One of the reasons I always am very excited for the Eat Mobile food cart festival in April every year is that it is an opportunity for me to discover new food carts. Since I work in Beaverton, I miss out on a lot of the food carts that are open for lunch downtown on the weekdays. I also don’t tend to be out eating at the “late night pods” that start from 11pm on on the weekend nights. Usually one of the main reasons I get to enjoy a food cart is if I happen to have an appointment so I am working a half day. Of course, that’s still no excuse completely since even though not all of them are open, there are some open at other hours and on the weekend, and at other cart pods besides downtown.
A couple weeks ago after a dentist appointment, I took the opportunity to go grab lunch at one of the food carts that really impressed me at Eat Mobile 2014 this year (as I recapped previously). This was the Mama Chow’s Kitchen food cart, which had provided a sample of fried chicken wing with honey soy glaze, garlic noodles… YUM. Also, their cart is adorable!
My stop around lunchtime at 12 was very fortunate, because I got the second to last chicken order at the cart! The cart is located at SW 2nd and Stark, just a half block away from Mother’s Bistro. There, Jeff Chow, transplant from Oakland and trained chef is bearing his Mama’s recipes, offering choices such as or his mom’s Wontons in wonton soup, lollipop wings, kalua pork, or garlic noodles.
There are a generous number of wontons in that Wonton Soup, with his mom’s wontons full of flavorful pork, shrimp or chicken in the house broth with baby bok choy. It’s the best wonton soup I’ve ever had. I took the photos below before adding anything extra, but there are lots of various condiments, including spicy hot sauce to amp up this soup even more.
The garlic noodles are amazing, fresh made with chayote squash and onion relish. It sounds simple, but it is so good you will gobble it all up faster than you think. Yes, you can get them with the other dishes probably on his menu, but you want a whole order of these noodles.
From my second try of these chickens, let me confirm that these are justifiably raved about lollipop chickens that come in a honey soy garlic glaze with jasmine rice and baby bok choy. You can see the lollipop name comes from the fact that the meat is pushed up slightly to expose a bone handle. The chicken is juicy inside, but the skin is crisped up from the glaze. The only improvement or recommendation I have for you when you order is to switch out the rice with those excellent garlic noodles.
He makes everything fresh so there may be a 5-7 minute wait, but it’s worth it.
You can find/follow more of the deliciousness of Mama Chow’s Kitchen at their Facebook page, or on their Instagram @MamaChowsKitchen or on their Twitter @MamaCsKitchen
As a side note, because of the timing of this post… I just want to point out that if you are going to OBF, Mama Chow’s is open from 11-3 so you could bring it as your lunch, and they are also open 12-5 on Saturdays if you attend OBF that day. The cart is only a few blocks away (1/2 block North of the Mother’s Bistro on SW 2nd)
