For the second installment of the Trailer tour, the expert panel sampled BBQ from Muck n Dave’s Texas BBQ at the South Congress Trailer Park. Although we hadn’t firmly decided on what trailer to visit, the delicious scent of smoky beef persuaded us that to visit any eateries other than Muck n Dave’s would be pure folly. There’s nothing like the smell of Texas BBQ wafting through the air to motivate a person to action! This fact may give Muck n Dave’s a leg up on surrounding eateries.
I tried the chopped brisket sandwich, which was decent. Let me qualify by saying that, having tried some amazing BBQ from different parts of Texas, I have a high standard for beef brisket. It should be tender, smoky, and should have a lot of flavor before adding even a drop of sauce. This sandwich was pretty good but was by no means in the “best I’ve ever had” category. My expert panel companions had similar feelings about their sandwiches. It wasn’t that the sandwiches were bad – they just didn’t have that “wow” factor.
One thing I did enjoy about the sandwich is that it had just a smathering of sauce on top of the beef, allowing for the flavor of the beef to stand on its own. I’ve had many sandwiches where the chopped beef is doused in enough sauce to fill a silo, hiding all traces of the meat underneath. Even so, I ended up adding more to the sandwich as I ate, because to be frank, the sandwich needed more flavor. The sauce was sweet and mustard-y, and reminded me of the Salt Lick’s, although it wasn’t as good (it’d be pretty hard to top the Salt Lick’s, to be fair).Muck n Dave’s does offer sides, which I can’t comment on because I didn’t try. Those will have to wait for another day. All in all, Muck n Dave’s was good but not great.
I am proud to report that the first stop on the Austin Trailer Tour was a success! The Expert Panel visited The Jalopy Rotisserie and Press, located at 15th and San Antonio.Before describing the food, let me just say – the Jalopy is intriguing in every way, from the décor to the method of food delivery. Cartoony, colorful artwork compliments funny sayings in French on both the truck itself and the tables just in front of it. Also, ordering is lots of fun. The truck sits several feet off the ground, so you step up onto a sort of platform to order. When the food is finished, the patron’s name is called and a wrapped sandwich is dropped down a little chute of sorts, at the bottom of which the sandwich lands in a bucket. This place gives new meaning to the whole play-with-your-food concept. But down to the food. The Jalopy offers several different chicken sandwiches. I chose the “Suite 709,” which had jalapeno pepper slices, onion, cilantro and a sweet and salty brown sauce reminiscent of Teriyaki or Hoisin. The thing that struck me most was the combination of sweetness, saltiness and spice. Sweetness from the brown sauce and onion slices; saltiness from the sauce; and spice from the peppers and cilantro, which offered plenty of pep. Blandness was not a problem here! While I did appreciate the contrasting flavor elements, for me the sandwich didn’t entirely come together. Maybe it’s my distaste for most things pickled – I like pickles themselves, but pickled peppers don’t really do it for me. The cilantro didn’t taste quite right on this sandwich either. Which really surprised me because I love cilantro on just about anything. I did like the sauce, although it was a tad overly salty.Despite the negatives, I found myself thinking about this sandwich long after eating it, which counts for a lot. The Expert Panel gave the Jalopy 31 out of a possible 50 points – which may sound low, but this is Austin after all, and we have high standards for our Trailer food.
For the second installment of the Trailer tour, the expert panel sampled BBQ from Muck n Dave’s Texas BBQ at the South Congress Trailer Park. Although we hadn’t firmly decided on what trailer to visit, the delicious scent of smoky beef persuaded us that to visit any eateries other than Muck n Dave’s would be pure folly. There’s nothing like the smell of Texas BBQ wafting through the air to motivate a person to action! This fact may give Muck n Dave’s a leg up on surrounding eateries.
One thing I did enjoy about the sandwich is that it had just a smathering of sauce on top of the beef, allowing for the flavor of the beef to stand on its own. I’ve had many sandwiches where the chopped beef is doused in enough sauce to fill a silo, hiding all traces of the meat underneath. Even so, I ended up adding more to the sandwich as I ate, because to be frank, the sandwich needed more flavor. The sauce was sweet and mustard-y, and reminded me of the Salt Lick’s, although it wasn’t as good (it’d be pretty hard to top the Salt Lick’s, to be fair).
