Thursday, July 2, 2009

Fojol Brothers of Merlindia

Like cupcakes and frozen yogurt, the Twitter food truck trend is sweeping the nation from west to east. LA's Kogi korean taco truck may have started the hysteria but DC's own fojol bros. have definitely put their own spin on it. The formula is simple: take one food truck, post on Twitter where you're going to be serving up your grub, and sit back and wait for the tech-savvy hungry masses to arrive.

The fojol bros. don't operate a food truck that you're likely to find elsewhere in DC (or maybe even on this planet). The "mustachioed" brothers hail from the land of Merlindia (try finding that on a map) and serve Indian-inspired preservative-free food. They donate a portion of the proceeds to local children's charities and deliver the used eating materials to composting and recycling facilities. Whether they hail from Merlindia or Berkeley, they espouse a whimsical Earth-friendly philosophy that I am happy to support.

We stumbled upon the fojol bros. at the Eastern Market Grand Re-Opening, and though we had just eaten lunch, we wanted to try it. Luckily, the fojol bros. serve "Dingo Bite" portions of their entrees so you can get a taste of the action without stuffing yourself silly.

We sampled the chicken masala and pumpkin dishes, both served over fluffy basmati rice. They were incredibly flavorful and screamed of freshness. We quickly reached the bottom of our Dingo Bite portion and somehow were hungry for more!

The brothers also serve up Mango popsicles (they were sold out) and homemade chips. While the food was excellent and I'm eager to find the fojol bros. again, I think my favorite part of the whole concept is that is so "un-DC." I love the looks on people's faces as the silly mustache-sporting fojol bros. pull up and start selling food out of their circus-looking truck. In the shadow of the suit-wearing, straight-laced Capitol Building, the fojol bros. were a quirky breath of fresh (and fun) air.

Second Thoughts from B

Remember the feeling of first hearing those wonderful chimes in the distance that signaled the coming of the ice cream truck? For any 4 year old, myself included, the man behind the wheel was the personification of a mystical and benevolent god, straight out of a magical fairy tale. Now that I'm all grown up, who drives into my life but a merry band of goofballs hocking incredibly flavorful snacks! And as far as the magical fairy tale part goes, let's just say I was as giddy as a kid about to dive into his first Drumstick.

As DC cuisine begins to embrace all-natural local foods, J and I have been lucky enough to discover some really exceptional examples of how good fresh food can taste. Among them are the soups from SouperGirl, which we wrote about here. From the first bite, the fojol bros. proved to also have super powers. Each flavor was dynamic and rich. And to think that it cost $2 and came out of something that resembled Scooby-Doo's Mystery Machine Van... these guys were magical!Fojol Bros. of Merlindia on Urbanspoon

1 comment:

Vidda said...

B, when did you hear that ice cream truck? I know it came down 8th Avenue, but don't remember it much when you were little. Whatever, it's a great memory... J, did you have an ice cream truck in your neighborhood? Best drumsticks whether the cone was stale or not :-)