Portland food carts: An explosion of food made in trailers!

Yes, yes, we're all aware* that Portland loves to eat food from souped-up travel trailers instead of eating indoors like everyone else. Me, I've been more than a bit skeptical of eating from a kitchen on wheels. I dunno, I barely survived food poisoning once, I'm not willing to tempt fate (or room-temperature mayonnaise) again.

So it was with great trepidation that this weekend, I ate my first cart meal: a "Mississippi Bowl" from Native Bowl at N. Mississippi and Shaver. It was incredibly delish; a vegan bbq sensation of rice, fake bbq TVP, spicy bbq sauce, and topped off with cold coleslaw. And even better, the next day? No food poisoning!

Today, emboldened by my strong stomach and curious about what other culinary delights are out there, Chris and I ventured to the North Station food carts at N. Greeley & N. Killingsworth. We both decided to try Korean street food at the bright pink trailer housing Yogio. I went for the "paper and scissors" combo that included thin veggie pancakes with cabbage and thin sauce and a variation of the Korean dish dokpoki that included hot and fat noodles with vegetables in broth. It was good, but no Mississippi bowl.

I have to say, for the rest of the warm weather this summer, I can see more cart meals in my future. It's kind of addictive: after dinner we rode bikes back to the carts to try out the handmade ice cream.

(We were just voted #1 “World’s Best Street Food” by CNN/Budget Travel.)