NY Food Truck Lunch: Beef Stew From Bian Dang
Perry, the voice behind New York Street Food, brings you his latest review on New York City food trucks.
We're always on the lookout for daily specials and new menu items, and one that recently caught our eye was beef stew from Bian Dang. This got our attention because Bian Dang is a Taiwanese food truck, and you don't usually think of beef stew and Taiwanese food in the same sentence.
Monday was was rainy and chilly - a good day to try a hearty dish like beef stew for lunch -which cost $9.
The first thing that caught my attention was Diana, a Taiwanese-American woman on the truck, wearing a Celebrate Israel t-shirt. Add to that the fact that she's serving beef stew - a dish often associated with Ireland, and you have a genuine New York melting pot moment. You can see why I love this city!
This stew had some similarities to Irish beef stew such as large pieces of carrots, celery, potatoes and chunks of tender beef.
Bian Dang also put their own spin on this dish a few ways. They seasoned the beef with a fragrant five-spice powder, added their patented mustard greens, and served the stew over white rice instead of noodles.
More: NYC's 4 Best Restaurants For Hand Pulled Noodles
The spices on the beef really lightened up the dish, as did the omission of gravy. Between the two, this wasn't an overly heavy lunch, as I expected it to be.
Bian Dang makes the rounds of various neighborhoods, so check their Twitter here or our Mobile Munchies twitter feed with lots of other food trucks. If you're not in the mood for beef stew, their Taiwanese fried chicken is one of the tastiest fried chicken dishes around.
