...A Hungry Rover's Cucina Andare Experience...

How fun is it that my 300th blog post (including Multiply blogs) is about food. And good food at that.

So in case my social media flooding to my friends hasn't been too obvious, I'm actually a co-owner of a food truck that we call the Hungry Rover. Save for Ate Abby (who's an HRM graduate), none of us owners have a background in culinary arts or the food industry. What we have is a collective love for food, a common dream, and passionate hearts to achieve that dream.

Over the past few months, we've talked about how we're going to do this truck, presented ideas to each other, and agreed on a bunch of stuff. One of the things we agreed on was that we wanted to launch the truck through an event where we could invite other existing food trucks, have some bloggers or media friends drop by to check out the food and the trucks, and start a buzz from there. Then we learned of Cucina Andare, which had pretty much the same idea and more. It was perfect because the organizers were known to showcase innovative food offerings through their other known ventures, such as Mercato Centrale, Manda Centrale, Distrito Makati, Soderno, and Mezza Norte. 

The past couple of weeks have been a fun experience, talking to strangers, making new friends, and meeting other food truck owners as well as food stall owners. Kind words have been humbling, but the joy on their faces as they give out these kind words have been priceless. Those are what keeps us doing what we're doing, and the reason why we started this in the first place.

Some people who stopped by our truck who said they just got there and were simply checking everything out asked me what I was really selling. They got confused because after my whole Hungry Rover spiel, I'd rave about all the other food I've tried, since they just got there. It's probably because I can't stop talking, but really, it's more because I love to eat, and I wanted to share that experience with everyone else. Now, onto those food offerings:

Shawarma Bros

NomNom Club's best food AND best truck winner, these Bros are awesome people with awesome food. They have shawarma rice plates, with beef, chicken, or lamb as your choices of meat. I asked for a free plate from one of the owners, Rammy (who was one of the first food truck owners I met for this event) because I was their 50th Twitter follower, 400th Facebook fan, and his personal account's 100th follower. I guess it doesn't really matter, but because he's awesome like that, he got me a free Beef Shawarma plate. The nice taste of the beef shawarma is complemented well by their biryani rice and their sauce. A whole plate could fill one up nicely.

Beat the Bros, Episode 1

After reading a bunch of reviews, though, I said I needed to try their Lamb Shawarma plate. They had a "Beat the Bros" promo last Friday, which I accepted when everyone wasn't too busy. All I had to do was beat one of them in a beer chugging contest. They chanted Abe's name when they told me about the challenge, so I took him on. That was a big mistake though, as the dude was a beast. It was a great intro to my first lamb plate. Even if I won and got it free, I probably would've come back and paid for it because my friends kept asking more of it. What I like about it is the smoked flavor brought about by the meat being really well done. People might think that lamb is too "exotic" for their liking, but lamb really isn't that bad as long as the person who cooks it knows how to do it properly. These guys know how to do it. You'd probably forget that it was lamb midway through your plate.

Food Truck by Chef Broosy

One of the nice looking trucks around Cucina Andare, they offer a Japanese fusion menu. Next to sushi, ramen is a Jap food I usually look for when in a Japanese restaurant. After watching "Ramen Girl" on Star Movies, I tried to look for the best ramen I could find around the metro. I've seen nicely arranged ones, unaesthetic but fully loaded ones, and overpriced ones. I must say that Chef Broosy's Spicy Ramen is appropriately priced, if not under priced, just because it is packed with a healthy serving of pork and noodles in a spicy broth that wouldn't burn your taste buds. For 180 pesos, that ramen is really good.

My dad ordered Kani Salad from them as well. It is served in an edible bowl, which is a nice touch to go with the flavorful salad in the bowl. The owner, Mrs. Viray, is also a joy to talk to during idle moments, as we share our experiences in Cucina Andare.

Schmidt's Gourmet Hotdogs

One of two gourmet hotdog stalls in Cucina Andare, Schmidt's offers "the best hotdogs in the world" with gourmet hotdogs inspired by countries around the world. I was able to try their Coney Island Chili Dog, and words cannot describe how I enjoyed that hotdog. They do not hold back on those toppings. And they put little flags on your hotdog to show which country inspired it. I was almost disappointed that I had to eat it just because it was too pretty to look at. I was saying "ang sarap nito" at every bite, validating my taste expectations when I first saw it. I didn't take a picture of it because I might just want to eat one every time I look at that picture. I shit you not, it will be worth every cent.

Chicken+Waffle Haus

I envy the stalls in the middle of Cucina Andare because these guys perk them up in the middle of the night. You hear the owners shout "chicken n'waffles!" every time you pass by, and from time to time they just burst into song. Their food is as fun as the owners. Those Kpops chicken pops are tender and complemented well by their hickory barbecue sauce. It's a nice beer match. Their C+W Sandwich is appetizing from cooking to eating. We got hungry from smelling the waffles being cooked, and the smell translates well to the taste, as we enjoyed every bite of that waffle sandwich.

