NYC Cravings Truck

Also known as Bian Dang. The best way to go is the pork chop over rice with extra sauce (and a side order of chicken if you have a large appetite). Indeed pork chop over rice can be a very personal, touchy subject depending on you talk to! I’ll try to be as objective as possible as such.
At Bian Dang, the chop has a slight crisp from frying but retains a fair amount of moisture with at most a moderate amount of fat rendered. The great majority of pork chops I’ve had here display these characteristics (with the occasional one overcooked to the point of slight dryness). The pork sauce is quite viscous, with small chunky bits of pork adding underlying texture. There is very little offset to these salty elements, with each platter having a small amount of pickled cabbage that is not particularly strong in acidity or texture compared to most renditions.
Personally I find that I need a cup of sweet sauce to balance everything out. You could also certainly do with a small ‘banchan’ sized side salad from home depending on your tastes.

So this Friday the Bian Dang (spelling?) truck was parked on a cramped 47^th street and Park.
My first instinct, and I’m Chinese by the way is to say WTF in all that is good and holy on this earth is wrong with Asian people?
I get there and there is a mob of mostly Asians standing on line for the truck. This we already know to be true. What rubbed me the wrong way is they decided to stand and form the line up to the truck at a perpdendicular angle to the truck rather than in paralell to it.
For those of you geometrically vexed and didn’t go to a Brooklyn Tech, Stuyvesant or Bronx Science like myself (Techie class of ’93 boo-​yah!), visually it means there was the truck parked on the street and the lemmings on the line formed a letter ‘T’, T-​boning themselves between the truck and the narrow sidewalk so that other pedestrians had to basically break through the line to get passed it.
These are all professional services people in this line mind you with degrees in Math of whatever. Anyhow, its typical and why I often get f****d and stereotyped because of morons like this who have no idea how to act.
Enough on the self hating accusations though. Bian Dang truck really really sucked this year, I mean from like March through April of 2012 they were selling skimpy meals with half cooked bloody chicken legs.
I had introduced a native Chinese co-​worker to the truck in spring. And he invited me today to try the Cravings truck again. I had ripped on the truck the last time because of the bloody chicken incident I had here, so its been well over 5 months since the last time I visited. He swore that he has gone here at least 4 times over the summer and that it was tasty.
So I decided to give the place another try. Its back to being pretty good. The proportions are kinda off. I.E. I got the pork chop on rice and he got the chicken. Both of us in comparison to say Chinatown versions got an ok amount of rice but very little of the tasty preserved vegetable and the pork sauce. The truck made up for this in providing a very crispy chicken leg to my coworker and I got two massive pork chops. I would rather the proportions be different since I’m totally stuffed right now but I can’t complain. I didn’t have the genius or wherewithal to open up a Taiwanese pork chop truck.
Glad their back and will be hitting it up every now and then for lunch!

Our Wednesday obsession in the financial district. The sauce is the best thing about this place. Yes, it’s $ 1 extra for sauce, which to me seems outrageous, but I can never resist the temptation. Yes, it’s fatty and greasy and makes you feel gross afterwards. But it’s Wednesday and i’m about to head down there and wait 20 mins for the sometimes 20 people deep line for pork chop now. I hope it doesn’t rain. Last week, we waited 20 mins in the rain. They didn’t even have the lemon drink last week! OMG.
Today: ⁹⁄₂₆ — downgraded to 3 stars. Slower and slower lines, inefficient staff. Also, my snack platter tastes soapy.

Still CRAVING it everytime I visit NYC!
It’s been more than a year since I’ve left NYC and this is one of the things I really miss during my weekday lunch. Bian Dang food truck, how about a second truck in Boston?
I had my usual when I was here last week on business — Taiwanese Fried Chicken over Rice with Pork Sauce. The portion size is still generous even though the price has gone up since I last reviewed (now $ 8 for two chicken leg/​thigh pieces) but the food is still good and guaranteed to induce food coma within 2 hours of eating it (1.5 for me last week — my tolerance is slipping!).

