Where: Tempe Outrigger Regatta AZ Ohana, Tempe Town Lake
When: Apr 9, 8:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Description: Look for Garlic Fried Rice and Over Easy Eggs in the Morning
Obviously, these are not the kind of Adidas to lace up for your next race.
Believe me, it wasn't my first choice on Hey Joe's menu. We came out for the #5 "The Hey Joe" consisting of one Pork BBQ, one Chicken BBQ & two pork Lumpia ($8) and to watch the 6th Annual Tempe Outrigger Regatta AZ Ohana races.
Unfortunately, the combination of an unusually cold day & a row of tents full of hungry outrigger athletes meant that the truck was SOLD OUT of FOOD even before my family arrived at noon! Too bad we didn't follow them on twitter, because Brian apparently tweeted about how they ran out of food earlier. If you're a die hard Hey Joe! fan, you better follow their tweets!
Disappointed but still determined to eat something, anything from Hey Joe's truck - I insanely asked if they were out of Chicken Feet. To my dismay, they weren't! So, after a bit of some more good natured prodding - I coaxed Chef Brian into also selling us his last four bananas. The Adidas and banana-ques totaled $10.
The vegan banana-que came out first. The warmth of the banana-que really hit the spot as we stood out in the cold lakeside air. We gobbled down four! Nevertheless, we just wished the banana was much sweeter. Hey Joe's banana-Q's were lightly caramelized with sugar. Brian explained that's how a lot of his customers like it. I still requested that he try making it the way I like it - encrusted with a thick caramelized shiny sugar coating.
We were pleasantly surprised that the guys inside Hey Joe's truck rummaged up a nice complimentary sampling of their atchara, one lumpia aka egg roll and their VEGAN -Organic Mung Bean with Coconut Milk and Local Spinach aka Ginataang Mongo.
Coconut in this vegan version is a refreshingly different flavor than what I'm normally used to in my family's mungo dish. I'd order the full size portion of this, if we venture out to the Phoenix Downtown farmer market tomorrow where Hey Joe and other trucks from the street food coalition will be.
What: Phoenix Public Market
Where: 14 East Pierce Street Phoenix
When: Apr 20, 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM
But I'll be experimenting with coconut in my next batch of non-vegan Humble Mungo Guisado, with pork, shrimp and patis. Hey Joe's pork lumpia was tasty, with a hint of citrus. If given the opportunity, I'd have pounded half a dozen of those. But I'd need two scoops of rice and a side of Thai Sweet Chili sauce. Their atchara of pickled green papaya & ginger, although not spicy, was still satisfyingly crunchy, tangy & sweet. (It's a perfect pairing with any BBQ skewer.) It especially helped me through my first experience of Adidas. Which I found, of course, tastes just like chicken! It was actually not bad. But, I won't be ordering it again. Once passed the familiarly tasty crispy skin, I just couldn't bring myself to eat the chewy sinews between the tiny bones.
I can't believe I ate it, but at least I tried it. But, this along with the other two items listed under "For The Brave" on Hey Joe's menu (Balut and Chicken Ass) are definitely ones to pair with beer if you go out to the Bikini Lounge this Friday, April 22 9:30 pm - 2 am on 16th Ave & Grand Ave. Be sure to check their online calendar for their next location. I couldn't find a review for Hey Joe! on Urbanspoon yet, so I put in a request for it to be added to their databanks. But I give Hey Joe's a 4 out of 5 for their mungo & accomodating service.---update--9:07pm
I just got an email from jen @ urbanspoon. she added Hey Joe! per my suggestion. awesome.
Still needing to fill our gullets, we headed over to the nearby Paradise Hawaiian BBQ across from the ASU stadium. We recieved lukewarm service with our affordable combo plates of delicious korean kalbi, rice, noodles, meat jun, chicken katsu, seaweed salad and mac salad. We were so hungry. We pounded the food before we could even take a picture. (Side note: They don't have a restroom, no diaper changing table and no children's high chairs. I believe there's a restroom outside of the building, somewhere...I guess that's part of the college town atmosphere.) Well, I will say this, eat there. You'll most likely enjoy whatever you order, regardless of the lackluster service & lacking comforts.
