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Vendy Winners - What'd you think?
Posted: 9:31 pm, September 26th, 2009 in Miscellaneous
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35 Comments
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I was there!
The Country Boys/Martinez Truck totally deserved the win. They were one of the few vendors who made food to order, which = delicious, fresh, hot, food. The level of quality was unparalleled by the other vendors.
As much as I love the Jamaican Dutchy cart, they were outmatched in this case. On the plus side, Biryani cart and the King of Falafel, both put up valiant efforts. Rickshaw was terrible - both the baby food like edamame dumpling, and the truly repugnant chicken & basil dumpling.
At the end, the carts that deserved the win, got the win.
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Same thing year after bloody year.
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What, Rickshaw didn't take the gold? SHOCKING!
Seriously, I hope they fix their f'd up nomination system so an abomination like this doesn't recur. I seriously would have attended this year if that Rickshaw BS didn't piss me off so much.
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Oh, and also got to meet Zach and hang out w/the Serious Eats crew. Very nice people all around!
(And Zach doesn't bite, and Harry is even cuter in person)
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I was sad I missed out on the Country Boys cart. I only had about 2 hrs to eat, and the line just killed it for me. But, I've had other RH Vendors and had a feeling these guys were good. Definitely enjoyed Biryani, Falafel, Picnick. I liked Schnitzel the day I had them from the cart (cod) but yesterday, the not-hot pork schnitzel was so-so for me. As for desserts, I was about 5 people back in line for ice cream when Doug and the crew had to shut down. But, I prefer the topping combinations from BGICT over wafels or cupcakes, so that was a bummer.
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i waited in line for 45 minutes, placed my order for one pork taco and the lady had one chicken huarache. it took like 2 minutes for the order to come out. dare I say, best taco i've ever had. and I've had my fair share living in sunset park.
all of you hippos who went for the sampler at country boys, shame on you for holding up the line. there's no way you could have finished all of that food. :(
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I was happy for Country Boys even if I didn't vote for them. I love La Raza, and the speech was cute. They were deserving. The carnitas were not carnitas, however, nor otherwise good.
I almost had an "Imma let you finish" moment for both fan fav and rookie. Meru was off his game with the kati rolls that day, and the ice cold biryani they served isn't even what have at the cart. I think people must have been voting on what they've had in Midtown, not at the event. I thought Freddy was robbed. He gave huge portions (though not needed), he was the only one with truly great service, and his fresh falafel was the single best bite I had of the day. Too bad his chicken was only so so.I thought Cravings killed Schnitzel truck for rookie. The emperor has no clothes/schnitzel no breading.
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steveroller, what part of it wasn't carnitas? soft and tender meat laced with crispy bits from the 2nd frying. and a good amount of heat too.
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i thought it was great how the falafel guys brought belly dancers to drum up votes.
i liked the schnitzel better than cravings for only one reason. i got a piping hot, just came out from the truck schnitzel and got an end of the batch cold pork chop and drumstick from the cravings truck.
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Deanlo, maybe I got a bad batch, but I got chewy red (?) pork. I like spicy but I don't usually associate carnitas with heat. I think it should ideally look something like this.
http://www.bunrab.com/dailyfeed/dailyfeed_images_jan-07/df07_01-03_carnitas.jpg
Or even this: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_s0c-2Iti0DY/SQnkts1KaOI/AAAAAAAABYo/OhQVjoSjRyg/s400/Pork+Carnitas.JPG
I've liked some of their other meats though.
Rinda, I'd agree that the freshness of the food went into my opinion of a lot of the dishes too.
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I was shocked that Country Boys won the judges vote but the real vote is the People's Choice award which rightfully so was Biryani Cart. It's a tough day to get a real feel for the vendors as there are 600+ people they have to please. Everyone is talking about how the Country Boys made everything to order and that is why they won but they ony won the judges award which I believe was food that was delivered to a specific area. I thought the Schnitzel was very good, Falafel King was okay...not a fan of the pickels in the sandwich. Jamaican Dutchy was not great, too much rice and beans. Rickshaw was good ,I liked the edemame dumplings....waiting for the arrows! Didn't like the fatty pulled pork from Picnick at all, either did a friend. The desserts were all good.
Great event, will bring more friends next year. Great venus as well.
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dude, really sexy picture of carnitas from bunrab. that's exactly what I got from them, except theirs were a bit crispier than how this picture looks. and redder from whatever hot sauce they used. the 2nd picture looks too... boiled. that meat needs to be seared pronto.
as for the heat, it's all a matter of taste, really. not all dishes have established, standardized recipes. i respect your viewpoint though, as I too have preconceived notions about how certain foods HAVE to be.
summer rolls without the peanut sauce is blasphemy to me but it's actually pretty common in Vietnam to eat them with the same sauce you get with your porkchop over rice. hope that analogy is relevant to your experiences. :P
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All the winners were deserving, although not all the finalists deserved to be there. While Country Boys, Biryani Cart, Wafels and Dinges and Schnitzel & Things were deserving of their wins, I thought Picknick Smoked was also on that level.
Had a great time, though. Loved the alternative marching band, although I forgot their name. Anyone remember?
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Whether or not you were there today, what does everyone think?
Rookie Award Winner: Schnitzel & Things
Dessert Award Winner: Wafels & Dinges
People's Choice Award Winner: Biryani Cart
Vendy's Cup Winner: The Martinez Country Boys Truck
Oh, and for reference, these were the nominees (for the few (?) ML readers not in the loop):
Rookies: Big Gay Ice Cream Truck, NYC Cravings, Picnick, Schnitzel
Dessert: BGICT, Cupcake Stop, W&D
Entrees: Biryani, Country Boys, Falafel King, Jamaican Dutchy, Rickshaw Cart
(Oh sorry I didn't find you and say hi, Zach. I wanted to, but er, the job of a Vendy volunteer never really stops, hah.)