The fact that I am also Taiwanese gave me high expectations of this truck. I hadn’t had Taiwanese food in a while because I’m too lazy these days to trek to Flushing.
I ordered the zhong-​zhi, and I was somewhat disappointed in the quality of the rice tamali. For those who are unfamiliar, it’s the Chinese version of a tamali. Within the sticky rice you find a delicious medley of meats and/​or vegetables.
For starters, the zhong-​zhi was $ 4. Aiya. Fine. I purchased the zhongzhi for lunch because it usually is heavy enough to satiate my appetite. $ 4 is a pretty cheap lunch. I will pay up, although I usually pay $ 2 for one.
I open the leaves to look at the rice ball. The sticky rice was light in color, meaning it wasn’t marinated in sauces. I personally though it could have been flavored better because the rice was kind of bland. I like my sticky rice marinated in soy sauce.
I bite into the zhongzhi, and find that there aren’t too many ingredients within. There were some pieces of meat, but nothing really filling. I was definitely disappointed.
The Cravings Truck also has a stand in the Ktown food court. I’ll give that place a try to see if their chicken is more authentic than the zhongzhi.

I’m a tad surprised at how harsh some of the reviews are. I mean, we’re talking about an $ 8 meal in midtown Manhattan. That’s about the price of a falafel platter from a food truck or a Whopper Value Meal. And I will take either the chicken leg or the pork chop over both those things 10 days out of 10.
In fact, you’ll actually be hard-​pressed to finish this meal in one sitting. And as every pai gu fan aficianado knows, this stuff is even better if you let it sit for a little while and let the rice soak up all its juices. So for the $ 8, you get a meal and a half, literally.
I’m giving it five stars not because the food quality is as good as Per Se or Le Bernadin. It’s not. It’s a greasy pork chop over rice. Having said that, I’ve always said that a fried pork chop with preserved vegetables and pork sauce over white rice is what comfort food would eat if comfort food could eat comfort food. The seasoning is great, and the portions are generous. My only gripe is that they don’t include the soy sauce egg with the pork chop. Again, speaking as someone who’s eaten more pai gu fan and ji tui fan in his life than he’s like to admit, that’s like serving the spaghetti without the meatballs or the BLT without the bacon.
I’m not sure why the owners decided to change the name from «NYC Cravings», which had built up a huge following and some decent name recognition from their food truck (again, 1000 times better than the falafels and shish-​kebabs you find everywhere else). They also seem to have invested in a nicer Web site and logo. That’s well and good, but I hope they don’t lose the «grassroots» vibe about them that made them so popular in the first place. Bring Doodlejump or Angry Birds with you as you’re waiting on line, as it’ll be long.

Free dumpling alert!
Good luck finding them. The truck’s hours are short and sweet. The dumplings I scored here were pretty good and the guys were friendly.
Sure it may seem more expensive than Vanessa’s or Prosperity, but hey, they come to you (if you’re nearby) and when you got that craving (like Harold and Kumar) you just gotta have it.
The dumplings were quite good and the service was fast. I can appreciate that if I’m on the run. Some food trucks are notorious for being slow or making you wait to make it look like a hoppin club which defeats the purpose of eating on the run.

I had eaten at this truck when it was called NYC Cravings, which was a strangely non-​descriptive name. I found the meat to be bland, and the rice to be dry. They were also at the Vendys, and it struck me the same way. Very disappointing.
But now that they’ve shed the Cravings tag and anointed themselves Bian Dang, I’d give them another shot. Add in the factor that they were doing a lunch special deal today, I headed over despite the rainy weather.
Sold out. At a little after 1 PM. They reached a new level of disappointment.
Here’s a tip: If you want to rehabilitate your image through a special, you better put our mouths where your money is.

Finally tried this food truck after weeks of hearing about it. It only comes to 53 and lex on Thursdays so today we waited in about 8 min line to try this place. Fried chicken is good with sauce and i Love the tea egg /​minced pork over rice. Mixing everything together it feels so home made! I would definitely frequent this truck from time to time, at least once a month for lunch!
It’s important to not forget your other condiments! like chirashi hot sauce or dumpling sauce.

Food rating: 3.5
A-​OK. I love Taiwanese food, and the food here is probably as good as I’ll get out of a truck. Good for on the run… but if I had the time, I’d rather sit in an authentic Taiwanese restaurant.
The meat sauce on the rice was too salty. White rice itself was meh. The chicken and the pork chop was pretty good.
Chicken Leg over Rice —
Pork Chop over Rice —

Went on a day that I got out of work a little early. Waited for about 15 minutes to get the food and tried just about everything on the menu.
The dumplings were dry, and sauce on the side, which you can get for free, was ok but lacked the umami I normally expect from dumpling sauce. The zongzhi was steamed nicely and had good texture, but I would prefer more ingredients on the inside, either more mushrooms or pork. You do need to put some sauce on the zongzhi to add some saltiness to it.
The fried pork over rice was crunchy and a little too hard on the outside but had good flavor. The pork sauce was fantastic over the rice and you can purchase more pork sauce if you want. The fried chicken over rice was crunchy and not as moist as I would like but also had good flavor.
It was a good lunch for a street truck and definitely better than most food stands that you see. I would try it again to see how it is next time.

