Truckin' through Chinatown

Last Thursday we went to the last Philly Night Market of the Night Market season.

For those not in the know, Philly night marked takes place in the warmer weather months, usually May-October. Once every other month on a Thursday evening, food trucks roll in to a specific section of the city (the section varies with each Night Market), streets are closed off, and the noshing extravaganza begins.

We used attend the Night Market regularly, but our schedules have become more complex, so this year we were only able to make the last Night Market of the Night Market season. 

This particular market took place in the Chinatown section of the city.  The biggest negative about going to this particular market is that the layout of the streets and the fact that the location is easily accessible by train lends to a crowd volume that is bonkers.  It is wall to wall people.

I will say that I thought we did a bang up job navigating the masses. I feel confident that Shannon, Paulette, Scott and I would make a great surviving the zombie apocalypse team.

Our on the fly strategy ended up being eating an entire meal consisting of an appetizer, entrée, and dessert from the trucks that were present.

There were a lot of trucks, each with their own tantalizing cuisine, so making choices was a slight challenge.

When we spotted the Tot Cart we knew we had to get in line because…tots.  

Shannon and I split an order of the Drunk Cheese Tots, which consisted of tots covered in a beer cheese sauce. 

They were some good tots.  They were hot, the outside of the tots were nice and crispy without making the inside of the tots soggy.  The beer cheese sauce was tasty.  The service was also great.

 Though there was a long line, they had the ordering and serving down to a science, so the line moved quickly, and tots were in hand almost right away.  I also have to give props to this truck for their mustache donned logo whose name was Chris P. Tater.

There were many entrée choices.

This was the first time we have actually witnessed the grilled cheese truck open. Usually they have some sort of malfunction on Night Market nights

We finally settled on Mom Mom’s Polish Food Cart.

Me and Paulette have Polish blood. This may be why we both have an affection for pierogies. Now I can’t really say that I am a pierogi connoisseur because I haven’t had enough pierogies from different places, but oh how I do love those little stuffed delights.  The girls ordered the pierogies while the boys ordered the kielbasa platter.

 The pierogies were yummy.  I love when they are pan fried. When I make them at home I usually want to shove them in my mouth as soon as possible so I don’t take the extra little step to do the pan fry.  Mom Mom’s also put a lot of love and attention into making the caramelized onions  that topped the pierogies. 

After our Polish food, we were feeling satisfied, but felt like we needed a little something sweet to end our evening.  As we set off to find the donut truck we ran into our friends Linsey and Skeeter.  We chatted for a bit, then parted ways, and using our sense of smell, located the donut truck

Now we are not opposed to waiting in lines, especially if there is a delicious treat at the end of said line. The first two trucks had lines, but the donut line was wrapped around the block. They must be excellent donuts, but alas, we decided to to find a dessert with a shorter wait. Fortunately we stumbled upon The Lil' Pop Shop Truck.

They sold popsicles. Refreshing, delightful popsicles. 

Flavors included, Raspberry Lemonade, Pumpkin Pie, Salted Caramel Brownie, and Apple Cider.  I wanted something refreshing and seasonal so I went with the Apple Cider. My popsicle was refreshing and slightly creamy.  It was great and  better than your average store bought popsicle.  

The guy working the popsicle truck liked my t-shirt and promptly showed me his BMO phone case

Getting Popsicle bombed

If we weren't so full, and if eating lots of popsicles wasn't bad for your waistline, we may have gone back to try a different flavor.

I'm glad we made it to the last night market. It was a nice way to say goodbye to better weather days and usher in the chill to come. Plus we had lots of fun, because eating food made in trucks is cool.


Just a quick plug. Our friend Skeeter, who we ran into, is performing every weekend in October at Dorney Park. He is in a group called Blood Drums. If you have time you should take a trip to Dorney and check Blood Drums out.