Sunday, August 25, 2013

Great Food Truck Race - Jersey Girl Goes Home

It will be remembered as the gooey duck episode.

On the night that "gooey duck" - or geoduck as it's formally known - entered the culinary lexicon of the nation, the Jersey girls of the Boardwalk Breakfast Empire lost their way and then lost the competition. The team from New Jersey that was competing to bring a food truck back to the Jersey Shore after losing their restaurant to Hurricane Sandy simply couldn't compete in the town of Portland, Oregon, despite offering some creative and impressive dishes on the second leg of the Food Network's Great Food Truck Race.

It was a mighty impressive win for the Hawaiian boys, cooking food on their truck Aloha Plate.  Despite not winning the token prize - and $500 added to their till -  the young cooks from Hawaii still racked up more than $2000 in sales, which nearly doubled the next closest competitors - the girls from Bowled and Beautiful who also won the contest prize. Tonight's episode and the weekend in Portland was a fairly entertaining and evenly balanced episode. The girls from Frankenfoota managed to hang around again, despite racking up a $60 parking ticket. I am still put off by their food - and their tough girl attitudes - and I won't be surprised when they lose out next week. Just nothing special about their truck.

The big surprise of the night was the poor performance from the Philly boys on truck Philly's finest Sambonis. Having won, walking away last week, the Sambonis had a very weak weekend, and they were in the bottom three with two other trucks that couldn't hold a propane flame to the top trucks. One huge difference between the Sambonis and the hot dog girls can be summed up in two words - french fries. I was completely put off by the Frankenfoota girls purchasing bags of Ore-Ida french fries, and I was quite pleased to see the Sambonis peeling potatoes and offering fresh cut fries. Quality counts, girls.

Overall, an enjoyable episode.  However, it wasn't a complete loss for the team from Jersey, as Tyler and the trucks of the Great Food Truck Race decided to donate the profits from the weekend to Sea Bright Rising, the charity started by the Jersey team to benefit those families struggling to recover from Hurricane Sandy.  For some final thoughts from the Jersey Girl, check out Food Network's site.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

My friend this tips help for you. Long Beach Island, or LBI as it's known to the regulars, has 18 miles of fine silky sand and some of the best breaks along the Shore. With its boozy nightlife and busy beach scene, Beach Haven is popular with the young crowd spending weekends at the Shore. Ship Bottom is a popular family spot with a playground and calm bay beach away from the ocean's currents at 15th Street. Surfing is permitted at 19 spots along some of the area's best beaches, including Barnegat Light, Harvey Cedars, Surf City and Ship Bottom. Whether you're a diehard surfer or just watch from the beach, you'll want to check out the original Ron Jon shop in Ship Bottom. The first Ron Jon surf shop opened here in 1961, and today this 4-story surfing emporium sells everything from boards to board shorts for those who just want to look the part.
jersey shore restaurants