Ngon Bistro Food Truck – St. Paul, MN

Food truck Wednesday! Time to meet some friends downtown and see what the food trucks have to offer. Today was a special treat – Ngon Bistro’s food truck was here and I didn’t even know they HAD a food truck. Ngon is pronounced “non”, for the record. I really enjoyed the food at Ngon’s restaurant when I went there with D.Rough and Rita, so I was looking forward to this!

I knew other people were coming to meet us, but they werne’t here yet, so that meant it was time for an appetizer!

…And since I was standing right next to Romocky Cheddar Brats and Dogs, I thought I’d better grab a snack. And by snack, I mean a bacon-wrapped cheese brat covered in BBW sauce. Hahahahaha. Yup, I was about halfway through it when Garrison arrived. This actually confused the lady in line behind me when we got to Ngon because I was already eating something. I told her I needed a snack if I was going to stand in line and what’s better than a brat appetizer. I think she was horrified. Whatever, lady. I’m in front of you and I’m not letting you past.

The Ngon Bistro food truck is one of the most unique food trucks I have ever seen. It really isn’t a truck, it’s a VAN - it’s a Ngon-truck (get it? Non-truck. Nevermind.). It’s a Volkswagen van from the 70’s, but it’s been super retrofitted to serve food. The top of the van pops up into the air and has a menu written in chalk, but this also serves as a sun-shade for the cook inside. There is an order taking standing outside talking to people about the food, taking orders, and making cash and card transactions. Super efficient, really. It’s a beautiful operation.

I wanted a few things on the menu, but I always like to try new things when I see them. Today, they were offering Pig Tail Sandwiches. Yes, the part of the pig you don’t ever see, nor ask about. Today, I see it in sandwich form. Garrison was going to bite the bullet and get the same, so I figured I might as well. I also saw they had fresh squeezed ginger lemonade and that’s just the thing to beat a 93-degree day. Frankly, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this sandwich. Would the tails be curly and pink? Would they be like bacon? Would they be covered in bbq sauce?

I was wrong on all counts. The sandwich was a baguette with what looked like pulled pork on the inside. If someone hadn’t told me this was pig tails, I wouldn’t have known. The tails were covered with a layer of gruyere cheese and fresh arugula. The meat was actually quite tasty and falling apart, like good pork should be. The cheese was flavorful, as well as the lettuce on it. However, the pork was so juicy it got the bread completely sogged and it turned into a mess. I think the downside to this sandwich was the bread, sadly. The ingredients were vibrant and fresh tasting and I’d eat them again, but maybe if it had a toasted baguette or some sort of more substantial roll, it would have been a top notch sandwich. Don’t get me wrong, the sandwich was delicious and I’d recommend it, but be eat it fast or split it between two people.

Sadly, the Cupcake Social truck wasn’t downtown for dessert, so I had to go home and eat ice cream while I listened to a conference call on mute. That’s how I roll.