NYC Food Truck Lunch: Octopus & Chorizo Tacos from the El Paso Truck
Perry, the voice behind New York Street Food, brings you his latest review on New York City food trucks.
A couple of months ago, we ran into a friend on the street who used to run a food truck. He told us to be on the lookout for a really good new one called the El Paso Truck. He sent me their tentative menu, and boy did it look good!
There were the usual beef, pork and chicken tacos, but they also had pulpo (octopus) tacos, mahi mahi al pastor tacos, lengua (tongue), and a few other less common ingredients.
The El Paso Truck hit the street recently, and we were able to stop by for a couple of tacos. For our first visit, we had to try the octopus taco for $4. To round things out, we went for a chorizo taco for $3 too.
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The El Paso Truck is a spinoff of El Paso Restaurante, located at 1643 Lexington Ave (103rd St). The menu at the truck is significantly smaller than the restaurant, with just tacos and some drinks – but what they do with the tacos is excellent!
One problem with octopus is that it can be chewy if not properly prepared. We are happy to say the octopus in the tacos was tender and not chewy at all. Not only that, but it was plentiful underneath the toppings. There were more than just a few pieces of octopus.
Topping the octopus was pickled onions, shredded cabbage, oregano, and a spicy . To use the local lingo, excellente!
The diverse flavors came together nicely, with the sharp taste of the pickled red onions, the spiciness of the habañero sauce, and of course the meaty pieces of octopus.
It was going to be tough besting the pulpo taco, but the chorizo taco tried it's best.
Chorizo is often very oily, but this Spanish sausage meat was not overly greasy. It was spicier than a lot of chorizo we've had before, and was accented by fresh cilantro and chopped raw onions.
We have to say, our friend Ben was right. The El Paso Truck is one of the better trucks to open in NYC in a while. The ingredients are not the usual taco truck fare, and they are put together thoughtfully and with care.
The El Paso Truck is still experimenting with parking spots, so we would suggest following them on Twitter here or on our Mobile Munchies Twitter feed. So far, they have parked on 72nd & York and 86th & Broadway, but we know other locations are coming soon.
