Rickshaw Dumplings new container (photo: Emily Dubner)

Food carts, food trucks, food trailers, and now – food containers.  Shipping containers are being re-purposed for all sorts of things.

In Brooklyn, they are the cornerstone of the DeKalb Market, and they were even lined and used as swimming pools.

Rickshaw Dumplings recently opened a shipping container serving dumplings and more in Times Square.

Last year, Singapore Takeout had a pop-up shipping container for 2 days in the Meatpacking District.  They served several dishes meant to introduce people to Singaporean cuisine.

We may have to start a new category on New York Street Food for food containers (although we’ll have to come up with a better name).

Shrimp & short ribs from Singapore Takeout

This week only, Rickshaw Dumplings is selling their  popular dumplings inside the Goldman Sachs cafeteria.

As reported in the NY Times DealBook yesterday, Rickshaw used to park near the former Goldman headquarters on Broad Street.  When they moved to 200 West St, a lot of Goldman people emailed them to come to the new building, but Rickshaw could not find parking in the area.

Word traveled inside the company, and a Goldman representative asked Rickshaw to sell dumplings for a week in its cafeteria, which on most days features sushi, a carving station and upscale menu items like truffled macaroni and cheese.

Click through for the vampire squid reference, if you don’t already know it.

Matt Taibbi from Rolling Stone magazine wrote an article in 2009 about Goldman Sachs called The Great American Bubble Machine.  In the article, Taibbi famously called Goldman Sachs “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.”

If you haven’t read the article, check it out, so you can see exactly what they do to earn those multi-billion dollar bonuses every year.  Even when losing hundreds of millions of their and their clients’ money, they still set aside $10 billion for bonuses in 2011. (Yes, billion with a “b”).

And you wonder why people are pissed off.  If you’re not, you should be.

Don’t hold it against Rickshaw though. They are just trying to do some business.

One of the oldest food trucks in New York is Rickshaw Dumplings. I first tried them at the 2009 Vendy Awards, where they were a finalist for the Vendy Cup.

They have since expanded to two trucks, three storefronts, and they just opened a new kiosk in the Times Square pedestrian plaza.  You can find the truck locations by following them on twitter here.

Today’s Lunch is Thai chicken basil dumplings and a cold noodle salad from Rickshaw Dumplings, which costs $9.

Although I’m not usually a big fan of chicken dumplings (pork or shrimp, baby!), the Thai basil chicken dumplings at Rickshaw Dumplings are among the better chicken dumplings I’ve had.  They had a nice flavor with minced chicken, basil, carrots and cellophane noodles make a tasty filling.  The dumpling wrapper was soft and springy too.

One thing that has improved since I first tried them is the peanut sate dip that comes with the Thai chicken basil dumplings.

peanut sate dipping sauce

The peanut sauce used to have a processed-food type of consistency and flavor, but it now tastes much more organic, and has a little bit of heat as well.  You can see a lot of spices in the peanut sate dipping sauce.

I also really like the cold noodle salad from Rickshaw.  There’s lots of stuff in there – carrots, bean sprouts, scallions and sesame seeds, among others.  It makes for a nice refreshing side dish, even though it’s cold as ice outside.

cold noodle salad

The Rickshaw Truck is a bit pricey, with either 6 dumplings for $6, or 6 dumplings and a side dish for $9.  You can get cheaper dumplings in Chinatown – but I’m in midtown during the day, and there aren’t many Chinese restaurants in my immediate vicinity.

Rickshaw Dumplings are obviously are doing something right, with this much expansion over the past 2-3 years.  Let us know what you think.

icken

As we told you last week, tomorrow is National Iced Tea Day, and to celebrate, Snapple is teaming up with 5 of the best food trucks in NYC to give away 1,000 free lunches…and even more free Snapple iced tea.

We’re talking real lunches, not the sample sizes usually given away in free promotions. This is one of the better free food promotions we’ve seen.

There have been some changes made to the truck locations since last week, so please click through for the updated locations – and make sure to get there early!  It starts at 11am.

