out of all the taco trucks spread across this great city, there are a ton of them that go all U.N. & put a non-mexican spin on things. we've got multiple taco trucks offering korean food & ones serving up turkish & japanese fare. at the moment, japan is represented by the domo taco truck, who've been prowling the nyc streets in their puke green truck for what must be coming up on a year now. since their launch, i've visited them a few times, initially to try their japanese nacho tots for nachos ny. trust me, you're better off trying the tacos.
anywho, their tacos run $3 a piece or 3 for $8, which ain't too shabby for lunch in midtown manhattan. i've mostly visited them on park ave & 23rd (when they actually change up the schedule & park there) and i'd say the average wait is 5-10 minutes, time that is well spent gawking at the insane denizens of midtown.
they've got five taco options--fish tempura, carnitas, teriyaki steak, lemongrass chicken & veggie--all wrapped in dual corn tortillas. i've yet to try their veggie & fish tempura ones & to clear up any misconception, with the fish one, it's not because i'm cheap & it costs an extra buck. it's because i'm SO OVER the fish taco craze & therefore like to keep my fish taco consumption to a minimum.
carnitas - usually, my favorite tacos are of the pork variety but in the case of domo truck, the pork taco is currently the one that i least enjoy on their menu. it's a basic taco, with monterey jack cheese & pico de gallo. the pork walks the line between weird-tasting & bland but luckily, they usually top their tacos with a cream & a spicy salsa mix, which helps make up for the sorta lackluster overall flavor of the pork.
teriyaki beef - somewhat recently, domo taco went from serving a kare beef taco, which was kinda meh to a teriyaki beef taco, which is slightly tastier & made with a cucumber pineapple salsa. i've loved teriyaki since the days of my mom making it NH stylee in the toaster oven with a store-bought sauce, so i may be a little biased in the matter, but it's an pretty aight teriyaki beef that reminds me of that & when the sweetness of the salsa's added in, it's not a bad taco at all.
lemongrass chicken - this is my favorite of the three i've tried from domo. the reason's a little weird though. back in the day, i had multiple mall jobs mere steps from the food court & on break, i'd often end up at the generic chinese food place (china panda garden palace?), where i'd usually get a chicken dish. said mall chicken was low grade for sure, but i kept getting it because i loved the slight char on the outside of the chicken. domo's chicken is better quality but possesses that lovable char. the lemongrass flavor might not be for everyone though, as it has a slightly chemically pleasing flavor.
overall, while the taste of the meat's gotten somewhat better as of late, there's definitely still room for improvement. ingredients aren't always necessary & when i say that, i'm speaking directly to the monterey jack cheese. with all the other ingredients, it's as extraneous as tits on a fire hydrant. actually...scratch that metaphor....not thought out enough. i mean, if i was standing on a street in midtown waiting for my japanese tacos, a set of shapely fire-hydrant boobs might be an inanimate but pleasant distraction. make it happen genetic scientist nerds!
taco meter (out of five possible tacos):
domo taco truck, various locations (follow on twitter)