We’ve hit up the Umami Moto food truck a number of times at North Union Farmers’ Market. As I normally shop there in the morning, our first sampling was breakfast, the rice crepes and Thai omelet.
(Rice Crepes)
Both were quite good, especially for the price. The crepes have a satisfying, toothsome texture, and the scallions were a nice counterpoint to the eggs. What really made the breakfast dishes, though, was their spicy-sweet red sauce, which we’d gladly buy bottled.
On a subsequent visit I picked up lunch, Pad Thai (Vietnamese hot) ($7), Vietnamese Grilled Meatballs ($3) and a double order of potstickers ($6).
I really liked the pad thai, which had a good peanut flavor, chewy rice noodles and well-textured, meaty tofu. The mouth-coating spiciness, though, somewhat overpowered the other flavors. Next time I’ll just get “hot.”
We all enjoyed the meatballs, which were nicely grilled and well-complemented by the spicy-sweet dipping sauce.
The highlight might have been the potstickers, though. Tim Wu wrote an article in Slate a few years ago about perfect dumplings, particularly the “magic ratio” of protein to starch that seems to activate the brain’s pleasure centers. These seem to be the dumplings he’s writing about. Jonathan was iffy on them because they were so meaty, but Sarah, a big fan of potstickers, considers them the best she’s ever eaten. The dipping sauce is also more flavorful than you’ll find in 90% of Chinese restaurants.
Umami Moto is definitely worth checking out at the Hessler Street Fair this weekend, or wherever else you find them.
Loved their dumplings! Looking forward to trying the Pad Thai soon.