College towns and food trucks just seem like the perfect pairing, so I was very excited when Denton made the decision to allow food trucks to operate in the city limits, outside of the UNT campus. Since late September, The Pickled Carrot has been rolling around Denton serving Vietnamese sandwiches. Yesterday, I ventured to Denton to try the banh mi.
The Pickled Carrot serves pork, chicken, tofu or baby portobello mushroom banh mis. All sandwiches are 8 inches long and come with pickled carrots, daikon, cucumbers, cilantro, jalapeno, sriracha sauce and homemade garlic mayo.
The pork banh mi has grilled pork was very good. The pork was tender, flavorful and well-cooked. The baguette is very soft on the inside and had a nice crusty outside, which held the sandwich together. The veggies were fresh and there were a lot of them. Having the sriracha sauce already on the banh mi gave it a lot of flavor, which I normally would not have added, but it wasn't so hot as to be overwhelming.
The baby portobello mushroom sandwich was also very good. The mushrooms had a nice, rich flavor on their own but also took on the flavor of the garlic mayo and the sriracha, so each bite was a variety of flavors. The soft bread was still able to hold its own around the vegetables. There was about half of the sandwich left as I made my drive back to my office. At the end of the 20-minute drive, the bread was still holding, although it was starting to get soggy. Since most people won't be driving 20 minutes after getting their sandwich, I'm comfortable saying you can order your banh mi, take it across Denton and not be worried that it will fall apart before you eat it.
The Pickled Carrot serves a cucumber lemonade that I loved. It was refreshing but not too strong in either lemon nor cucumber taste. As the weather warms up, I am going to want to drink this by the gallon.
The Pickled Carrot is also doing its part to help the community, donating all tips to Denton Community Food Center. They also have been taking their trailer to events around town. Most days you can find them at the EZ Check store, near Bernard and Eagle streets. Their Facebook page also provides a number where you can text your order. They also have a fun photo contest going on right now that could win you a free sandwich.
You can follow The Pickled Carrot on Facebook and Twitter. If you are near Denton, go visit them; you won't be disappointed.