The 5 food trucks who will be giving away free Snapple iced tea and free lunch from 11am until the food runs out are:

BIAN DANG – Midtown East (all main dishes will be available; one per customer)

EDDIE’S PIZZA TRUCK – Hudson & King St. (choose from a regular or pepperoni bar pie; one per customer)

RICKSHAW DUMPLING TRUCK – 45^th & 6^th Ave. (only this truck; choose one 6-piece dumpling option and one side from a select menu; one combination per customer)

SCHNITZEL & THINGS – 52^nd & Lexington Ave. (all main dishes will be available; one per customer)

SOUVLAKI GR – Old Slip & Front St. (choose from the entire menu, up to $10 per customer)

With 1,000 free lunches and 5 trucks, that works out to 200 free lunches from each truck.

Even if you get there too late for a free lunch, you can still get a free bottle of Snapple with the purchase of a meal from any of these trucks.

Can’t get a better deal than this from some of the best New York food trucks.

The four food trucks located on the old Tavern On The Green spot (Central Park West & 67th St) will be opening Saturday for the season.  As reported by Zagat Trucks, they will be giving away free food from 2-4pm on Saturday (4/16), and a live band will also be playing.

You probably know Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream and Rickshaw Dumplings, but the other two vendors were unfamiliar to us until we tried them last year…and they were both excellent.

We tried two items from Pera Turkish Tacos last year – lavender & honey roasted chicken on lavash bread ($3.50) and smoked lamb on a zucchini pancake ($3.75).

Both were delicious, but the standout was the zucchini pancake used as a Turkish taco wrapper.  It was eggy with dill, chives and small pieces of zucchini in the batter – and that doesn’t even address the bbq lamb and feta inside!

We are also really looking forward to the grilled spicy shrimp taco from Pera, which we didn’t get a chance to try last year.  Full menu here.

chicken taco in lavash bread (top) & smoked lamb in a zucchini pancake (bottom)

The 4th vendor, Ladle of Love, was very good too.  They serve soups, stews and sandwiches, and I had their beef bourguignon.  You could taste the red wine, beef broth and herbs like bay leaf and thyme in the sauce.

The chef also gave me tastes of two sandwiches to try: a BLT chicken sandwich on ciabatta with chipotle aioli mayo and a serrano ham and manchego cheese with watercress, also on ciabatta bread.  Both were very tasty.  Full menu here.

The Fine Print: The deal lasts from 2–4 PM, and diners can get one menu item from each truck for free.

After Saturday, the trucks will be open every day from 11 AM to dusk throughout the summer.

Mexicue, our current NYSF Featured Vendor, tipped us off to a really cool event next month.

The Brooklyn Brewery and Edible are presenting a 5-course dinner featuring their beer and food from the following Vendy Award nominated food trucks – Mexicue, Souvlaki GR, Rickshaw Dumplings and Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream.

The event costs $40 per ticket and is being held on Wed, March 23rd from 6-9pm at the Brooklyn Brewery (79 North 11th St, Brooklyn).

Tickets are not on sale yet, but we will be sure to let you know when they are.  Sounds like an awesome event!

Souvlaki GR

]]> http://newyorkstreetfood.com/14516/food-trucks-and-beer-and-ice-cream/feed/ 0 http://newyorkstreetfood.com/8740/todays-lunch-thai-chicken-basil-dumplings-from-rickshaw-truck-2/ http://newyorkstreetfood.com/8740/todays-lunch-thai-chicken-basil-dumplings-from-rickshaw-truck-2/#comments Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:42:47 +0000 admin http://newyorkstreetfood.com/?p=8740

It was another crazy day at the office, and I needed something nearby and quick for lunch.  Rickshaw Dumpling Truck was only 1/2 block away and they don’t usually have a long line, which fit the bill perfectly.  Today’s Lunch is the Thai chicken basil dumplings with peanut sauce ($6) and a cold noodle salad ($3) from Rickshaw Dumpling Truck. (Note: This was a few days ago.)

The Rickshaw Truck has its fans and its detractors. Yes, they are a bit pricey and you can certainly get cheaper, better dumplings in Chinatown – but I work in midtown and there aren’t many Chinese restaurants in my immediate vicinity.

I find Rickshaw’s dumplings to be decent.  While I don’t usually like chicken dumplings (pork or shrimp, baby!), the Thai chicken dumplings at Rickshaw are pretty good.  The minced chicken, basil and cellophane noodles are a nice filling, and the wrapper is soft and springy.

What I didn’t like was the peanut sauce. It had a vaguely chemical taste to it, and kind of reminded me of a peanut flavored Cheez Whiz.  Glad that I asked for hot sauce, because the dumplings dipped in hot sauce were good – and their hot sauce is severely hot.

