When I was on West 50th St last week checking out the scene, I was one of the last people who ordered lunch before the police shut down Big D’s Grub Truck. It was unfortunate for Big D, but I was able to get a bulgogi grinder ($7) for lunch before they had to close up for the day.
One thing Big D does that’s a little different is after the sandwich is made, they press it. It not flat like a panini – it’s more like a Cuban sandwich which is lightly pressed.
Inside the hero (or grinder, as they call it, coming from Atlanta) is a nice amount of marinated beef bulgogi, shredded pickled daikon and carrots, slices of cucumber, and some scallions. I asked for it spicy, so they added sriracha sauce.
This was a pretty substantial sandwich for lunch, with a lot of different tastes going on in each bite. The strongest flavor was the pickled daikon, followed by the bulgogi and sriracha sauce. The heat of the sriracha sauce was tempered by the coolness of the daikon, carrots and cucumbers, and I enjoyed every bite!
They have other meats (spicy chicken, pork, etc) and other sauces too (sweet & spicy, ginger, etc) for the grinders. In the past, I’ve also enjoyed Big D’s dumplings and yucca fries, as well as a Korean taco set.
Hopefully, all this stuff with the police and food trucks will settle down. I had a phone call with Big D after he was forced to close for the day, and we talked about a few ideas for moving forward. I also spoke with David Weber of the NYC Food Truck Association over the weekend, and he told me about some of the things they are doing behind the scenes. Maybe it will all work out after all.
