Yesterday, Husband and I attended Nashville’s first and hopefully annual, Battle of the Food Trucks. We had a great time and we were happy to support the charity that organized this, The Tomorrow Fund. As recent New York transplants to Nashville, TN I was bemoaning the lack of food options near us. This was a great introduction to local and good eats.

For donating 5 cans of (human) food, we got a free beer courtesy of local brewery Yazoo Beer. Their Octoberfest blend was quite delicious. For me it was the right mix of sweet and spice that I love in a beer. The head on it was just what I like; it was foamy but also flavorful. I fully intend on touring their brewery and am looking forward to sampling more!

The food trucks were split between savory foods and sweet foods. I have a horrible and overwhelming sweet tooth and the seven desert trucks were all equally amazing. Alas, I had only one golden spoon to vote with and I was torn between my two favorites, The Sugar Wagon and Cupcake Collection.

Lovely ladies and co-owners.

Get on board the cupcake bus!

Both offered the always amazing combination of chocolate and peanut butter, in cup and cupcake form so it was very hard to compare the two. The Sugar Wagon’s nicely chilled Peanut Butter Ganache Cups were like having a creamier home-made Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup (one of my favorite candies!). I wish that I could have gone back for more. I think I could easily eat a dozen or more of these cups. Their other offering (which I did not sample) was a Pumpkin Spice Whoopee Pie which got rave reviews from my friends.

The Cupcake Collection’s two samples were Peanut Butter Mousse and Sweet Potato. I opted for the mousse (I am a chocoholic!) and it was out of this world. The frosting was wonderfully dense compared to the lightness of the cake. And the peanut butter in the middle was a slightly melted surprise. The gooey-ness of it was a good binder for the frosting and cake. The peanut butter wasn’t overly sweet or gritty which is sometimes a problem for homemade nut butters. Same with frosting, now that I think of it.

Cupcake Collection was the winner for sweets with Sugar Wagon coming in at a close second. I won’t tell you which one I voted for but they were both equally delicious. I’ve made the executive family decision that we will be buying from both places very soon.

The savory side was quite the smorgasbord of food and flavors. There was very spicy chicken and waffles from The Hot Spot. The chicken was too spicy for me but it reminded me of spring days wandering around Brooklyn.

There was a great Thai truck, Deg Thai, that had the most delicious pineapple and raisin rice that I’ve had in a LONG time. I think they used glutinous rice? And maybe some sweetened milk? It was a sweet rice but not overly so. It went well with the bits of chopped pineapple. Deg Thai came in second place which is impressive for a business that only opened on Saturday.

Owners of Deg Thai

I know part of the appeal is that it’s great food from a truck but if they had a sit down restaurant, I would be more than willing to go even if all they serve is that rice again.

My other three favorites really fall under one theme: meat, meat and more meat. Hoss’ Loaded BBQ Burger was heaven. The hamburger was juicy and flavorful, the cheddar cheese was sharp, the bacon salty and the onion strings crispy. And the bbq sauce on the very soft bun were perfect touches. I’m looking forward to putting this burger in my mouth in the near future.

How can you go wrong with a name like that?

The second tasting of delicious meats was Smoke Etal‘s pigs in a blanket with a fried pickle okra. The “blanket” was the usual flakey croissant but a delicious corn meal based bread. And it was pulled pork in the middle which was a great twist on my favorite crappy hors d’oeuvre. The batter around the okra was crispy and the pickling was an unexpected sour flavor. It was good, but I’m not a big fan of okra.

The third truck was the wonderfully namedLove Shack. Their waitress was dressed in a go-go print minidress and their truck is a hippie’s dream. Their offering was their brisket Philly cheese steak that I loved. It wasn’t served as a sandwich but in little bread bowls with the cheese melted on top. It was the perfect finger food for eating and walking around. A+ for thinking about that!

The winner for savory foods and for having the most votes was Riff’s with their Korean BBQ taco. I enjoyed the heat from the Korean spices on the pork loin but I wasn’t too keen on the tortilla. Then again, it’s a taco! It should be all about the filling so I whipped out a pair of chopsticks and dug in to that.

Congrats to the winners!

So congratulations to the winners and a hearty thank you to everyone who showed up. I enjoyed myself immensely and it was a great way to really get to know my new home town. I am looking forward to pigging out at all of these places very soon.