On Wednesday’s, the NYC Cravings truck comes downtown. This past Wednesday, I happened to be so lucky as to find them parked along the east side of State St. between Bridge St. and Pearl St. This guy and girl duo are quick to take orders and prep up dishes as lines are fast flowing and almost nonexistent. Being that there are hardly any good Asian restaurants in the Financial District area, it was a treat to see a truck serving Taiwanese food. I ordered the Taiwanese Style Fried Pork Chop over Rice with Secret Pork Sauce ($ 7.00). In less than 30 seconds my order was brown bagged along with a fork, knife, and napkins and handed over to me. With the quickness! There are also condiments (Sriracha, etc.) situated on the counter by the window that you can pour in small plastic containers.
The dish was fairly simple, with the secret pork sauce and side of pickled cabbage sitting on a generous serving of steamed white rice. Stacked on the very top were several pieces of thinly cut pork chops, on-​the-​bone. The pork was tender and well-​marinated, making this one top-​notch pork chop that was mighty tasty. Even the bones were flavorul, which I couldn’t stop myself from sucking the juices out of them. And the secret pork sauce. The name in itself just raises the curiosity and mysteriousness. What is it?! It must be gooood. And it was pretty good. Trying to break it down, it looks like little bits of ground pork in a brown sauce. I sure was loving it, although it was erring on the ever slightly salty side.
I finally found myself at the bottom of the tray, eating every morsel of rice and every piece of meat I could scavenge. What I found myself to was the bottom of the tray covered with grease. This dish is definitely not your everyday eater, but that’s why they only come down to State St. once a week. My face feels a little greasy but for a meal that good, I don’t mind treating myself to some deliciously good eats. If there was one thing I could change, bump down the Taiwanese Style Fried Pork Chop over Rice with Secret Pork Sauce (whew, that took a long time to say), to $ 6 and I will without a doubt, give NYC Cravings 5 stars. But because of the slightly pricey food for such a simple dish, one star will have to be spared.

The name suits them so well. After having their shui mai and fried chicken leg over rice, I crave for their food. The chicken was fried to perfection, it was so tender, juicy and flavorful!
The Shui mai is quite superior and different from the ones you normally get from dim sum. The wrapping is thin and the scrumptious filling is tastefully seasoned.
The staff is super friendly, fast and professional. Truly excellent food for a food truck!

I love this truck. The caveat is the line is usually long, so it does take awhile to get your food. I went today for lunch because i noticed they added new items to their menu. There was a small line when i got there. They ran out of pork chops as well as the meat filled zongzi. I opted to get the fried chicken over rice and the veggie zongzi. The zongzi was okay. I felt like it was a tad overcooked. The rice was flavorful but a bit over gelatinous like it was in the steamer for toooo long. The veggies had a nice flavor to them. I really wanted the meat filled one but what can i do. For $ 4, you expect more since you can buy them at a Chinese supermarket for under $ 2.
The fried chicken is always a solid hit. I prefer it over the pork chop. The chicken is fried well. and the pork sauce is awesomeeeeee. It makes the dish.

Wow. I’ve been waiting to track this truck down on a weekend since their usual haunts are nowhere near my office. Then the day before I plan to track them down, they go and park 2 subway stops away! SCORE!
I tried the Taiwanese Fried Chicken (#1) and the pork dumplings (#5). Primero — the dumplings were fantastic. $ 3 and delicious. The skins were a little thick, but that didn’t ruin it for me as I stuffed them into my mouth in one bite, allowing the juices to dribble down my chin. Yes — I’m a pig. Deal with it!
I’m usually pretty upset when ordering chicken because it’s generally overcooked and dry and tough to chew, but the chicken was surprisingly moist while the skin was still crispy. I really enjoyed the pickled veggies that were hidden under the chicken. And sure there was a lot of rice, but I’m a carb whore, so that doesn’t particularly bother me. In fact, it made it so that I made two lunches out of the meal! Talk about a deal (relative to what I normally pay for lunch)!