And hey, they're no slouches on beer chugging! They battled for pride as one of the owners, Sean, took on the same challenge against the Shawarma Bros Champion, Abe:

Carlo's Kitchen

Sir Carlo dropped by Hungry Rover on the first day with his wife and their pretty daughter who wanted to experience the truck. I had no idea I was enjoying their food before then. Their Crunchy Belly Chicharon is like eating chicken skin because it is so thinly sliced. It's a great snack to have while roaming around Cucina Andare, and a nice beer match.

B.Wings

Inna, our wing-loving co-owner, tried out the Chicken Wings of B.Wings before closing our first Sunday. She taught me how to "properly" eat a chicken wing. It was a nice beer match to close the night, and it was spiced just right.

Last Sunday, a college classmate, Jason, dropped by to taste our food after his gym session (won't say what he ordered, trainer might be reading) and also picked up an order of the Black Mamba Wings. I think he bought it because of one or both things: it was their best seller, and it was "Black Mamba", Kobe's monicker. He had no idea that it had a chocolate coating, one of the reasons why Inna and I decided to pass on it, as we thought chocolate didn't go that well on wings. Well, the reviews I read were right, it really is something to try!

Manila Q

My friend was raving about Bagwang, being from Ilocos, so we ordered one from Manila Q. I don't know why I even thought it was fish before trying it, but it is actually their version of bagnet. I think it works best with rice, as the saltiness is evident at every bite. It's not a bad thing, really, since I like salty food. I just think the best experience for this is eating it with rice over breakfast with slices of tomato. I met the owners of Manila Q, Sir Dante in particular, because they were sourcing out a flavor for their iced tea. Nice to finally try their food like I promised him when we met.

Mio Gelati

This is probably the cutest food truck in Cucina Andare. It has a pull-out stage for customers to see what's available. My girlfriend, Che, was bent on eating a gelato despite having a hard time talking because of a sore throat. She got a Snickers Gelato which she had me finish because of said sore throat. I wasn't complaining.

Merry Moo

While Che opted for gelato, her friends checked out Merry Moo's Seasalt Caramel. I wasn't able to try, but my sore-throat suffering girlfriend did, and she was whining like a kid because she can't get one for herself.

Union Market Bar

I've always passed by it, but never really bought one, as I'm actually more of a beer drinker than a cocktail one. Che and a visiting friend, Issa, tried their Bacardi Mojito Original. I took a sip of it and thought that it was perfect for her, as it really isn't too minty nor was the alcohol evident. They do have other cocktails, which I think would be just as nice.

Hungry Rover

Grilled Wraps na Masa-wrap :p

Of course I should also promote our food truck. Our awesome Beef Tapa is great when paired with our freshly baked pita bread, but the experience won't be any less if paired with steamed rice or our chili rice. Either way, it could be best paired with our youghurt garlic sauce for those looking for that Mr. Kebab-like taste on the meat, or the creamy pesto sauce for those who want a sweet complement to the saltiness of the tapa. The Beef Kofta sliders are mini burgers of Mediterranean inspiration. It has a unique zing I can't really describe, but I definitely like. It's best with the curry sauce, which usually scares people off, but it's more of mustard than curry. I usually get people to try it first before they do decide to go with the sauce. And we do have honey mustard sauce and cheese sauce for those who aren't too adventurous with the other sauces. The Chicken and Pork bbq options are also nice, with tender and chunky pieces of meat for wraps and rice.

Beef Tapa on Classic Rice

While people are enjoying our food, we want to constantly innovate, which is why I prefer to stay by the truck to know what people like, and what people think we can do to innovate or improve our truck and food. Sanya Smith dropped by on our first Sunday and suggested we do karaoke with our on board TV, and we're thinking of working on that next. For the food, a customer ordered Kofta on rice, which is not on the menu, but we served to her anyway. She said that the creamy pesto on rice didn't work for her because it was sweet, but there were customers who liked the sweetness of the creamy pesto sauce. Kids loved the Kofta sliders, because it fits their hand like a regular burger on an adult hand.

Sanya Smith aproves!

With all these in mind,we're looking forward to bigger things for Hungry Rover next year! We're optimistic about some people we've talked to and we're setting up meetings with people who can help Rover be in places where there are hungry people looking for an alternative meal option.


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On a side note, I still do want to try other food offerings at Andare. I haven't seen QKebab or Mexicombi after the first night, but they do have food I want to try. Other food I do want to try in Cucina Andare:

Macheesmo's Burger - if I understand it right, there's cheese inside the patties.

Ylaya Food Truck - Xidee's food truck is the only vegetarian food truck in Cucina Andare. Veggies fresh from Batangas!

Top Dog - Apparently, this is comprised of an enterprising group of kids doing this venture as a school project or thesis, not really sure, I was just informed.





Guac Truck - my brother actually tried their nachos, but since I haven't tried it, I might drop by one of these days. It's one of the first food trucks we came to know about in the Philippines.

**Save for the Guac Truck, Mio Gelato, Chef Broosy's, and Shawarma Bros pictures, all pictures are from Cucina Andare Facebook page, ourawesomeplanet.com, their respective fan pages, and foodnotebook.blogspot.com for the Bagwang.