Food truck fanatics had something to cheer about on Tuesday night. The mobile meal dispensing vendors we all love to follow on Twitter and hunt down across the city joined together at one outstanding spot for a delicious evening of devouring choice eats. That’s right, the good people at the Village Voice returned to present the 2nd Annual “Choice Streets” at Pier 86 of the The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Since the LocalBozo.com crew never misses an NYC moment, we were on the west side for all the delectable action!

At 7pm, the completely sold out crowd of food truck lovers converged upon the large outdoor space that borders both the historic Intrepid and docked cruise liners. The hardest part about an event of this nature is figuring out where to start first. With over twenty-five of the city’s most popular food trucks, we knew that we had a lot of ground to cover. As a lover of all things Japanese, the Hibachi Heaven mobile caught our eyes right away. The line for their eats was medium in size and therefore a perfect place to start. The efficient two man team was doling out large portions of “Hibachi Vegetables and Fried Rice.” The meal was serviced with the choice of several sauce toppers and in keeping with the hibachi grill tradition, we went for their soy-ginger variety. Despite the absence of meat, the combined veggies, rice and accompanying sauce more than made up for it. Our next selection was a truly unique tasting experience to say the least. But when we saw the good folks from Coolhaus, the purveyors of expertly made ice cream cookie sandwiches, we just couldn’t pass up some dessert. At “Choice Streets” they presented their ice cream in a small tasting cup with a large cookie chunk placed on top. After racking our brains for a few seconds we opted for a scoop of their “Dirty Mint Chocolate Chip with a Snickerdoodle Cookie.” Each bite yielded tastes of fresh mint and chunky chocolate. In a word it was “heavenly.”

We took a very short break from the eating to grab a few beers from Shock Top who poured their brews directly from a tap connected to a car adorned with the brand’s orange-Mohawk logo. “Shocks” brews are perfect for the warmer months with notes of delightful citrus in every sip. Once we had thrown back a few however, our focus resumed on eating. We jumped on the line for popular truck Rhong Tiam preparing one of our favorite hand held foods- burgers! Their “Basic” burger was an understatement by name alone. The USDA prime Angus beef burger was topped with basic accoutrements- American cheese, lettuce and tomato. But I would swear that it was also loaded with a secret sauce, as each bite was super juicy and tangy. It was definitely one of our favorite street eats of the events. Once the burgers were consumed we took a short trip south of the border to Mexico BLVD for their “Adobo Taco”- a pork loin marinated salsa filled treat that challenged our taste buds but pleased our bellies all at once. Both the adobo spices and the salsa were homemade which says a lot for the integrity of this truck. While we always have our favorites, we also dole out honorable mentions as well. And as such, Souvlaki GR came with their spice and herb filled meats that tickled our senses, sending us off into the night full and of course very happy.

It’s no surprise that “Choice Streets” sold out almost immediately after tickets went on sale. The event brilliantly captures the magic and the passion of the food truck business by gathering the best of the best in one dynamic space. Needless to say we cannot wait until next year to sink our teeth into all the newfangled offerings that 2014 will bring. Our collective mouths are watering at just the thought of it.

- Jay Rubin