I really like the cold noodle salad from Rickshaw.  There’s lots of stuff in there – carrots, bean sprouts, scallions and sesame seeds, among other things.  A nice refreshing side dish for summer.

Today’s Lunch gets a 7.5 out of 10.  The cost is near the higher end for street food, but the dumplings, noodle salad and hot sauce were pretty good – not great but good.  The peanut sauce however was a disappointment.  While Rickshaw is not my favorite food truck, it will do in a pinch if I don’t have a lot of time and they are nearby.

New and repeat food truck festivals are taking place this weekend in NYC and Boston.

In an encore performance of a very successful debut, the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market is having another Gourmet Food Truck Bazaar…and Boston is holding it’s 1st Annual Food Truck Festival.

Eat, Shop, Love!  This weekend spend a leisurely Sunday eating and shopping at the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market.  Check out a few of our favorite gourmet food trucks.

The Line Up: Rickshaw Dumpling Truck, The Krave Truck, Bistro Truck, Go Burger, Big Gay Ice Cream Truck

And don’t forget the amazing treasure finds from our  vintage flea market vendors!  Sunday, August 8, 2010 from 11am to 4pm

Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market – West 39th Street between 9th and 10th Avenue. [website]

If you thought Boston didn’t have a food truck scene?  Well, the revolution starts NOW.  In conjunction with SoWa Sundays (and merci to a micro-grant from FEAST), citysearch boston will pull all the stops to ensure that — for at least one afternoon — local food trucks will stand together in solidarity and thing-on-a-stick-y.

The first annual Food Truck Festival in Boston is being held this Sunday (8th)  – where vroom vroom meets nomnomnom.  Confirmed participants include:  speed’s hot dogs, m&m ribs, lincoln street coffee, dragon mobile disco, taza chococycle, south end pita, boston frosty, fillbelly’s, cupcakory, herrara’s mexican grill, food truck nation, equal exchange coffee trike, grillo’s pickles, the sausage guy, roxy’s grilled cheese, b. good and trolley dogs.

The festival is at SoWa Food & Produce at 500 Harrison Ave, South End, Boston from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. [facebook page]

“From wontons to pierogis, the dumpling is a beloved eat in many cuisines. Wai Hon Chu, the chef behind the cred-securing title The Dumpling: A Season Guide, huddles with authors Jayne Cohen and Tom Birchard (of Veselka fame) on Thursday, May 27th to extol the greatness of a cooked ball of dough. Chu knows his stuff, with a background that includes stints at March and the Russian Tea Room, and select dumplings are on hand to give the talk some delicious context. ” - Jason Jude Chan

It was another crazy day, so I didn’t have time to go anywhere but right near my office for lunch.  Being by 57th & Broadway, there aren’t a lot of good food trucks or carts around here, but the Rickshaw Dumpling Truck parks on 57th St & 8th Ave every Wed (this lunch was yesterday).

I’ve had Rickshaw dumplings several times, and while I can’t say they are the best dumplings you’ll ever have, with the lack of Chinese restaurants in this area, they have become my go-to place for dumplings.  My favorite so far were the thai chicken & basil dumplings, but I’ve also had the edamame dumplings and the shrimp dumplings.

Today’s Lunch was pork & chive dumplings, their daily special (yesterday).  You get 6 dumplings for $6, and I also got a side of cold chili-sesame noodles, which was $3.  I also asked for some hot sauce, which included in the bag.

With dumplings, the wrapper is important, and I liked the wrapper on these dumplings.  They weren’t paper thin, but they weren’t too thick either, and had a springy (but not chewy) texture.  The filling was minced pork and chives, and I could see some minced bamboo shoots, too.  The filling was a bit bland.  It could have used some soy sauce in the pork and chive mixture, but a little dip into the soy-sesame dipping sauce, and everything was fine.  The dipping sauce was good, but a little hot sauce in the dipping sauce made it even better.

The cold chili-sesame noodles is a nice side dish.  There are carrots, black sesame seeds, black pepper, a few bean sprouts and scallions. There is a slight spiciness to the noodles, but I asked for some hot sauce on the side, which was great added to the noodles.  If you want a hot sauce with some heat, this is it.

Today’s Lunch gets an 8 out of 10.  You will find cheaper dumplings and possibly better dumplings at your favorite Chinese restaurant, but Rickshaw Dumpling Truck is what’s near my office, and they are quick and decent dumplings.

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