the sausage, which was cut lengthwise, was great.  I’ve always loved the taste of breakfast sausage.

All of these ingredients and eggs were cooked together and wrapped snugly inside a soft flour tortilla.

What a delicious breakfast, and a great way to start the day!

Follow them on twitter here, facebook here, and their website is here.

Today is the Official Launch of the Malaysian Food Truck that will be giving out free samples of Malaysian food in Manhattan for the next month and Queens for 2 weeks after that.  This promotion is intended to raise awareness of Malaysian food, which is an amalgam of Malay, Chinese and Indian cuisines, with a smattering of Portuguese, Thai, Indonesian and even Middle Eastern influences thrown in for good measure.

There will be 9 restaurants cooking and giving away their particular Malaysian specialties, and each restaurant will get 3 days each to give away their delicious food before the next one takes over the truck.  You can follow the Malaysian Food Truck on twitter here, although we have already added them to our Mobile Munchies twitter feed, where you can find them as well.

The Official Launch is today at 40th St & 6th Ave, on the south side of Bryant Park.  For the first day only, they are giving away a Malaysian breakfast consisting of roti jala and pulled tea.  Today and every other day will be lunch only from 11:30 to 3pm, or until supplies run out.

So what is roti jala and pulled tea?  Click through to find out.

Roti jala is a type of crepe that translates as “net bread”.  The batter is made with flour, eggs, butter, coconut milk and a little turmeric for color.  It’s then rolled around on the griddle with a spiky implement that gives it a lacy, web-like appearance (kind of like Swiss cheese).  You can do many things with it, but today they topped it with a spicy brown sauce and a pickled cucumber.

I’m not used to spicy food for breakfast, but this was delicious.  It was a little eggy and crepe-like.

The pulled tea was similar to Chai tea, but they “pull” the tea by pouring it back and forth between two containers that are held a few feet apart.  It airs out the tea and mixes the ingredients together better.

Breakfast was very enjoyable, and I’m going to check out lunch today as well.  With free and delicious Malaysian food from Fatty Crab and other Malaysian restaurants, why go anywhere else.

In rural Virginia, a husband-and-wife team are proving that you don’t need to be in a big city to serve great street food and amass a decent following.   Serious Eats recently profiled Local Sixfortyseven, who in the past season set up at Virginia farmers’ markets including Winchester, Centreville, George Mason University and Reston, as well as wineries like Barrel Oak Winery and Lost Creek Winery, and other community events.

Local Sixfortyseven sources all of their ingredients from local farms or from their own garden.  They make Southern-inspired food that’s local, fresh, and seasonal.

For breakfast there’s strawberry-challah French toast and buckwheat pancakes with blackberry-rosemary syrup, and for lunch and dinners, it’s salads, wild-caught fish, country-fried pork chops, and a half-pound Piedmontese all-beef burger with all house-made condiments (ketchup, mustard, mayo, pickles, pickley green tomatoes, pickley peppers, and much more). For dessert, the pie odds are good. [Serious Eats]

New York Street Food would venture below the Mason-Dixon Line for the cheeseburger pictured below. Wow!

Local Sixfortyseven cheeseburger

La Dominique Crepes

Looking for something other than cheesesteaks in Philly?  We recently told you about some good Chinese food trucks there.  Since I’m heading out of town for a few days, I thought this would be a good time to tell you about some other options, first for breakfast, then for lunch.

For breakfast, La Dominique Crepes (pictured above) at 33^rd and Market has a killer breakfast entrée of a crepe stuffed with sausage that can compete with any hash-slinging L.A. truck.

Mickey D’s Grill, also at 33^rd and Market, has some of the best Philadelphia can offer for breakfast. Instead of regular toast, you’ll get two slices of pound cake, browned up just right. Throw in an egg and broccoli rabe mixture with provolone and spices and you’re good to go.

For lunch, if you want falafel, Christo’s falafel at 20^th and Market is one of the best.  Greek Gus has a way with a falafel, but he tends to run out early.

Then there’s Ton Ton, owned by Keiko Naka.  Her tiny vending cart is decorated with Hello Kitty, and she serves up excellent foods such as curried rice omelet and fried chicken. The prices are reasonable and the food is exceptional. She is also located at Market and 33rd Street.

For Caribbean and soul food, Denises Soul Food at 3rd and Market makes a macaroni and cheese that is fantastic. You should also try their famous peach cobbler. Denises Soul Food is located in a pink truck, so it’s not hard to find.

There are many other good choices available, but this is a nice start if you want some good and interesting street food in Philly for breakfast and lunch.

Buttermilk Truck (L.A.)

Someone needs to make a sacrifice to the street food gods so we can get a breakfast truck in NY like the Buttermilk Truck.  The L.A. street food pagans must have sacrificed quite a few virgins to get this beauty.  (Where they found virgins in L.A., I have no idea.  Although it might be pretty tough in NY, too)

Check out this menu:

Hawaiian Bread Cinnamon
French Toast Sticks

Served with powdered sugar and syrup
3 or 5 per order

Buttermilk Pancake Bites

Served with butter and syrup
Check for seasonal assorted flavors

Buttermilk Biscuit Breakfast Sandwiches

Served on housemade buttermilk biscuit with cheese and fried egg Choice of applewood smoked bacon, tocino, or chicken apple sausage
Available with rosemary garlic hash browns

Hawaiian Bread Breakfast Sliders

Portuguese sausage, sauteed onions and shoyu scrambled eggs on Hawaiian bread

Housemade Cake Donuts

Fried to golden brown and dusted with powdered sugar and glazed with cinnamon vanilla glaze
3 or 5 per order

Southwest Veggie Omelette

sauteed onions, tomatoes, jalapenos, cilantro topped with jack cheese and served with housemade cornbread

They also have a late night menu Thurs-Sat with most of the above, plus:

Fried Chicken with
Housemade Cinnamon Waffles

Served with butter and syrup

Buttermilk Brick

Hash browns, 2 eggs over easy, buttermilk biscuit and housemade chorizo gravy

COME ON NY!  WE CAN’T LET L.A. GET THE BEST OF US.

[Buttermilk Truck]

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: WE DO NOT ENDORSE THE SACRIFICING OF VIRGINS (JUST IN CASE SOMEONE COULDN’T FIGURE OUT THAT WAS A JOKE).