Plains, Trains, and Automobiles

I’m sitting in my usual Friday night hang out, Los Angeles International Airport, awaiting my flying chariot to come whisk me away from the agony of a busy L.A workweek to hide in the east bay. Suddenly it dawns on me that today, I literally took a plane, train, and automobile all in one day! I also had a 15-minute encounter with a bus…

Today’s truck of the day- yup! The GastroBus!!! I know I said they were the worst truck just a few days ago and they were- a few days ago! Today, they were the lone soldiers on a gloomy desolate west la street lined with sizeable corporate buildings. Those who dare to go it alone always earn points with me so The GastroBus is already on the upswing from the fiery pick-your-part junkyard I mentally banished them to in my head.

Before I go on, I must acknowledge my partner in the office and now on the lunch scene, Chris. He’s been on enough lunch runs to be given a title on my quest- his title however, yet to be determined.

So anyhow I approach the big yellow bus (pun TOTALLY intended) with forgiveness in my heart and an echo in my belly. I’ve started cheating a little and going online to pre-determine my meals but always ordering ‘the special’ on the fly. Therefore I knew what I wanted: the skirt steak sandwich combo, complete with sweet potato fries and honey mustard dipping sauce.

As always, I was ready with my order, prepared to pay. “I’ll have the skirt steak sandwich combo with a fried egg atop and an organic zucchini soup, please!” I exclaimed with nothing but good home training and famine in my overtly polite tone. She said, “I’m sorry, I JUST ran out of soup!” I mean come on people, don’t you agree this is really getting old! On top of “just” running out of soup, she was also out of free pound cake with lemon curd that the website boasted about being available to all customers *while supplies last*.  Clearly supplies didn’t last. I like to imagine it was the size of one of those free KFC situations you see on the commercial that comes free with an overwhelming amount of ‘chicken.’ So I’d bet ya only 4 people indeed had a slice of this illustrious cake anyway.

I quickly got over the disappointment-hell, I’m getting used to it- and purchased my meal with my preferred method of payment. A credit card! Yes people that’s right! They accepted major credit cards! Score for team GastroBus! I mean seriously, if you’re anything like me you don’t carry cash as to avoid a guilty conscience and being able to honestly tell panhandlers you don’t have any cash on you, and if street thugs jack you, cash is one less loss. Beside, ATM/Debit/Credit is a paper trail for the IRS in case you’re audited for expenses and do a crummy job with keeping up with receipts!  Okay- this isn’t economics- I’m off task. Sorry.

Now for the good stuff- the food! I received my food in a pretty timely fashion. Chris and I head back to the office to dig in.  The sandwich, flavorful. I love steak. I love most cuts of steak in fact, so I’m wide open to be impressed. No sandwich is even considerable if the bread isn’t right however. This bread wass right! It’s like a chabatta gone soft! This was some seriously awesomely textured bread. As you may have learned yesterday, I think that some foods and flavors consummate and this bun was the offspring of a blissful croissant/chibatta romance! There was love made because it was soft and flaky, a little buttery but pretty durable. I did notice if you let the steak sit on the bread for too long, it will go a bit soggy on you, but that was mainly because the meat was juicy at first bite and the wonderful chimichuri smeared between the bread and the fried egg I added made it weak with envy! My bottom bun wanted to BE that chimichuri so it soaked it all up hoping to emody it’s bright green essence! Who knew food had such drama!

So, to be clear, this sandwich originally has lettuce, tomato, chimichuri, radish, red onion, and of course, skirt steak. There was a $2 option to add a fried egg, and I thought I’d be a fool not to.  I did however opt to hold the radish and I’m glad I did. 

This lovely sandwich was served up with sweet potato fries that were generously dusted in kosher salt. They were served with a side of honey mustard, which I was excited about and what a let down it turned out to be. They used Dijon mustard, which left an overwhelming wasabi flavor. It totally rained on the sweet potato’s parade. If you’re in to that sorta thing, I guess it was good. Not my thing. Boy was I glad I passed on that radish on the sandwich.

I can’t imagine how unappealing the radish, red onion, and Dijon flavored happy dip would’ve offended me had I not done some quick mental flavor math while ordering! After I rid the sandwich of 99% of the red onion (I have a sensitivity to raw onion- I’m sure they did nothing wrong) it was delicious! My kind of sandwich-meat you can taste, ingredients that are fresh, and anything but mayo for moisture- good to the last bite.

The combo (sandwich, fries, and canned soda) was $9 BEFORE I added the egg. My total was 11 bucks! 11 bucks??  Can you say yikes?!? Yeah, I like to pay for food, but everyone isn’t me. So this spot was a little on the pricey side in my frugal opinion.

The vegetarian items were impressive and I may regret not trying them. There was a roasted cauliflower with yogurt sauce that did catch my attention and the organic zucchini soup I saw others eating around me looked unbelievable. They offered a special of soup with a grilled cheese sandwich for only $6 I think. It was the perfect meal for this gloomy day too. I think that was actually the way to go. The veggie sandwich had sprouts, sweet potato, zucchini, and some other things that they advertised as farmer’s market fresh ingredients for only $6 or $9 as a combo. Awesome! So for my veggie lovahs out there, this could be one for you to follow!

Overall, the GastroBus was pretty good. I’m on the plane right now, and it’s not necessarily living up to its name. Although the cauliflower may have made an honest bus out of them after all had I tried it! So the fella sitting next to me is grateful and I am pleased with my experience. I’d do it again! In fact, I look forward to doing it again.

Uh oh, I’m descending into San Francisco. My electronic device must be shut down completely and stowed safely beneath my seat or overhead compartment as I return my seat and tray table to an upright position for landing (would you believe me if I told you I know every word of the safety speech and periodic announcements?) Scary right?

I plan on trying a truck or two here in the bay as well. I hope you all had a good week, as I have certainly had a tasty one!

Please remember to sleep, love, and most important, eat well!

(Is that corny? I told you I’d be trying out catch phrases!) I really wish, “Seacrest out,” wasn’t taken!