Wow is all I can say! This came out of a truck? Wow!
I’m impressed. In midtown $ 7 for a huge portion of 2 ½ pork chops, with special sauce and pickled cabbage over rice is a deal! Especially when it’s enough to feed a pint sized person like me, two meals.
I also tried their new Chicken wings which came with a mayo like sauce. I didn’t care much for the sweet creamy sauce but the chicken wings were delish! I got 10 chicken wings & drumsticks for $ 6.
The line was short but quick.
You can smell the fried goodness from a block away.

The food is ok, I’ve definitely had better; but the biggest selling point is that this truck spreads some Taiwanese love to hard to reach places!
I’ve had the truck a couple of times, trying almost all the items in their limited menu and the quality is inconsistent. I am definitely a fan of their sauce, and the chicken over the pork, but the rice is sometimes undercooked. I wouldn’t recommend the dumplings.
While I consider the prices a bit high, I just consider it the delivery charge.

For those who haven’t had the chance to try Wah Mei on Hester Street in Chinatown, they would enjoy the offerings from the Cravings Truck. Coupled with the fact that Taiwanese food is nowhere to be found in the heart of Midtown East makes it that much more attractive as a novelty. This is evidenced by the usual 20 minute wait during peak lunch hours, where lunch seekers are craving for Taiwanese fried chicken, pork chops, and tea eggs over rice. A combination of the pork chops, fried chicken leg, and tea egg with meat sauce over rice for $ 8 is a fantastic value in Midtown Manhattan. However, the food is a whole another matter.
The pork chop was much too oily and salty enough to get you thirsty by the third bite. The chicken leg is definitely not as tender as the ones at Wah Mei. But ultimately, the biggest disappointment for me was the rice. As other Unilocalers have pointed out, the rice is hard and tastes like leftover rice — typical of generic chinese take-​out. Although prices are reasonable and portions are generous, the food quality screams, «we are only good for a try-​something-​different experience.»

#1. It’s TAIWANESE FOOD!
#2. It’s A LOT OF FOOD!
#3. It’s reasonable priced.
#4. It’s TAIWANESE FOOD!!!
There are days when I have no interest in pizza or sandwiches from the local deli or Pret near my office. And there are days when I want something exciting and cool for lunch. Luckily, it’s days like these when I get on Twitter and Unilocal and discover that there are options. Yes! There… are…options! So the second I heard about the NYC Cravings Truck, I immediately grabbed my cell, told my boss i’m stepping out for food, and ran for the subway. 10 minutes later, I’m in a line ordering pork chops on rice and enough food to satisfy my hunger and curiosity. The service.great. The food… great. The portion… very sizable.
Listen, it’s yummy, ethnic food that is more expensive than Chinatown (isn’t everything?) but they don’t have anything on the NYC Cravings Truck. Honest.

During the hours of 9am — 5pm I am stuck in the midtown area of Manhattan… which means boring expensive lunch places with your average sandwiches/​buffet/​salads. BLAH. I feel people who say this place is «pricey» you are clearly comparing the truck to… Taiwan? And for those that say they’ve had better… you are clearly not comparing it to Ray’s Pizza or Subways… but to… Taiwan again? Relax people… it’s a food truck that serves unique foods that are cheaper than your boring $ 12 salads. If you are willing to take an 1 hour train ride on the 7 and buy a $ 5 meal in Flushing… then do not go to the truck.
I digress…
The pork chops are extremely generous and not at all tough. I was quite surprised with the texture and flavoring considering they are cooking out of a truck for goodness sake. The secret pork sauce is HEAVEN. It’s one of those family recipes that just becomes a dish, you won’t be able to google that sh! t. I’ve also tried the chicken leg and it is actually A LOT more flavorful and tender (compared to pork) but it is quite hard to eat if you’re sitting outside.
The only bone I have to pick with this place is they charge $ 8 for tian-​bu-​la. For all of my taiwanese peeps, you know that thing is dirt cheap, don’t even play. I’ve already twittered them that «shame on you for charging so much for tian bu la» but I have yet to receive a @response.
Good luck! Keep bringing the Taiwanese goodies to the island of Manhattan that politically keeps Canto-​only foods… Oh snap yes I did.